If this is a minor league thread, here are a couple links:

Sickels' Top 20
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I also like that we got Sutton back as depth.

Listening to the end of year Sox Prospects podcast at lunch the last couple of days and it's interesting to hear the differing opinions on the 5-9 guys. Once you get past Webster the Iglesias, Brentz, Swihart, Owens, Cecchini ordering was all over the place. If you have time (it's a long one) it's a pretty lively discussion and one worth checking out.

People are higher on Webster than I thought. Hope he can get a touch more control and stick as a starter.

Fixed BP link from 1.

All of this is a nice reinforcement of my increasingly unrealistic expectations for the farm system. Sickels goes about a dozen deep before getting into the C prospects? That's pretty damn solid.

I'm ready for world domination with a squadron of homegrown talent in 2015!

The BP link has a list at the bottom which reminds us of the other young players who are not prospects anymore: Middlebrooks, Doubront, and De La Rosa.

Also not pictured: 26-year old Junichi Tazawa.

If the 2013 Sox are as bad as the pessimists predict, the minors will probably receive another infusion at midseason when Ellsbury, Hanrahan, Drew, and Uehara are traded.

More from the Sox Prospects podcast;

Overrated Player in the system - Brian Johnson, Garin Cecchini, Chris Hernandez
Underrated Player in the system - Anthony Ranaudo, Sean Coyle, Brandon Jacobs, Cody Kukuk

Mike Andrews was the guy who had Ranaudo underrated and basically his point was the tools are still there, he's just struggled to stay healthy but if he can stay out there he's still very talented. I don't remember who it was that had Cecchini overrated but the point was effectively that the pitching in the Sally League bites and anyone with any talent at all should be expected to hit.

If the 2013 Sox are as bad as the pessimists predict, the minors will probably receive another infusion at midseason when Ellsbury, Hanrahan, Drew, and Uehara are traded.

No way. If it's really as bad as the pessimists predict, each of those guys will be traded in turn for Brent Lillibridge, who will promptly be cut, sign on with a new team, and then re-acquired by the Red Sox. Rinse, repeat, etc.

No way. If it's really as bad as the pessimists predict, each of those guys will be traded in turn for Brent Lillibridge, who will promptly be cut, sign on with a new team, and then re-acquired by the Red Sox. Rinse, repeat, etc.

ha, you are right. I will make a small edit: "...each of those guys will be traded with the Red Sox paying the bulk of their salary in turn for Brent Lillibridge..."

Who is overrating Chris Hernandez? Sox Prospects has him at #34. Sickels gives him a C. Everyone seems to agree that, despite his moderate success, he's not really a prospect.

Who is overrating Chris Hernandez?

That was my feeling too. I don't remember which guy said it but it was basically a "random people on the internet are all geeked up because he's had a couple of good years statistically and they need to chill out" kind of viewpoint.

Are many of these guys likely to be called up sometime this season (not including September java)?

The overrated/underrated guys? The likeliest of that group is certainly Hernandez who was at Pawtucket for awhile last year and should be there in 2013. He's not on the 40 man roster so that puts him behind a few other guys but in an "oh #### we need a starter" situation if he pitches well he probably would get a shot. Of the rest I can see Ranaudo blowing through the system and being August relief help but that's clearly a best case scenario for him. I think Hernandez is probably legitimately on the list of guys the organization is viewing as that 8th-9th starting pitcher.

Right now the 40 man roster has by my count 10 starting pitchers; Lester, Buchholz, Lackey, Dempster, Doubront, De La Rosa, Webster, Morales, Britton, Wright plus guys like Wilson and Aceves who might be in line. I can see Hernandez moving ahead of Britton and Wright so it's not entirely out of the question that he gets a shot like Bowden in 2008 or Abe Alvarez in 2004.

If you're in the mood for more encouraging puffery on the kids, look no further than Speier (longer article on Rubby) and Pete Abe (grab bag of short updates).

...Speier (longer article on Rubby)...

Rubby's grandmother appartently was Ramon and Pedro Martinez's nanny. Ramon and Pedro started with the Dodgers and later pitched for the Red Sox, as did (presumably) Rubby. Pedro was traded to the Sox for Carl Pavano, who was teammates with Josh Beckett who was traded to the Dodgers for Rubby. Pedro supposedly taught Rubby his change-up. //*head explodes~~

Also, Delino SeShields Jr purloined a hundo bags in the minors last year.

ESPN does some minor league projected lineups as a time-wasting exercise, but it's nice to see the Portland roster so filled with interesting players, and Pawtucket with more than just filler (although there's a good amount of guys with limited upside in there).

Yeah, that Portland team looks like a lot of fun. Looking forward to catching a couple in New Britain when they come early in the year.

Xander Bogaerts apparently will be on team Netherlands for the WBC. Honkbal!

They're saying Kalish needs surgey again. Sigh.

red sox OF prospects are cursed...

