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The lockout may have brought baseball to a standstill and the offseason to a complete freeze, but they cannot stop the engine that is the Over the Monster community top prospect voting. For those new to the community this year, or just those with short memories, we do this leading up to every season to put together the top 20 prospects in the Boston Red Sox organization.
Before we get into how this actually works, though, let’s take a quick look at how things shook out last winter and spring. Here was the end result of last year’s top 20 voting.
- Triston Casas
- Jeter Downs
- Bryan Mata
- Jarren Duran
- Gilberto Jimenez
- Noah Song
- Bobby Dalbec
- Tanner Houck
- Connor Seabold
- Aldo Ramirez
- Thad Ward
- Jay Groome
- Nick Yorke
- Ronaldo Hernández
- Blaze Jordan
- Brayan Bello
- Eduard Bazardo
- Chris Murphy
- Garrett Whitlock
- Connor Wong
Since we put together this list a year ago, it’s safe to say a lot has changed with this farm system. It was on the rise even at this point in 2021, but last season was the big step forward. Some of these names have broken out in big ways, with those in the bottom half poised to make a jump to the top. Others will see their positions fall. Some, like Houck and Whitlock, have played themselves off the list as graduates of the farm system. Another, Ramirez, will be off the list after being used to acquire Kyle Schwarber in the summer.
This year’s list should be an exciting one, with legitimate debates to be had over just about every position, and more often than not a debate over two legitimately good prospects. We’ll get started today with the coveted top spot, and each subsequent vote will be on Tuesday and Friday of every week. Tuesday votes will run through midnight Thursday into Friday, while Friday votes will run through midnight into Tuesday.
As for the process, we’ll be using the same comment-based system we’ve used for the last few years. Just like in previous years I’ve debated trying the poll system again, but that just hasn’t worked in the past and it’s not worth the hassle. So instead, you can head down to the comment section to cast your vote. There, I will have a comment entitled “Vote for Player X” along with a bit of biographical information on the prospect. To cast your vote, find the comment with the player for whom you’d wish to vote and hit the “rec” button. If the player you’d like to vote for is not there, add your own comment with “Vote for Player Y” and I will rec that to count as your vote.
And for a couple of final notes, I should mention that in order to participate you do need to be a member of the site. Fortunately that is not a difficult process and it is also free. Just go to the top of the screen and click the icon to the left of the search bar and sign up there. Also, tiebreakers will be decided by composite rankings from other sites. And finally, we certainly encourage discussion for these votes, but if you are adding a new comment please do so below all of the voting comments so we don’t push any players down the page.
Happy voting all. See you when the dust clears in March.