Fresh from the farm

Many of you asked who the real prospects are in the Sox system, beyond the usual names like Lars Anderson and Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden and Daniel Bard. There is more talent out there, especially in the lower- and mid-levels of the farm system. And, of course, I was happy to answer questions about the names you already know, especially since you may get to know some of them even better this summer. A player like Bard could be ready to help the Sox by the middle of the season and bolster an already-strong bullpen. Perhaps even Anderson could find himself in Boston, if the circumstances work out.

With that -- and spring training coming up fast -- we'll head to the questions. We'll see you (and six of those prospects, along with the rest of the major league Sox) when we head to Fort Myers, Fla., in less than three weeks. At least there won't be any more snow in Florida, I hope . . .

I like your idea to devote an entire mailbag to the minor leaguers. I want to know more about Lars Anderson. After an intriguing interview in baseball prospectus I have become quite curious about him. He sounds unusually thoughtful and it looks like he can hit (if both are true, he could be the best interview since Bill Lee). Any chance we'll see him at Fenway soon?
Dan, Des Moines, Iowa

A: Sure, there's a chance. While Lars Anderson is projected to reach Fenway Park in 2010, there are certainly circumstances under which he could be promoted to the Red Sox this season. The team's director of player development, Mike Hazen, said Anderson, whose highest level of experience so far is 41 games in Double A, should not be surprised if the Sox choose to bring him up to the major leagues this season, the same answer he gave about whether Daniel Bard might make an appearance. There are certain things Anderson needs to do to continue his development, as is the case with most prospects, but it's easy to see how much the Sox like him now -- and how much they could like him even more in the future.

How do the Sox view Daniel Bard? Starter, closer, middle relief,? I've heard that he can top out at 100 miles per hour. Is that true? What role do you ultimately see for him in the major leagues? I am very intrigued.
Nick, Fall River

A: Nick, you might already have seen the answer to this question in my story from last Thursday, but I'll give you a recap. With the success that Bard has had as a reliever (and even briefly as a closer at the end of last season), the Sox feel that they would be foolish to push him back into a starting role. So he's staying put in the bullpen, which might be a very good thing for the Sox at the end of games -- and perhaps soon. Bard has definitely hit 100 miles per hour in the minor leagues on a semi-regular basis, and Sox minor league field coordinator Rob Leary had some very strong praise for Bard last Wednesday. Leary put Bard's power arm up with pitchers like Randy Johnson and Armando Benitez. That's quite a statement. Don't be surprised if you see Bard in the major leagues by the middle of the summer, as the Sox have done with a few pitchers in recent years.

Thanks for focusing one of your excellent "Ask Amalie" forums on the Sox minor leaguers. As a longtime believer in pitching winning championships, I would appreciate finding out how much leeway each minor league team's pitching coach has with regard to imprinting young pitchers or is there more of a centralized approach that is followed to the letter by each pitching coach?
Jeff, Knoxville, Tenn.

A: Thanks for participating, Jeff. That's a great question, and I'll let people far smarter than me answer it. "[We] strive for continuity from level to level and also the overall message," Mike Hazen said last summer. While each pitching coach has his own style and methods, the team wants to make sure that their prospects get a consistent message and path as they move up the ranks. The team certainly doesn't want to confuse its top pitching prospects, thinking they already have enough to process without changing the concepts each year. Here's Double A pitching coach Mike Cather on the subject of the Red Sox' approach to minor league pitching: "There's constant communication. I think that's the one thing that surprised me most about coaching is how much emphasis is put on the key things, that the focus is always there and staying with the program. You can see when there's consistency in the information going to the players, you can see the adjustments that they make -- it's like, what's next? Where are we at now? Now we've got to start holding runners. Now we've got to execute the off-speed behind in the count. Now we can go to the next level. It seems like when you break it down into little parts like that, you accomplish the big things early and the good ones figure it out. . . . This is what we're looking for: fastball command, first-pitch strikes, pitching ahead in the count, recognizing swings and pitching to your strengths, when a negative happens, to learn from it."

Thanks for doing the mailbags, it adds a lot to my/our knowledge. Can you explain why the Sox dropped the Lancaster JetHawks as their high A affiliate? I thought it was a great marketing idea (increasing their visibility, giving more of a spread to their geographic coverage) although I'm not unaware that the trend has been to bring minor league teams into close proximity to the MLB club. Anyway it was a great opportunity for us Left Coast Sox fans to see the kids on their way up, and a fine expedition up the windy high desert . . .
Sad, Los Angeles

A: I'm sorry you're so disappointed that the Sox have vacated their digs in Lancaster, but the team was never going to stay there long. Basically the reason the Sox headed out to California in the first place was an unfortunate divorce from Wilmington, their former high Single A affiliate. The team didn't want to leave Wilmington, but was forced to do so, so they settled for signing a two-year deal with the JetHawks. There was a lot of unhappiness with the conditions in Lancaster, with the high winds and difficulty of evaluating some of the talent. There were a lot of complaints expressed privately by those who had to deal with Lancaster, including the desire to leave after the first season there. That didn't happen, of course, but the Sox were clearly not going to stay there longer than the two-year deal. Having their affiliate now closer to Boston (Salem, Va.) will also allow members of the front office to head down to see the organization's talent there more often.

