John Sickels from Minor League Ball recently reviewed his 50/50 lists (50 best pitching prospects, 50 best hitting prospects) from last season on his blog.

This is what he has for Red Sox prospects:

Think Sickels is biting his tongue a little bit about Buchholz? By the sounds of it we already know who's going to be at the No. 1 spot for his best pitching prospects.

I'm going to keep a really close eye on Hansen this season. I'd love for him to come out of the gate in spring training and win himself a job in the bullpen. He's got the skills and we're going to need an arm like his.

If you want more of Sickels' analysis on the minors, he's releasing his annual baseball prospect book. To buy one, click here. I bought it last year and it's a good read for all the prospect fanatics out there.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to announce that we have finished Over The Monster's Top 20 Red Sox prospects list. Here is the finished list, all the way from top to bottom:

1. Ellsbury, Jacoby - OF
2. Buchholz, Clay - RHP
3. Lowrie, Jed - MIF
4. Masterson, Justin - RHP
5. Bowden, Michael - RHP
6. Anderson, Lars - 1B
7. Kalish, Ryan - OF
8. Hagadone, Nick - LHP
9. Moss, Brandon - OF
10.Middlebrooks, Will - SS
11.Tejada, Oscar - SS
12.Carter, Chris - 1B
13.Reddick, Josh - OF
14.Bates, Aaron - 1B
15.Almanzar, Michael - IF
16.Place, Jason - OF
17.Richardson, D. - LHP
18.Wagner, Mark - C
19.Johnson, Kris - LHP
20.Engel, Reid - OF

Baseball America recently released their breakdown of the Red Sox farm system. Here's their top 10 list:

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

I love their 2011 Red Sox team, too:

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
Des. 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

We only have four spots left on our top 20 prospects list. Here are the players that remain after the previous poll:

Mark Wagner - 23yo - C - notes: strong defensive catcher, good game-caller
Dustin Richardson - 23yo - LHP - notes: tall, strong lefty with curve, change
Kris Johnson - 23yo - LHP - notes: big, tall lefty should have great '08 season if not in Lancaster

Let's add a new name to the list. Here he is:

Reid Engel - 20yo - OF
Engel is another guy both Allen and I have talked about previously with good comments about. Engel is another athletic and speedy outfielder that can put the bat on the ball. Like other young outfielders in the system, Engel is raw but has had good success in the Sox system so far. In Greenville last year, Engel hit .292 with a .361 OBP in 411 at-bats. Greenville is just A-, but if he starts the season in Lancaster he should get a huge boost in stats (even more) and maybe find himself in Portland before the year is over.

Check out the right sidebar for the poll. If you have another prospect you'd like to vote for, leave a comment.

Although the votes were split all across the board, Aaron Bates grabbed enough votes to earn the No. 14 spot. With Bates on the list, we're left with the following players:

Mark Wagner - 23yo - C - notes: strong defensive catcher, good game-caller
Dustin Richardson - 23yo - LHP - notes: tall, strong lefty with curve, change
Jason Place - 19yo - OF - notes: a lot of potential, toolsy, expected to have huge 2008 season
Kris Johnson - 23yo - LHP - notes: big, tall lefty should have great '08 season if not in Lancaster

Let's add another name to this poll and battle it out for No. 15:

Michael Almanzar - 17yo - 3B/SS
If you need to watch one extremely raw prospect in 2008, watch Almanzar. He's got a lot of potential and a lot of skills but he needs to polish them all off and become a great baseball player. He's 6'5" with a really good bat but his defense is questionable. He reminds me of Alex Rodriguez (don't read too deep into this) because he's well built at such a young age. I'll definitely be checking the box scores for his name every day next season.

Click "Entry Link" to vote in the poll or you can vote on the right sidebar.

In our last poll, Chris Carter walked away with the No. 12 spot. Carter, 25, found his slot while Josh Reddick earned enough votes to be able to slide in behind him. Here are the leftovers in the poll:

Mark Wagner - 23yo - C - notes: strong defensive catcher, good game-caller
Dustin Richardson - 23yo - LHP - notes: tall, strong lefty with curve, change
Aaron Bates - 23yo - 1B - notes: power potential, amazing OBP ability

Let's add two more names to the list:

Kris Johnson - 23yo - LHP (Profile)
If you look at his numbers in 2007, then you're probably shocked that he'd be suggested to slot in this area. However, he's a very similar pitcher to Justin Masterson. Masterson also had a poor season at Lancaster until he was promoted to Portland where he was lights out for the first few weeks. I think Johnson would do the same thing with a promotion. His Lowell numbers are great, Lancaster horrible, but with a change of scenery he could put up more great numbers.

