Red Sox top 50 minor league prospects

[scaffolds]

A baseball prospect is a player who has the tools or baseball skills to one day be able to play at the ML level and stays in it, it doesn't means a player who may had a cup of coffey in the majors, but back for good to the minors or a player that every Spring training its looking for a ML position for a different organization. A prospect is a player that his last minor league level isn't as important as its his journey to the ML.

My top 50 Red Sox prospect going into the 2006 fall;


1 - Jacoby Ellsbury CF
2 - Clay Buckholz RHP
3 - Mike Bowden RHP
4 - Jason Place OF
5 - Dustin Pedroia 2B
6 - Edgar Martinez RHP
7 - Daniel Bard RHP
8 - Felix doubront LHP
9 - Bryson Cox RHP
10- George Kattaras C
11- Kyle Jackson RHP
12- Justin Masterson RHP
13- Luis Soto RF
14- David Murphy OF
15- Devern Hansack RHP*
16- Brandon Moss RF
17- Ryan Phillips LHP
18- Chad Spann 3B
19- Kris Johnson LHP
20- Caleb Clay RHP
21- Carlos Fernandez OF
22- Lars Anderson 1B
23- Mark Wagner C
24- Jed Lowrie 2B
25- Christian Lara SS
26- Jose Capellan LHP

27- MIchael Rozier LHP
28- Jon Eagan C
29- Chris Jones RHP
30- Yahmed Yema OF
31- Aaron Bate 1B
32- Manuel Arrambaris 3B
33- Chris Turner LF
34- Luis Esposito C
35- Miguel Socolovitch RHP
36- Mike Jones 1B
37- Chih-Hsien Chiang 2B
38- Dustin Richardson LHP
39- Jeff Corsaletti LF
40- Angel Beltre CF
41- Tom Hottovy LHP
42- Tyler Weedem C
43- Matt Goodson RHP
44- Ryan Kalish OF
45- Moises Tejada SS
46- Reid Engel CF
47- Jeff Natale 2B
48- Luis Sumoza RF
49- Claudio Arias LF
50- Kristopher Negron SS


The next 15;

51- Yulkin German LHP
52- Tony Granadillo 3B
53- Arbert Jimenez LHP
54- Richard Lentz RHP
55- Tim Cox LHP
56- David Pauley RHP
57- Jose Alvarez LHP
58- Jotdan Craft RHP
59- Argenis Diaz SS
60- Zachary Daeges 3B/LF
61- Jorge Rodriguez RHP
62- Mario Pena LHP
63- Felix Ventura RHP
64- Jeremy West 1B
65- Kyle Fernandes LHP


* Would have been ranked higher if his age would had been 24 instead of 26-28.

[AZBlue]

Scaffolds, if Pedroia were in another organization and you were making decisions for the Red Sox, wouldn't you decline an offer to trade Pedroia to the Sox in exchange for any of the players below him on your list through number 23?

[scaffolds]

AzBlue, Nice to hear from you and like you can tell i am not longer posting at Soxprospects. Its well known that Pedroia is short on tools, but he is a baseball rat and a winner, there are some questions if Pedroia will be the Sox starting second baseman when the 2007 season opens, but i believe that he is a ML player, not a STAR, but a ML player, I am not sure that i could said that of all of the rest of the Sox players ranked up to #23.

[ORS]

That's a good question AZ. Most of the guys on that list have a lot more ceiling than Dustin, but like Scaff said, I think Pedroia is more of sure thing - at a lower peak potential - than a lot of them. Bird in hand, or two in the bush?

[AZBlue]

Scaffolds, I agree that Pedroia is a major league player, but I see him as a so-so second baseman for a small market team. I would rather see a better athlete at second for the Sox. I prefer the following prospects on your list to Pedroia. I am in general agreement with your list, but I think Bard should be fourth and that Aaron Bates might be 8-10 spots better than 32 (below Lars Anderson):

6 - Edgar Martinez RHP
7 - Daniel Bard RHP
8 - Felix Doubront LHP
9 - Bryson Cox RHP
10- George Kattaras C
12- Justin Masterson RHP
16- Brandon Moss RF
17- Ryan Phillips LHP
19- Kris Johnson LHP
20- Caleb Clay RHP
21- Carlos Fernandez OF
22- Lars Anderson 1B
23- Mark Wagner C

[riverside sluggers]

Scaffolds, any chance you know of Sox being tempted to drop Abe Alvarez from the organization altogether? There's just no hope for this guy as currently he is set to begin the 07 season in Pawtucket, where he has been since 2004 I believe

Just use him as a throw-in in one of the offseason's trades and say adios!

[RedSoxRooter]

No Josh Papelbon (http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/stats/player.php?id=502751) in the top 65?

[scaffolds]

AZBlue; I can see your point of wanted a more talented second baseman, however I believe that the Sox can carry Pedroia and Gonzalez as their middle infielders in 2007 if they can find a productive bat to play first base. I believe that in time Pedroia will be an above average ML productive secondbaseman, very similar to Mark Loretta.

