There is so much attention paid to farm system rankings and prospect rankings in general these days. This is a good thing — baseball is good, ergo, more baseball content is good. But it often feels like some people genuinely believe that having a great farm system is an end in and of itself, as opposed to what it’s supposed to be: a means of achieving the greater end of winning baseball games (and just one of several means, at that). Those people are probably extremely happy today, because for the first time in history, the Red Sox have the best farm system in the game according to Baseball America. The fact that they’ve achieved this despite having just dealt several highly-rated prospects to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet speaks to to just how rare it is for one team to have talents like Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer all percolating at the same time. (Baseball America)
And given that talent, it’s no wonder that the Sox will have two of the top 30 rookie of the year candidates in spring training. (Jim Bowden, The Athletic)
Of course Anthony, Campbell, and Mayer aren’t the only minor leaguers to get excited about. Here are some less-heralded names to keep an eye on. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
But for all the depth in the minor league system, the Red Sox still have holes on the big league roster. One of the most glaring ones is at second base. Who is going to be taking throws from Trevor Story when spring training starts next week? (Julian McWilliams, Boston Globe)
For that matter, who is going to be manning third base? The Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado rumors remain alive and well, with new reports that Nolan Arenado is “highly motivated” to force his way onto the Red Sox. (Adam London, NESN)
And it’s not as if the rumors don’t have any basis in reality: we do know that the Red Sox and Cardinals have engaged in trade talks about Arenado. (Conor Ryan, Boston.com)
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