Christian Petersen - Getty Images
almost 2 years ago: OMAHA, NE - JUNE 28: Jackie Bradley, Jr. #19 of the South Carolina Gamecocks is congratulated by teammate Whit Merrifield #5 after scoring a first inning run against the UCLA Bruins during Game 1 of the men's 2010 NCAA College Baseball World Series at Rosenblatt Stadium on June 28, 2010 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Like the Orioles system, the gold of the Red Sox farm lies strongly on the 2011 draft. They spent a ton of money last year, so you can't really blame them. In any case, this is probably the weakest the system has been for several years, but still makes a case for one of the top ten in baseball. Here are the rankings:
- Tier 1 (4 points): Major League Star -- Number One Starter
- Tier 2 (3 points): Stand Out/Above Average Regular -- Number Two/Exceptional Three Starter
- Tier 3 (2 points): Solid, Average, Every Day Regular -- Number Three/Solid Four Starter
- Tier 4 (1 point): Bench/Below Average Regular -- Borderline Four/Number Five Starter/Relief Pitcher
Red Sox -- 25 points
Tier 1
Tier 2
Xander Bogaerts
Matt Barnes
Blake Swihart
Tier 3
Anthony Ranaudo
William Jerez
Henry Owens
Bryce Brentz
Tier 4
Ryan Lavarnway
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Jose Iglesias
Noe Ramirez
0 recs | 4 comments
Wow
I thought Bogaerts would have been tier 1 for sure. What flaws do you think hold him down?
Frag - January 13, 2012
Disclaimer: Red Sox fan
I think Middlebrooks and Bogaerts should switch places. Lavarnway definitely should be higher as well.
ThePanda - January 13, 2012
Bench/below average regular for Lavarnway?
I thought this was a sabermetric site. Why is he that low?
Bososx13 - January 13, 2012
Jerez and Ramirez
Shocked to see those guys this high. Especially Jerez – love his upside, but he has such a long ways to go and hasn’t seen a pro pitch yet. Brandon Jacobs is a guy with similar upside, but already has had some success in the minors. Cecchini is a pretty glaring omission IMO as well, great pure hitter and highly ranked by other sources. That said, I appreciate the list and your insight and look forward to seeing more.
BenMc5 - January 14, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Beyond the Box Score to post a comment.