Boston Red Sox: Power Ranking the Top 10 Prospects Left in Their Farm System
Blockbuster trades at the major league level often tend to shake things up at the minor league level, and the Boston Red Sox trade for Adrian Gonzalez last November was no exception. The Red Sox were forced to ship three of their top prospects off to San Diego to seal the deal: RHP Casey Kelly, 1B Anthony Rizzo and OF Reymond Fuentes. That trio were ranked, respectively, as the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 6 prospects in the Red Sox organization by Baseball America just prior to their being traded.
Unlike the Milwaukee Brewers, however, who decimated their shallow farm system to obtain Zack Greinke from Kansas City, the Red Sox system is deep, and the Adrian Gonzalez trade did not significantly deplete the talent that Boston has across their organization.
The top 10 prospects remaining in the Red Sox farm system generally fall into one of two categories. They tend to be either (1) Young players still a few years away from the majors with tremendous upside, or (2) Accomplished minor leaguers who would crack the starting nine on many other Major League club.
10. RHP Junichi Tazawa
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You can add Junichi Tazawa, 24, to the burgeoning list of young pitchers who undergo Tommy John surgery. He underwent the procedure last April. What remains to be seen, obviously, is whether Tazawa will be able to find himself the same success after the surgery that he had prior to it. Saying that 2011 is a huge season for Tazawa is still a bit of an understatement.
Tazawa, who became the first Japanese player to go directly from playing amateur ball domestically to playing professionally in the U.S., stands to fair all right after his surgery, considering he relies heavily on off-speed stuff rather than his fastball, the latter of which he will have to work hard on to regain his former velocity.
Many rankings of the Red Sox farm system do not have Tazawa ranked as highly as I do here; however, I'm not willing to discount a guy before he's shown what he is (or perhaps is not) capable of after his major, but increasingly less invasive, surgery.
9. OF Che-Hsuan Lin
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Lin, 22, the Red Sox 2010 Minor League Defensive Player of the Year, is entering his fifth season in the Red Sox organization, and he has been developing quite nicely. While his slick fielding and throwing are his primary strengths, Lin, who is from Taiwan, is also is a solid contact hitter. This quality seems all the more true when one sizes up his scouting report and sees that his swing is still rather unrefined—which then makes one wonder what his offensive ceiling might be.
Lin will never be a power hitter, but if he finds a way to pull his batting average up closer to .290 or so (he hit .275 last year at Double-A Portland), Lin might very well find himself playing at the major league level (in Boston or elsewhere) and giving Seattle's Franklin Gutierrez a run for his money as the best defensive outfielder in baseball.
8. OF Josh Reddick
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Reddick will turn 24 in February, and 2011 stands to be an important season for the 2006 draftee. Reddick has played part of the past two seasons with Boston, and he has struggled to hit consistently at the major league level. Of course, it is hard to hit consistently if one is not playing consistently.
It seems unlikely that there is a starting job for Reddick in Boston. He could probably find a home on a weaker team with less outfield depth than the Red Sox, so it would not be surprising to see Reddick moved at some point this season, especially considering he has probably hit the ceiling on his minor league value. His versatility, however, makes him a valuable asset to the Sox as a potential fourth outfielder.
7. 3B Kolbrin Vitek
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Kolbrin Vitek, 21, arguably boasts the best raw potential for power in the entire Red Sox farm system. He positively cleaned up for three years at Ball State, and he had a great first year professionally last season, during which he played at short-season Class-A Lowell before finishing up his season with a brief stint with the Greenville Drive.
Vitek's plate discipline (he struck out just over twice for every time he walked) and some slow footwork on defense are potential question marks; however, he is a young player who is still very much developing and figuring out the pro game.
Scouting reports mention that the Sox regard Vitek as a hard worker, and this quality, as well as Vitek's affability, comes across quite nicely in an interview he did with Chris Mellen of SoxProspects last July.
6. RHP Anthony Ranaudo
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Ranaudo, 21, was a surefire top 10 pitching prospect who slid to the supplemental round of the 2010 draft after a rocky junior year at LSU, during which he battle nagging elbow injuries. As excerpted from Ranaudo's scouting report on SoxProspects.com: "His fastball never returned to form, losing its tail and its velocity, he never got his feel back for the strike zone, and he often tipped his pitches due to mechanical flaws."
Ranaudo was one of the linchpins of LSU's 2009 National Championship-winning team, posting a 12-3 record while starting 19 games and logging 124.3 innings. He accomplished this to the tune of a 3.04 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP and an 11.51 K/9 figure. Not too shabby, huh?
Ranaudo has yet to throw a pitch for the Red Sox; however, he pitched excellent this past summer for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League, which agent Scott Boras used as leverage to get his stud client a $2.55 million signing bonus attached to the minor league contract that Boston and Ranaudo agreed to in August.