And in the realm of very minor help, the Sox signed Ryan Sweeney to a minor league deal.

The worst thing about Kalish is that his problems were preventable. Initially, he injured his shoulder diving for the ball. There were multiple abortive comebacks, multiple missed diagnoses, and new injuries created by rushing back before fully healing. Kalish may be done as a professional ballplayer, and it didn't have to be this way with better medical care.

He's really in that bad a shape?

Sweeney is pretty uninspiring, but that's just the kind of deal he should get.

They're saying Kalish needs surgey again. Sigh.

And to think just a few years ago I had visions of a home-grown outfield of Kalish, Westmoreland, and Reddick. That didn't work out so well.

How about Nava, Hassan, Brentz! Ugh.

Can't wait for Jackie Bradley Jr. to be felled by gout or scurvy or something.

Or traded to the Indians for Chris Perez.

So, to break up the gloom with some pre-spring happy tidings, did everyone see this article from a week ago? Cause I missed it. John Farrell impressed with Daniel Bard in winter workouts:

"He looked very good," said Farrell, who along with pitching coach Juan Nieves watched Bard throw in Mississippi. "His arm slot is back to a normal position. He shows the power he previously had as a reliever. His mind-set is more clear and his approach is more simplified."

I actually did see that. I was hopeful that Bard would get back to normal and that he wasn't permanently damaged goods (either physically or mentally), so that gives some extra hope that he very well might show up in 2013 as the same guy he was from 2009 through 2011. I'd feel a bit better if they'd talk about actual velocity rather than "shows the power he previously had as a reliever".

I think the bullpen is the part of this team I'm most excited to see in action. There are a whole bunch of ifs as there are with most bullpens but I think the realistic upside out there is incredibly high. Bailey, Hanrahan and Bard are all a year away from being elite relievers and Tazawa is a guy worth being excited about.

I think the bullpen is the part of this team I'm most excited to see in action. There are a whole bunch of ifs as there are with most bullpens but I think the realistic upside out there is incredibly high. Bailey, Hanrahan and Bard are all a year away from being elite relievers and Tazawa is a guy worth being excited about.

Uehara too!

I knew there was someone I was forgetting.

Prospect lists should start coming in. MLB.com's is up, and it's good and bad. Good in that the Sox are clearly a top-10 system (see also John Sickels' rankings), bad in that they don't really rate Xander Bogaerts.

20 - Bogaerts
32 - Bradley
38 - Barnes
71 - Webster
94 - Owens
96 - Iglesias

The scouting report on Bogaerts is a long way short of glowing. It's positive of course, but it's just a good report on a good prospect, nothing special. And it's not about his glove - they seem entirely open to the possibility that Bogaerts might handle SS well enough. They're just not that impressed with his overall hitting, and his power tool is rated a current 30 with a 50 ceiling. That's not even plus.

Scouting Grades (present/future): Hit: 4/6 | Power: 3/5 | Run: 5/5 | Arm: 6/6 | Field: 4/6 | Overall: 5/6

The Aruba native and 2012 Futures Game participant has some serious tools and he’s used them to rush up the Red Sox’s organizational ladder, reaching Double-A in 2012 at age 19. He has the ability to make hard contact and can shoot the ball to all fields with excellent bat speed and a smooth swing. He has significant raw power he’s still learning to tap into and he will be a better overall hitter as his plate discipline continues to improve, something that happened in the Carolina League in 2012, but not as much once he moved up a level. His plus arm works just fine from shortstop and while he’s an average runner, he has better range than one would expect for a player his size. If he has to move over to third, his bat looks like it will play just fine there, though Will Middlebrooks is standing in the way there.

That report on Bogaerts makes no sense to me. A guy with OK power and mediocre plate discipline who might stick at shortstop doesn't sound like anything close to a #20 prospect to me. I guess the optimistic side would argue that the #20 ranking suggests that he IS likely to stick at short. It's just backwards from everything I've read and seen about this guy.

To be clear, I'm not disputing anything they are saying, just noting that the #20 rank doesn't jibe with the grades.

That report on Bogaerts makes no sense to me. A guy with OK power and mediocre plate discipline who might stick at shortstop doesn't sound like anything close to a #20 prospect to me.

I read it a couple times and think you're being overly sensitive. I do agree with Matt that his 3/5 power grade makes little sense in comparison to what he did as a nineteen-year-old. He fits in with Lindor and Baez as SS/3B prospects and behind Profar and Sano. One person might see him as #10 and MLB sees him as #20, it's hardly an exact science. Lets hope he improves his plate discipline and maintains enough range at SS to stay there.

Like I said in #35, I'm not disputing the report, it's that the scouting report and the #20 ranking don't go together. I'm fine if they have him #20 and I'm not even disputing the 3/5 power, but those two things don't go together at all in my mind. If he's a 3/5 power he's simply not the 20th best prospect in the game, not even close.

