ESPN.com’s Keith Law thinks very highly of the Boston Red Sox minor league system.
Law released his annual prospect rankings this week and three Red Sox farmhands appear on his 2015 list. The ESPN insider concluded that Boston has the fifth-best farm system in Major League Baseball going into this season.
Catcher Blake Swihart is the highest-ranked Red Sox prospect on Law’s individual prospect list. He’s considered the 10th-best prospect in baseball, just ahead of the Texas Rangers’ Joey Gallo (No. 11) and just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Julio Urias (No. 9).
Swihart is the Red Sox’s top prospect overall, according to SoxProspects.com. MLB.com recently ranked Swihart as the top catching prospect in baseball.
Left-handed pitchers Henry Owens (20) and Eduardo Rodriguez (29) also landed in Law’s top 50. Owens, a first-round draft pick in 2011, is coming off a breakout season with Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket. Rodriguez thrived at Portland after being acquired from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for reliever Andrew Miller last July.
Law wrote the following of the Red Sox’s farm system.
“The Red Sox lost four top-10 prospects to promotions last year, yet they remain a top-5 system, thanks to big moves forward by Blake Swihart, Manuel Margot and Rafael Devers, the latter of whom will play all of 2015 at age 18, and the midseason trade that netted them lefty Eduardo Rodriguez, now their No. 2-ranked pitching prospect.”
The Chicago Cubs have the best farm system in baseball, according to Law. The Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros and New York Mets rank second, third and fourth, respectively.
Thumbnail photo via Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports Images