Jason Place - 19yo - OF (Profile)
I might get some heat for throwing Place in here so early after his poor 2007 season at Greenville, but his numbers weren't really that bad. Place was one of our first round draft picks in 2006 straight out of high school. That's the problem with drafting out of high school: they've got raw talent but they need time to develop. Place needs quite a bit of time to develop. He's not going to hit .350 his first season in the organization. I think this year will be his breakout year. He has all the tools, he just needs to put them all together and become comfortable at the plate. If he goes to Lancaster, expect great numbers.

The poll is attached to this post if you click "Entry Link." Or vote on the right sidebar of the main page.

Update [2007-12-21 18:22:11 by Randy Booth]: I just wanted to clarify that "immaculately orchestrated" is just me being dramatic and sarcastic. I honestly see no problem with "ballot stuffing" because anyone can do it. It's not like we can only vote once like SOME voting processes (but our votes DO count).

Thanks to an immaculately orchestrated campaign by his mother, Will Middlebrooks grabbed the No. 10 on Over The Monster's top prospects list. Oscar Tejada grabbed enough votes to slide in at No. 11.

That leaves us with Chris Carter, a holdover from a couple polls now, Josh Reddick and Aaron Bates. Let's add two more names to the list:

Mark Wagner - 23 years old - Catcher
Dustin Richardson - 23 yrs old - LHP

Now if anyone has ever stood-in on the conversations Allen and I have had regarding Wagner, you might think this is kind of a bias putting him up here, considering he isn't top 20 for SoxProspects or John Sickels. But how can you argue his numbers? They're excellent PLUS he's a catcher, where the Sox are pretty thin in the talent department.

I'm high on Richardson, like Sickels. He's another big lefty with good K/BB numbers. He is a starter now but may be more suited for the bullpen down the road.

If you have another player you'd like to vote for, choose "Other" and say who it is in the comments. Poll is on the right sidebar or available if you click "Entry Link" below.

OverTheMonster.com's top prospects list has been updated through slot No. 9. Nick Hagadone earned the honors at No. 8 while Brandon Moss slid in behind him. Now it's time to hit double digits.

Leftover from the previous poll are "toolsy" Will Middlebrooks, "youngster" Oscar Tejada and "the power threat" Chris Carter. Let's add two new names to the discussion:

Aaron Bates - 23 yrs old - 1B - 6'4", 227 - PROFILE
Josh Reddick - 20 yrs old - OF - 6'2", 180 - PROFILE

Personally, I like Bates more than Reddick as No. 10 on this list. A lot of people think Bates will just kind of fizzle out, but how can you not like a man with that kind of OBP? In 98 games at Lancaster, Bates hit .332 with a .456 OBP.

Reddick displayed a lot of skills in Greenville last year. He hit .306 with 18 home runs in 369 at-bats. Reddick is still pretty raw, but has a lot of upside.

I'm going to cut the voting off once we get 50 votes. I think it'll speed up the process a little more. So start voting now!

Just an update regarding the voting for OTM's No. 7 prospect. Through 72 votes, Ryan Kalish holds a slim 5 vote lead over Nick Hagadone. Will Middlebrooks is just 6 votes behind Hagadone as well. Brandon Moss only trails Middlebrooks by one vote.

Hagadone supporters need to keep pushing for their man, but I'm not sure if the Kalish-Train can be stopped. I will run voting until about 100 or so and declare a winner.

The "Lars Anderson movement" was easy. We don't even need to wait for 100 votes or whatever, because Anderson was dominating the poll. At this time, Anderson is leading with 71 percent of the vote. His closest competitor didn't even have 10 percent of the vote.

Now it's time to move on. This is where it gets really interesting, though. I'll add no one to the current poll because we already have a stocked lineup here. Here are your options:

• Ryan Kalish (sp.com) OF 19 yrs
• Nick Hagadone (sp.com) LHP 21
• Brandon Moss (sp.com) OF 24
• Oscar Tejada (sp.com) SS 17
• Chris Carter (sp.com) 1B 25
• Will Middlebrooks (sp.com) SS 19

To vote, click "Entry Link" below or vote on the right sidebar.