The View from Landsdowne Street: Grading the Boston Red Sox Minor League System

Aside from that, Pawtucket has a journeyman minor leaguer Joe Thurston, who was once the Dodgers minor league player of the year twice, and has been bouncing around AAA since 2003. Now at 28, he still continues to impress with the bat, and if Cora leaves, Thurston should be an adequate replacement.

The Sox also spent their first round pick this year on shortstop Casey Kelley, but he may end up signing with Tennessee and playing football and baseball.

Grade: B-

Third Base:

The Red Sox are very low on talent at the hot corner. The two names that appear on everyone's list of third basemen within the organization are Michael Almanzar, who is 17 and still very, let me repeat, very raw. The other is Will Middlebrooks, the player the Red Sox drafted in the fifth round last season.

Middlebrooks is the better of the two. He is only 19 years old but has just about every trait you could want out of your third baseman. He has a cannon for an arm, great athleticism, and a very high baseball IQ.

Offensively, the team seems convinced that Middlebrooks can be a 30 home run player and anchor the middle of their order down the road. So far, in his first season now with the Lowell Spinners in Low-A, obviously a line like .180/.227/.457 is very bad but remember that Middlebrooks is just 19.

He needs to improve his plate discipline and iron out his swing, but he comes from good baseball coaching and has already shown coaches he is a quick and devoted learner. He won't be expected in Fenway until at least 2012, so it will be a wait and see approach with him.

Almanzar is a player from their new Dominican baseball academy, and he really has the potential to be a superstar in the mold of Hanley Ramirez, or he could bust out like so many others have before him.

He stands 6-foot-3 and weighs close to 200 lbs., and so his size translates to plus potential in regards to power. He also has a cannon for an arm, and although he is rough around the edges defensively, he fields the ball fluidly and can make some ridiculous plays.

He will take a lot of grooming, but he has baseball pedigree (His father is Carlos Almanzar) and now he has been placed in the Red Sox system where he can begin to learn on a steeper curve. Don't expect him anytime soon, but until then, salivate over his numbers in the Gulf Coast League.

.322/.375/.782

Grade: D

Outfield:

This is where the Red Sox have really shined in their development methods and their talent evaluation. In fact, if you include Chris Carter, five of the top 20 prospects in the Red Sox system are outfielders.

Josh Reddick and Ryan Kalish are neck and neck as the best prospects to roam the greener pastures.

Reddick plays for high-A Lancaster after starting the season red hot in Greenville. What's the most exciting is that Reddick has been even better since getting called up to Lancaster. He is hitting .346/.374/.979, with 15 home runs and a .605 slugging percentage.

He is probably best suited as a corner outfielder if/when he makes his first appearance in Fenway thanks to his strong  and accurate throwing arm, and his lanky frame which he will try to pack muscle onto in the off-season.

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