Boston Red Sox Top 12 Prospect Rankings

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

Will Middlebrooks

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