TOP TEN PROSPECTS 1. Xander Bogaerts, ss 2. Jackie Bradley, of 3. Matt Barnes, rhp 4. Allen Webster, rhp 5. Henry Owens, lhp 6. Blake Swihart, c 7. Garin Cecchini, 3b 8. Bryce Brentz, of 9. Jose Iglesias, ss 10. Deven Marrero, ss BEST TOOLS Best Hitter for Average Jackie Bradley Best Power Hitter Xander Bogaerts Best Strike Zone Discipline Jackie Bradley Fastest Baserunner Tzu-Wei Lin Best Athlete Xander Bogaerts Best Fastball Matt Barnes Best Curveball Brandon Workman Best Slider Alex Wilson Best Changeup Henry Owens Best Control Brandon Workman Best Defensive Catcher Christian Vazquez Best Defensive Infielder Jose Iglesias Best Infield Arm Garin Cecchini Best Defensive OF Jackie Bradley Best Outfield Arm Jackie Bradley PROJECTED 2017 LINEUP Catcher Blake Swihart First Base Jerry Sands Second Base Dustin Pedroia Third Base Will Middlebrooks Shortstop Xander Bogaerts Left Field Jacoby Ellsbury Center Field Jackie Bradley Right Field Bryce Brentz Designated Hitter Garin Cecchini No. 1 Starter Jon Lester No. 2 Starter Clay Buchholz No. 3 Starter Matt Barnes No. 4 Starter Allen Webster No. 5 Starter Henry Owens Closer Rubby de la Rosa For the Red Sox, 2012 was as embarrassing as 2011 was painful. Boston lost 20 of its final 27 games in 2011, with the biggest September collapse in baseball history taking the team from the American League's best record to out of the playoffs. Two days after the season ended, the Red Sox declined the option on the contract of Terry Francona, their most successful manager ever. General manager Theo Epstein, the architect of the franchise's first World Series championship teams since 1918, left to become the Cubs' president of baseball operations in late October. Senior vice president/assistant GM Ben Cherington took over for his former boss. His first major task was to hire Francona's replacement, with Dale Sveum as his top choice. But ownership declined to make an offer to Sveum, who joined Epstein in Chicago, and pushed Bobby Valentine on Cherington. Concerns that Valentine's outspoken personality wouldn't mesh well with a veteran club quickly came true. He alienated many of his players by calling out Mike Aviles during spring training and Kevin Youkilis in April. Four days after Valentine left Jon Lester in to give up 11 runs to the Blue Jays on July 22, players met with owner John Henry and president Larry Lucchino to blast the manager. At that point, the Red Sox were on the fringe of wild-card contention with a 49-50 record. When Boston dropped 16 of its next 27 games, ownership and Cherington decided to blow up the roster. The Red Sox shipped Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford, who joined the club in blockbuster moves three days apart in December 2010, to the Dodgers. World Series hero-turned-malcontent Josh Beckett and Nick Punto also headed to Los Angeles. Boston not only shed $261 million in salary commitments, but also managed to acquire a pair of quality arms in Rubby de la Rosa and Allen Webster, along with James Loney, Jerry Sands and Ivan DeJesus Jr. While the trade gave the Red Sox much more flexibility for the future, it destroyed their present. They won just nine of their last 36 games, finishing at 69-93. Boston fired Valentine the day after the end of their worst season since 1965, and traded Aviles to get manager John Farrell from the Blue Jays. Farrell worked well with the Red Sox front office when he was the team's pitching coach from 2007-10. Farrell takes over a team that hasn't won a playoff game since 2008, its longest drought in 15 years, and hasn't reached the postseason in the last three seasons despite baseball's second-largest payroll during that time. Both the rotation and the bullpen wilted in 2012, and the club's primary focus this offseason will be rebuilding the pitching staff. Young players did provide positive developments in Boston, with Will Middlebrooks homering 15 times in 75 games and fellow rookie Felix Doubront tying for the team lead with 11 victories. Down on the farm, shortstop Xander Bogaerts continued to develop rapidly while several 2011 draft picks (outfielder Jackie Bradley, righthander Matt Barnes, lefthander Henry Owens, catcher Blake Swihart) provided intriguing early returns. Even so, the Red Sox will need more than those youngsters to ease the pain and embarrassment of the last two seasons. http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/organization-top-10-prospects/2013/2614265.html --

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