I was just wondering what your thoughts are on how the organization views Argenis Diaz's future. From what I understand, he is absolutely phenomenal on defense while a bit below average on offense (like our good old friend Alex Gonzalez). Personally, I've never had more fun watching a shortstop than during Gonzalez's brief stay. An infield with Youk, Pedroia, Diaz, and Lowell would be top notch. Or do you think he would be viewed as a utility infielder because of his weaker bat.
Evan, Mahopac, NY

A: I posed your question to Mike Hazen. Here are his views on Argenis Diaz, who participated in the Rookie Development Program this year: "He's put on a little bit of size and strength. I think the second half of [last] year was far better than the first half of the year from a consistency standpoint. Obviously getting promoted to Double A helped that as well. We've continued to try to stress -- he's a very good defensive player -- continued to try to stress the routine play, constantly making the routine [play]. That's what big leaguers do, they make the routine. He can make the flashy one too, but don't worry so much about that. Then the offensive consistency from an on-base standpoint. He's aware of that too. Those are the two big things that we're trying to work on here." There's still a lot of development that needs to happen with Diaz at this point, both offensively and defensively. Then again, he's still young, with his 22d birthday coming up in February.

Other than Lars Anderson, Michael Bowden, and Daniel Bard, who are the top prospects in the Red Sox organization? It seems that you always hear about these three, along with Clay Buchholz, and almost no one else is ever mentioned. There must be some good field players in the farm.
Kevin, New Jersey

A: Here are some "other" names to follow in the Sox minor league system: outfielder Ryan Kalish, outfielder Josh Reddick, third baseman Michael Almanzar, catcher Luis Exposito, pitcher Junichi Tazawa, pitcher Nick Hagadone, and outfielder Ryan Westmoreland. They are all at different levels of experience, from the just-drafted Westmoreland to the coming-off-Tommy John-surgery Hagadone to the Japanese import Tazawa. I'm not saying all these players will make the major leagues, but they're part of the talent that has led to the Sox system rated as one of the top systems in baseball.

How can you explain the different first-year results of Casey Kelly and Derrik Gibson? Kelly did well at Lowell and Gibson didn't, and Gibson did well in the Gulf Coast and the Kelly didn't. After Kelly pitched in the Instructional League do the Sox still feel he has more upside as a pitcher?
R.Gil, Verona, NJ

A: As for the first part of the question, I can't. That's something that happens. You can't really compare players in that way. But as for the second part of the question, the Sox do feel that Casey Kelly has more upside as a pitcher. Kelly has expressed the desire to play shortstop -- his preferred position -- and the Sox will honor that by letting him move to shortstop after reaching his innings limit in 2009. We'll see if he can prove to the organization that he deserves to stay at shortstop or if their initial belief (that he should be on the mound) wins out.

Minors mailbag is a great idea and I hope you'll encourage more minors questions (so fans can get more answers), perhaps by answering at least one minors question from each bag -- even during the season. Here are a few of mine: We've heard a lot about the Sox pitching prospects (maybe because we have so many good ones) but not as much about positional prospects, aside from the catchers (for obvious reasons) and Lars Anderson (because of the way the Teixeira saga dragged out). Who are the Sox' top prospects at each position, from your vantage point? As for the pitchers, we've heard a lot about the 3 B's (Buchholz, Bard, Bowden) but what about the two guys who actually tore up 2008 at Triple-A Pawtucket (Charlie Zink and David Pauley)? Are they just trade bait waiting to happen? Are either or both the dreaded "AAAA" prospect? What do you see for them in 2009 and beyond? Thanks in advance and have fun in Florida!
Brian, Montpellier, France

A: Thanks, Brian. If I get more minors questions during the season, I'm always happy to answer them. You haven't heard as much about positional prospects beyond Lars Anderson because the Sox don't have a lot of positional prospects at the upper levels of the system. Bringing up Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie and trading Brandon Moss and David Murphy has left the system slightly depleted. A bit lower in the minors you'll find outfielders Josh Reddick and Ryan Kalish. Michael Almanzar is lower still, but he could be special at third base.

