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