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Bradley Ankrom, who authored Over the Monster's top 15 prospects list earlier this off-season, has released his top 100 prospects list at his site, twentyeighty. Ankrom broke things up not only by top 100 overall, but by position and team, too, making it easy to find the five Red Sox farmhands included among the top 100 in the minors.
If you read Ankrom's top 15 Sox' prospects list, you should have no problem figuring out who the top five are here. If not, though:
14. Xander Bogaerts, SS
39. Matt Barnes, RHP
45. Jackie Bradley, Jr., OF
52. Allen Webster, RHP
85. Blake Swihart, C
Context against the rest of the league is always a positive, since all you get with the team-based lists is where these players rank against their own internal competition. With that, Bogaerts could be the best for one expert, but only the #30 prospect or whatever when compared to the rest of the league. (Take Keith Law, for example, who loves Allen Webster more than most, but also dislikes Matt Barnes more than many, but the difference in valuation could not be drawn out within Boston's list alone.) With that in mind, it's good to see Ankrom likes Bogaerts a whole lot on a national scale, too, not just a local one.
As for the Red Sox prospects who aren't there, we bugged Ankrom to delve into more detail. Garin Cecchini, whom Ankrom ranked sixth in Boston's top 15, would sit in the "110-120 range." Cecchini was included in the initial list of names that needed to be pared down, and while he didn't make the cut, it doesn't seem as if he missed by all that much, either. As for non-prospect, but still minor-league pitcher, Rubby De La Rosa? Ankrom says De La Rosa would sit somewhere in the 60-80 range were he eligible, and he sees "a good number three starter if everything works out." If not, then De La Rosa is "another weapon in the back of the bullpen." Sounds like the Rubby we know and love.
You can read Ankrom answer questions about his top 100 at his blog, and follow him on Twitter at @BradleyAnkrom.