Recently, ESPN ranked the Sox system 7th in all of baseball. This was quite a compliment to a team that just this past season graduated four of Baseball America‘s top five Sox prospects (Buchholz, Ellsbury, Masterson, Lowrie). Led by Director of Amateur Scouting Jason McLeod, the Sox quickly stocked up their system through the amateur draft and international free agency. Their 2008 draft class has arguably the highest potential of any team, and all of that was made possible by the Sox willingness to go over the slot to obtain guys that are considered to have signability issues. Part of the reason that has caused this has been the emergence of top prospects Pedro Alvarez and Matt LaPorta, two unsigned draft picks in 2005 and 2006, respectively. Spending over the slot should be a continuing trend for a team as rich in resources as the Sox, allowing them to remain as one of the top systems in baseball for the next decade or so.
 While the system may not be as top-heavy as last year, one thing you’ll notice is the quality of depth from top to bottom. I mentioned this in a previous article, but guys like Kyle Weiland and Pete Hissey, who are ranked 14th and 17th on my list, would easily rank in the top 10 on over half of other teams systems. Without further a do, I give you my top 40 Sox prospects:







# Name Age
Pos. Comments
1 Lars
Anderson
21 1B Best
1B prospect in baseball
2 Michael
Bowden
21 RHSP Future
4-5 starter, average stuff w/good command
3 Josh
Reddick
21 OF Five
tool bad-ball hitter, adv. pitching could exploit this
4 Michael
Almanzar
18 3B Ultimate
raw toolsy prospect, needs more experience
5 Ryan
Westmoreland
18 OF Phenomenal
athlete, suffered minor injury during off-season
6 Yamaico
Navarro
21 SS Above-avg.
tools all-around, must improve pitch recog.
7 Casey
Kelly
19 RHP/SS Will
pitch then play SS, arguably most adv. prep arm in draft
8 Junichi
Tazawa
22 RHP Big
int’l signing in Dec., stuff could play very well in bullpen
9 Daniel
Bard
23 RHRP Flamethrower
with inconsistent sec. stuff, effectively wild
10 Oscar
Tejeda
19 SS/3B Outstanding
athlete, very mature, needs a lot of refinement
11 Che-Hsuan
Lin
20 OF Incredible
defensive outfielder, needs to make better contact
12 Argenis
Diaz
21 SS Elite
fielding shortstop, the power will be big stepping stone
13 Ryan
Kalish
20 OF Great
athlete with improved approach, not a lot of power
14 Kyle
Weiland
22 RHSP Tall
righty with good, but not great stuff. Potential 3-4 guy
15 Kris
Johnson
24 LHSP Finesse
lefty needs to work on consistency
16 Cheih-Hsien
Chiang
20 2B Offensive-minded
infielder, needs to show more patience
17 Pete
Hissey
19 OF Gritty
athletic outfielder, 4 tool guy, needs to add some pop
18 Richie
Lentz
24 RHRP Bulldog
mentality, very close to ML ready, improving
19 Will
Middlebrooks
20 3B Outstanding
5 tool athlete, struggled early but made adj.
20 Derrik
Gibson
19 SS Very
good defensive SS, fundamentally solid
21 David
Mailman
20 OF Good
athlete, struggled initially, good power potential
22 Felix
Doubront
21 LHSP Crafty
lefty, average stuff, very deceptive
23 Adam
Mills
24 RHSP Groundball
pitcher with phenomenal command, average stuff
24 Bryan
Price
22 RHSP Power
righty with good bullpen potential, but inconsistent
25 Stolmy
Pimentel
18 RHSP Very
advanced pitcher, ultimate ceiling in doubt
26 Luis
Exposito
22 C Good
defensive catcher with plus power potential
27 Nick
Hagadone
23 LHSP Power
lefty w/solid command, underwent TJ early last yr.
28 Anthony
Rizzo
19 1B Advanced
hitter with a great approach
29 Brock
Huntzinger
19 RHSP Deceptive
righty w/good stuff, sec. stuff inconsistent
30 Mike
Lee
22 RHRP Power
righty, good stuff, needs to add another pitch
31 Stephen
Fife
22 RHSP Big
ground-ball pitcher with above-avg offerings
32 George
Kottaras
25 C Good
hitting catcher with plus power, a bit immobile
33 Hunter
Jones
25 LHRP Bulldog
mentality, very versatile, average stuff
34 Mitch
Dening
20 OF Good,
but unspectacular player with sweet swing
35 Jason
Place
20 OF 5 tools present, generates good backspin, lacks plate disc.
36 Carson
Blair
19 SS/C Versatile
infielder with advanced approach, sleeper potential
37 Tyler
Wilson
19 RHSP Big
sinkerballer, very projectable, good downward plane
38 Jon
Still
24 C/DH Very
good hitter with great power potential, no set position
39 Mark
Wagner
24 C Defensive-minded
catcher, a little inconsistent with bat
40 Wilfred
Pichardo
19 OF Plus-Plus
speed, hits for average, well-below present-power


Note: This will also be added to the page and updated by myself over the course of the season. In the next day or so, if you scroll under “Depth Chart” at the top of the page, you’ll see a tab that will direct you to this chart.