Boston Red Sox Top 20 Prospects for 2008

Boston Red Sox Top 20 Prospects for 2008

All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change.

1. Clay Buchholz, RHP, Grade A
   
2. Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Grade A-
   
3. Jed Lowrie, SS, Grade A- (too high? I think he's an A- as a shortstop, but a B+ as a second baseman. Will he stick at short?)
   
4. Lars Anderson, Grade B+ (a personal favorite, power should blossom)
   
5. Michael Bowden, RHP, Grade B
   
6. Justin Masterson, RHP, Grade B
   
7. Nick Hagadone, LHP, Grade B
   
8. Ryan Kalish, OF, Grade B
   
9. Will Middlebrooks, 3B-SS, Grade B-
   
10. Josh Reddick, OF, Grade B- (overlooked prospect)
    
11. Oscar Tejeda, SS, Grade B- (high praise for rookie ball guy)
    
12. Aaron Bates, 1B, Grade B- (maybe C+?)
    
13. Brandon Moss, OF, Grade C+
    
14. Craig Hansen, RHP, Grade C+
    
15. Dustin Richardson, LHP, Grade C+ (a personal favorite)
    
16. Reid Engel, OF, Grade C+
    
17. Yamaico Navarro, Grade C+
    
18. Ryan Dent, OF, Grade C+
    
19. Zach Daeges, OF, Grade C+ (maybe Grade C given Lancaster)
    
20. Bubba Bell, OF, Grade C

Other Grade C guys interchangeable with the ones above include Drake Britton, Caleb Clay, Jeff Corsaletti, Carlos Fernendez Oliva, Devern Hansack, Brock Huntzinger, Kris Johnson, Hunter Jones, George Kottaras, T.J. Large, Che-Hsuan Lin, Adam Mills, Jason Place, Chad Province, Anthony Rizzo, Jon Still, Mark Wagner.

The Red Sox took longer than I thought, as I went back and forth on a lot of these grades. I'm thinking that Bates might be too high at B-, although I do think he is going to hit. I will admit that posting this makes me nervous, as Red Sox fans are increasingly passionate about their farm system. This is a good thing, obviously. . .however some members of Red Sox nation are starting to get obnoxious, acting, I dare say, like Yankees fans. Watch your hubris, guys and gals. The Sox have developed a very strong farm system, but not everyone is a future star here, and I tend to grade conservative.

Of course, full statistics and reports on over 1,000 other players will be in the 2008 Baseball Prospect Book, now available for pre-order. Ships the first Monday in February!