Baseball America names Yoan Moncada best prospect in South Atlantic League

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Baseball America has named a Red Sox prospect the top talent in minor league X, Y, or Z. It started with Anderson Espinoza in the GCL, continued with Andrew Benintendi in the New York - Penn League, and now stretches into Single-A, where Yoan Moncada took the number one spot in the South Atlantic League.

Moncada qualifying almost feels...unfair. When he was first signed back in February, many expected the then-19-year-old to start as high as Double-A Portland. But after an extensive run in extended spring training, the Red Sox decided to take it slow with their Cuban star and send him to Greenville to shake off the rust.

And rust there certainly was! It's easy to forget just how slow Moncada started, but Moncada's line dipped as low as .212/.288/.303 as late as June 11 after his 18th game in the SAL. But he soon got up to speed, and in July hit .316/.419/.526 before climbing even higher in August. All told, after Greenville's All-Star break, Moncada hit .310/.415/.500 in 216 at bats. More than enough to show that the early struggles were just about the nearly year-long break between actual games surrounding his departure from Cuba.

Moncada was not the only member of the stacked drive team to make the top-10, either. Javier Guerra and Rafael Devers landed fourth and fifth respectively, which is actually pretty surprising. Not because both are so high, but because Guerra pipped Devers, The two had extremely similar seasons in terms of statistics, and Guerra is a slick-fielding shortstop. But Devers is Boston's highly-regarded slugging prospect while Guerra kind of came out of nowhere, to say nothing of the fact that Guerra is more than a full year older than Devers. The Red Sox, I'm sure, are happy either way.

Also making the list, down at number 10, is Michael Kopech, who had a strong 2015 campaign cut short by a 50-game suspension after testing positive for the amphetamine Oxilofrine. Kopech denied using the stimulant, but it's going to be an uphill climb getting back in the organization's good graces and overcoming the long layoff he earned himself.

That's three levels, and three top spots for the Red Sox, but it seems likely to fall off from here. The Sox had a pair of strong prospects who bounced between High-A and Double-A in Sam Travis and Manuel Margot, but top billing seems like a bit much for either man. And when it comes to Triple-A, their best candidates all spent most of the year in Boston. Still, with so much young talent already in the majors, the Red Sox won't mind having their best talent concentrated in the lower levels for now.