Clay Buchholz, Devern Hansack, Michael Bowden, Hunter Jones, Justin Masterson, Dustin Richardson, Dusty Brown, Aaron Bates, Jed Lowrie, Bubby Bell, Chris Carter and Jonathan Van Every are all in town for the annual Boston Red Sox rookie development program.
“Last January, Ellsbury was at our rookie development program, so he was hearing from our trainers and our coaching staff and our manager and me and [catcher] Jason Varitek and [pitcher] Curt Schilling about the expectations of playing winning baseball in Boston and trying to hammer those lessons home,” Epstein said during the 2007 World Series. “He’s obviously taken those right to the field and then some. To be the organization we want to be, we have to develop players who can adjust quickly and thrive in Boston. Otherwise, we’re not going to be as effective.”
The players will be busy from Sunday to January 18th working on strength and conditioning as well as attending seminars about life in Major League Baseball. The speakers include Larry Lucchino, Theo Epstein, Craig Shipley, Terry Francona, John Farrell, Dave Magadan, Dustin Pedroia former Sox lefty Bruce Hurst, UConn men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun and ESPN reporter Peter Gammons. Quite an experienced crew to say the least.
Something I missed in the news & notes yesterday was something that I saw over at the Bradford Files, Rob Bradford’s blog over at the Boston Herald.
Baseball America announced in an online chat today that the Red Sox’ farm system has been ranked second-best in all of baseball. It is the highest finish for the organization since the current regime took over. In 2002 the Red Sox placed 28th, ‘03: 27th, ‘04: 23rd; ‘05: 21th; ‘06: 8th; ‘07: 9th.
This is the reason why the Red Sox could afford to lose players like Justin Masterson and Jed Lowrie in a Johan Santana deal. In years past, the Red Sox would trade away the one or two top prospects they have. Now they have one of the best minor league systems thanks to Theo and his crew.
Baseball America also released it’s Top 10 Boston Red Sox prospects and Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury headline the list. The top 10 is as follows:
1. Clay Buchholz, rhp
2. Jacoby Ellsbury, of
3. Lars Anderson, 1b
4. Justin Masterson, rhp
5. Jed Lowrie, ss
6. Ryan Kalish, of
7. Michael Bowden, rhp
8. Nick Hagadone, lhp
9. Oscar Tejeda, ss
10. Josh Reddick, of
A full look of Baseball America’s Red Sox rankings will be listed after the jump.
| TOP TEN PROSPECTS | ||
| 1. Clay Buchholz, rhp | ||
| 2. Jacoby Ellsbury, of | ||
| 3. Lars Anderson, 1b | ||
| 4. Justin Masterson, rhp | ||
| 5. Jed Lowrie, ss | ||
| 6. Ryan Kalish, of | ||
| 7. Michael Bowden, rhp | ||
| 8. Nick Hagadone, lhp | ||
| 9. Oscar Tejeda, ss | ||
| 10. Josh Reddick, of | ||
| BEST TOOLS | ||
| Best Hitter for Average | Lars Anderson | |
| Best Power Hitter | Lars Anderson | |
| Best Strike-Zone Discipline | Jeff Natale | |
| Fastest Baserunner | Jacoby Ellsbury | |
| Best Athlete | Jacoby Ellsbury | |
| Best Fastball | Justin Masterson | |
| Best Curveball | Clay Buchholz | |
| Best Slider | Nick Hagadone | |
| Best Changeup | Clay Buchholz | |
| Best Control | Michael Bowden | |
| Best Defensive Catcher | Mark Wagner | |
| Best Defensive Infielder | Argenis Diaz | |
| Best Infield Arm | Will Middlebrooks | |
| Best Defensive Outfielder | Jacoby Ellsbury | |
| Best Outfield Arm | Che-Hsuan Lin | |
| PROJECTED 2011 LINEUP | ||
| Catcher | Mark Wagner | |
| First Base | Lars Anderson | |
| Second Base | Dustin Pedroia | |
| Third Base | Kevin Youkilis | |
| Shortstop | Jed Lowrie | |
| Left Field | Ryan Kalish | |
| Center Field | Jacoby Ellsbury | |
| Right Field | Josh Reddick | |
| Designated Hitter | David Ortiz | |
| No. 1 Starter | Josh Beckett | |
| No. 2 Starter | Clay Buchholz | |
| No. 3 Starter | Daisuke Matsuzaka | |
| No. 4 Starter | Jon Lester | |
| No. 5 Starter | Michael Bowden | |
| Closer | Jonathan Papelbon | |
| TOP PROSPECTS OF THE DECADE | ||
| Year | Player, Position | 2007 |
| 1998 | Brian Rose, rhp | Out of baseball |
| 1999 | Dernell Stenson, of | Deceased |
| 2000 | Steve Lomasney, c | Out of baseball |
| 2001 | Dernell Stenson, of/1b | Deceased |
| 2002 | Seung Song, rhp | Out of baseball |
| 2003 | Hanley Ramirez, ss | Marlins |
| 2004 | Hanley Ramirez, ss | Marlins |
| 2005 | Hanley Ramirez, ss | Marlins |
| 2006 | Andy Marte, 3b | Indians |
| 2007 | Daisuke Matsuzaka, rhp | Red Sox |
| TOP DRAFT PICKS OF THE DECADE | ||
| Year | Player, Position | 2007 |
| 1998 | Adam Everett, ss | Astros |
| 1999 | Rick Asadoorian, of | Reds |
| 2000 | Phil Dumatrait, lhp | Reds |
| 2001 | Kelly Shoppach, c (2nd) | Indians |
| 2002 | Jon Lester, lhp (2nd) | Red Sox |
| 2003 | David Murphy, of | Rangers |
| 2004 | Dustin Pedroia, ss (2nd) | Red Sox |
| 2005 | Jacoby Ellsbury, of | Red Sox |
| 2006 | Jason Place, of | Red Sox |
| 2007 | Nick Hagadone, lhp (1st supp.) | Red Sox |
| LARGEST BONUSES IN CLUB HISTORY | ||
| Daisuke Matsuzaka, 2006 | $2,000,000 | |
| Rick Asadoorian, 1999 | $1,725,500 | |
| Adam Everett, 1998 | $1,725,000 | |
| Mike Rozier, 2004 | $1,575,000 | |
| Daniel Bard, 2006 | $1,500,000 | |
| courtesy of Baseball America | ||