If his albeit-brief CCL stint is indication, it appears that Ranaudo has put his elbow troubles behind him and is ready to embark on a promising Major League career. He will begin that journey this spring for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs.
5. C Ryan Lavarnway
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Lavarnway, 23, is unquestionably the top catching prospect in the Red Sox farm system. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is slated as Boston's No. 1 catcher and the aging captain, Jason Varitek, will assume the club's backup role in what is likely the closing chapter to his playing career.
That leaves the door wide open for the unpolished Lavarnway, who only began playing catcher regularly in 2007, his sophomore year in college—at Yale. The Ivy League stereotypes hold water with Lavarnway, whom the Sox prize for his intelligence and work ethic.
In full seasons at A and AA in, respectively, 2009 and 2010, the young catcher held his own with the bat, logging a .392 OBP in '09 and .395 OBP this past season.
At 6'4" and 225 lbs., Lavarnway has the Joe Mauer-esque build that makes scouts drool. He cleaned up in the AFL this fall, playing with fellow Sox youngster Jose Iglesias in the AFL's Rising Stars Game.
4. 1B Lars Anderson
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Anderson, 23, was a September call-up last fall. He began 2010 at Double-A Portland but quickly earned himself a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket, where he hit .262/.340/.428/.768 with 10 HR, 53 RBI, 125 SO and 51 BB over 113 games. The strikeout numbers are a bit high, but Anderson continues to improve his ability to hit for power without seeing his average nosedive, which bodes well for his future prospects.
With this winter's acquisition of Adrian Gonzalez, Anderson appears to have reached his ceiling in the Red Sox organization. He still would stand to benefit from another full season in Triple-A; however, it would not be at all surprising to see Boston move Anderson in a swap of minor league players to a club with little depth at first base that needs major help at the major league level.
3. SP Stolmy Pimental
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The young Stolmy Pimentel turns 21 next month, but he has already been under contract with the Red Sox since 2006. Such is the life of budding Dominican baseball stars. Pimentel held his own last season in the Carolina League, historically a tough Class-A league.
The Red Sox love Pimentel's developing fastball, but, perhaps even more, they love how developed Pimentel's off-speed stuff is. He features a cutter, a 12-6 curve and a tremendous changeup. He gets his share of strikeouts while also limiting his walks.
Pimentel's progression through the Sox system has gone swimmingly thus far. Given his good mechanics, developed pitch repertoire and solid frame, there is little reason to see why this won't continue to happen.
2. SS Jose Iglesias
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The 20-year-old Iglesias has quickly become the toast of the Red Sox organization since being signed by Boston in Sept. 2009. The young Cuban defector is already blessed with phenomenal defensive skills, and the Sox are confident that he will continue to develop his undisciplined approach at the dish.
Despite his best efforts at channeling the free-swinging abilities of Vladimir Guerrero, Iglesias still managed to hit .285 over 57 games last year at Double-A Portland, which has to make one wonder what this guy is capable if he were able to rein in the 1:6.5 walk-to-strikeout ratio over that same stint with the Sea Dogs.
I'll give another shout out for Chris Mellen of SoxProspects, who, in addition to the aforementioned interview with Kolbrin Vitek, wrote a nice article on Iglesias last August that is well worth the read.
Marco Scutaro's contract is only guaranteed through this year. (A $6 million team option, a $3 million player option or a $1.5 million buyout are his possible routes for 2012.) Iglesias could very well be a September call-up—this falling on the heels of what will likely be a split season between Double-A and Triple-A. If all goes well this year, it would not be a surprise to see Boston pencil in Iglesias as the starting shortstop for 2012, especially if they have a reliable utility infielder (like Jed Lowrie) in the mix.
1. OF Ryan Kalish
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If there are any who dispute Kalish's No. 1 spot among Sox' prospects, this photo ought to shut them up. Right? I mean, come on, that portrait totally screams '"I'm a baseball god, and you know it!"
Humor aside, Kalish, 22, is the real deal. With Boston's injury situation in the outfield last season, Kalish found his way into 53 games and hit .252/.305/.405/.710, which isn't bad for a guy who really wasn't supposed to play in the majors until this upcoming season.
Barring injury (which isn't saying a whole lot with J.D. Drew), Kalish will have to spend 2011 at Pawtucket before his window appears in 2012, when Drew is, finally, off the books and the Sox have an open spot in the outfield. However, between Drew's history of injury and Ellsbury's need to prove himself after a rocky 2010, Kalish may very well find himself in a similar spot to last year, getting his reps and holding his own at the major league level, all ahead of schedule.
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