I'll backtrack on that a bit and note that maybe they are more convinced of his ability to stay at shortstop than appears from the write up. If that's true then it makes some sense to me but it's not apparent to me from the report.

Gotta be a typo. He's rated as having the same power has Hamilton, who has no power at all.

I don't understand how a 19 year old with an ISO over .200 is a 3/5 on power. Makes little sense.

i figured it out. 3/5 is a range ... they mean 3-5. notice how some of the numbers are /5 and some are /6. if that meant "out of" you would expect a consistent upper bound.

check out some of the other rankings: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2013/ ... profar's fielding is 7/8 for example.

really confusing presentation, and i still think they're underrating bogaerts' power.

i figured it out. 3/5 is a range ... they mean 3-5. notice how some of the numbers are /5 and some are /6. if that meant "out of" you would expect a consistent upper bound.

It's not a range - it's "present"/"potential", and both are rated on the traditional scouting 20-80 scale with the second digit cut off (note that no one is above "8" on anything). It's "out of" because players don't have equivalent upper bounds o their tools - some have potential plus or plus-plus fielding, some have upside around average or lower. MLB.com rates Bogaerts' present power below average (30) with a potential for no more than average to above average (50). That's the first time I've seen such a poor rating of Bogaerts' power.

Another 3/5 power rating for a top prospect goes to Francisco Lindor, a glove-first shortstop with potential line drive power. He hit 257/352/355 in the Midwest League last year at 18.

On the other hand, Anthony Rendon rates 4/5. So maybe "5" comprises an extremely wide range?

It's not a range - it's "present"/"potential", and both are rated on the traditional scouting 20-80 scale with the second digit cut off (note that no one is above "8" on anything).

huh. well that makes a little more sense. it's still bogus.

Just listening to the latest Sox Prospects podcast and they had some interviews from the recent event at Jillian's. The one that jumped at me was Garin Cecchini who if you told me it was Dustin Pedroia talking I wouldn't have doubted it for a second. Similar voice, peppers his conversation with "man" at every chance and just exudes a confidence that is endearing. Just based on that clip I find myself really pulling for him to continue progressing.

Keith Law's top 100 list is out. Four Sox on the list (subscription required...which I don't have);

#5 - Bogaerts
#40 - Bradley
#61 - Webster
#79 - Barnes

In unrelated news Alex Hassan becomes the latest outfielder to be struck down by the plague. In his case it is a stress fracture in his left foot and he won't be ready for the start of camp.

From that piece...

-Law says Bogaerts is about even money to remain at shortstop, raves about how the ball comes off his bat, much more power than you'd expect for a kid his size. Says Bogaerts' bat combined with fringe-average shortstop defense would make a 5-win player. About what you'd expect given the #5 ranking.
-Bradley is a potential Gold Glove outfielder not due to his speed, which is merely average, but due to his excellent reads. At a hitter, he has a line-drive swing with doubles power, made better by excellent plate discipline. That's nothing really new.

The new stuff is mostly in Law's analysis of the pitching prospects:

-Loves Webster's raw stuff ("three plus pitches" at times) but says Webster has yet to develop the fastball command to be a useful major league pitcher. His changeup is excellent, his slider "flashes plus" but is too inconsistent.
-Barnes developed excellent fastball command last year, beating lower level hitters by hitting the corners consistently. Ditched his slider for an curve that looks above average, changeup is a work in progress but progressing. Basically, he did it all with the fastball in A-ball, and he'll need to show improvement in his secondary pitches to succeed at higher levels.
-Henry Owens also makes the "just missed" list. Says his 88-92 velocity is unlikely to improve, but he got his big K numbers from deception in his delivery, combined with good secondary stuff. Wants to see Owens' deception work against more advanced hitters before endorsing him as a top prospect.

Projected Rosters are up at Sox Prospects. Nothing too earth shattering but a nifty snapshot of the state of the system. Nice to see a lot of key prospects in Portland.

Bryce Brentz will miss spring training after Accidentally shooting himself while cleaning his gun.

Hey moron, take the bullets out before cleaning it.

Projected Rosters are up at Sox Prospects. Nothing too earth shattering but a nifty snapshot of the state of the system. Nice to see a lot of key prospects in Portland.

It's not always mentioned but De La Rosa is like an extra prospect. Technically, not a rookie - 60+ IP - but, if healthy, he's as good as Webster, if not better.

Speier has a nice little write-up of Bradley Jr. I really like what I hear about JBJr.

BA Top 100 is out. For the Red Sox:

8 Bogaerts
31 Bradley
40 Barnes
49 Webster
92 Owens

That's a very nice list. You'd expect an average team to have something like 15/45/75 in the top 100. The Sox have 4 guys who fit well into those first two slots and then another beyond that. I'm happily surprised that there's a consensus that Webster is top 50 to 75. Bogaerts again in the top 10 is also encouraging.