Riverside; Abe Alvarez was theo's first mistake as a GM, there isn't a way that they should have drafted Alvarez high in the second round, the scouting community knew very well about him and his lack of stuff. A very overrated pitcher in college. I don't expect that Alvarez will be released, but i will be very dissapointed if they elect to proctect him in the 40 man roster, like you said there is a good chance that he will be a throw in this Winter in a trade.

Red Sox Rooter; I have talk about Josh Papelbon in other Web pages, Papelbon isn't a prospect, his fastball doesn't even reach mid 80's. In a league so much pitching hungry like MLB is when a pitcher who doesn't have a signing issue or isn't a draft and follow and doesn't get drafted until late in the 48th round there is a problem that draws a red flag. Papelbon is a border line minor leaguer, a pitcher that will have a very hard time as he goes up the minor league ladder.

[soxtalent]

Scaff, you have been very high on Felix Doubrant for the last few years. What does he need to do this coming year to make it into the top five? Is he pitching in winter ball and do the Sox plan on him being a starter and monitoring his pitch counts? Will John Farrell make a difference in his development?

[scaffolds]

Soxtalent; Farrell may work with Doubront in Spring training, but not more than that. More than likely Doubront will start the season in Greenville and he needs to maintain the ERA that he has put in the VSL and the GCL the last two years while increasing his strikeout numbers to make the next jump.

I haven't heard that Doubront will pitch Winter ball, in the 05 Winter he pitched less than 15 innings in Winter ball, so if he will pitch this Winter it won't be much more than that.

[Hairps]

Hola, scaffs. Great to see you posting again. This site's lucky to have your insights.

I'm particularly interested in your rankings (and order) of:

9. B. Cox
12. J. Masterson
19. K. Johnson

What is it about each of them that caused you to place them where they are?

Thanks.

[scaffolds]

Hairps, Nice to hear from you again and thank you for nice words.

Bryson Cox:is more than likely the first Sox draft pick that reaches the ML, perhaps as early as in the second half of the 2007 season. Cox has a plus, plus fast ball and outstanding slider, a former infielder who dropped in both the 06 and 07 draft because of command issues that he seemed to have fix. Probably should had been ranked a little higher, but because he only had a cup of coffee in high A ball I would like to see more out of him.

Justin Masterson: I spoke recently to a veteran scout that told me that Masterson remind him of a young Bob Stanley. Red Sox fans should remember him. Masterson has a 92-93 sinker, the rest of the other pitches aren't as advanced. According to what i have heard the Sox plan to use Masterson as a starter in 2007, coming out of the draft most scouts that saw him (I didn't see him pitch in college) speculated that his future was as a reliever. he should open the 07 in the new California club.

Kris Johnson: Its well known that Johnson is coming back from TJ surgery and didn't pitch in the 06 college season until the second half. In the 06 season he was some what inconsistent, but that was probably because he wasn't fully back from the surgery. Johnson's fastball normally sits in the high 80's and touches low 90's consistent. I believe that the Sox are going to take it slow with Johnson and would had him start the 07 season in Greenville.

[Bosoxwest]

Guys, any insights as to why Natale was not positioned in any of the fall/winter leagues? Given his obvious lopsidedness I had thought perhaps they'd have him keep working on the glove in the HWL or AFL (or even DWL) this offseason. Was he wearing down mentally/physically or is he not far enough along yet? He finished well for Wilmington, but he's 24 already - realistically what are his chances to make it to the bigs? Is the bat good enough?

[scaffolds]

Bosoz; I was also surprised that Natale wasn't send out to the HWL, according to reports at the end of the season his glove work has improved. Natale has been some what old for the leagues that he has played in, but i won't make to much out of that. Natale has enough bat for a second baseman, but not enough for a regular DH.

[AZBlue]

In the Arizona Fall League, each major league organization can place one player who has not yet reached AA. This season, the Red Sox chose not to take advantage of that exception. The Sox also must take into consideration the players that other organizations seek to place on these co-operative rosters. If each of the other teams placing players on the Javelinas have middle infield prospects who need to play most of the time and the Red Sox have a fringe prospect (Natale) who needs to work on defense, Natale would probably be a "taxi squad" player who would play on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

[scaffolds]

While he isn't among the 50 top minor league, not yet anyway, but a player on the rise is Colombian RHP Jorge Rodriguez. The 22 yrs is 6-1 180 isn't as well known perhaps as Miguel Socolovitch is to those who don't follow the minor leagues prospects, but for who does he isn't an unkown. Unlike to Socolovitch who projects as a closer, Rodriguez projects as a starter and has a 93-94 fastball and a very good curve ball, while his change-up is a work in progress. Rodriguez was very raw when he signed in 2003 and it showed in his first in the DSL, but after his first year he has been getting better and better and in 2006 in the GCL (first year in the states) he showed again his talent and was the starting pitcher in the GCL championship game.

Stats for 2006 in the GCL 5G 4GS 30 IP 22 H (1 HR Allowed) 11BB 22K 210 BAA

More than likely Rodriguez will start at Lowell in 2007.