As for Charlie Zink and David Pauley, both were recently designated for assignment, and Pauley was eventually traded to the Orioles for righthander Randor Bierd. Zink was designated to make room for Rocco Baldelli on the 40-man roster, while Pauley was removed to make room for John Smoltz. Zink re-signed a minor league deal with the Sox, so he'll be back for next season. Neither of these pitchers are really considered prospects at this point. Remember, for example, when Pauley was supposed to get a start near the end of last season, but was replaced by Michael Bowden for his major league debut? I'd say they're quality Triple A players, but not really major leaguers.

I'm a huge Tim Wakefield fan -- may he play forever. Is Zink's knuckler much different? Zink's been designated for assignment to make room for new players. What does that mean for Charlie? He had a one-game try out after a terrific minor league year, and, let's face it, it could have gone better. The best pitchers in the game stink once in a while. What is the future of this knuckleballer, do you think?
John, Singapore

A: From catchers who have caught both Wakefield and Zink -- like Kevin Cash -- the two knuckleballs are different. Zink's knuckleball doesn't move as much or in the same way as Wakefield's. But, for either pitcher, it's not exactly easy to predict where the knuckleball is going to go. As I said before, Zink has re-signed a minor league deal with the Sox and will likely spend the season in Triple A. The Sox have kept him on and given him chances in prior years when Zink himself thought he might be released. Zink definitely didn't impress in his one-game major league stint, pitching 4 1/3 innings in that wild 19-17 Sox win over the Rangers, but that doesn't necessarily mean he won't get another chance. He certainly won't be first in line, with Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden far higher in the hierarchy of Sox pitching prospects. But there's a chance he'll get another shot if the Sox need an emergency starter for a game at some point.

Is there any chance that the Sox will fill their bench vacancies with some of the upcoming kids, like Chris Carter, Jeff Bailey, and George Kottaras? I'd love to see what they can do given the opportunity.
Frank, Naugatuck, Conn.

A: At this point there aren't really any vacancies left, as it would seem as if the Sox will eventually fill that last catcher spot. While Chris Carter and Jeff Bailey have the potential to be up with the major league club at some point -- if only to fill a spot for a series or so -- they probably won't be significant factors with the team this season. As for George Kottaras, there are definite concerns about his abilities behind the plate, though he has improved over the last year. While Theo Epstein has been vocal about how the team could go into spring training with Josh Bard, Dusty Brown, and Kottaras as the catchers, that would be a scenario that would probably not particularly please the team's front office.

What do you think of the catchers in the Red Sox system? Is it far-fetched to think the two they used in Pawtucket last year could combine with Bard to meet their needs in 2009? As I understand it one hit 22 homers in roughly 300 at bats, which is pretty good. How good are Mark Wagner and Luis Exposito and how soon can we expect them to reach the majors?
Mark, Sharon

A: The combination of George Kottaras and Dusty Brown, as I said above, is probably not the answer (along with Josh Bard) for the Red Sox this season. The Sox consider Bard to be a backup, and neither of the other two catchers is prepared at this point to step into the starting catching role for the Sox. As for the other two catchers, Mark Wagner is ahead of Luis Exposito, though I have heard that Exposito might ultimately be the better prospect. From what I've been told, Exposito has a good arm and is good at calling a game. He lacks experience, especially because he missed a year of development (sent home for a violation of team rules), and needs to work on his receiving. As for Mark Wagner, Mike Hazen was asked about the Double A catcher at last week's Rookie Development Program. "We felt like he had a pretty good offensive year, even though the numbers didn't indicate it as well," Hazen said. "He does have a pretty good feel at the plate from an on-base percentage standpoint, pitch selectivity. We think he's going to get a little bit better there from his overall numbers standpoint. Defensively, he throws as well as anybody in the organization." Hazen also emphasized that, because of all the different things catchers need to focus on, it is a position that takes a bit longer to develop than other positions.

How are the Sox feeling about Bubba Bell? Have they lost interest in him or do they see him as a good prospect to hold on to? And what are his chances for making the big leagues anytime soon?
Karyn, North Stonington, Conn.

A: You've hit on one of my favorite minor leaguers to talk to in the Sox system, Karyn. While Bubba Bell produced quite a bit at the minor league level two years ago -- a .370 average in Lancaster before being promoted to Portland -- he's not likely to be a factor for the Red Sox. He's a good organizational prospect, pretty impressive for a guy drafted in the 39th round of the 2005 draft out of Nicholls State in Louisiana. He spent last season in Portland, though he only played 79 games while dealing with injuries. This upcoming season could be a big one for the outfielder, who wasn't added to the 40-man roster before the Rule 5 draft and was therefore left exposed to being picked by another team.