The Red Sox farm system isn’t what it once was

Remember when the Boston Red Sox had one of the top farm systems, if not the best farm system, in Major League Baseball?

Yeah, that was cool. It’s not true anymore, though, and you have dealin’ Dave Dombrowski to thank for that. Now, they’re probably average to below average — somewhere in there. Baseball Prospectus released their farm system rankings this week and Boston ranked a little lower than what some expected.

It’s a premium article, but I’ll link it anyways since I am such a nice guy sometimes, but to save you the click they’re ranked 21st on those power rankings of 30 teams. So that’s right, they’re saying 20 teams have a better farm system than the Red Sox.

So what? What does this mean? I think you know what it means. The Red Sox are in World Series or bust mode these next two-three seasons. They’ve got three years of Chris Sale, two years of Rick Porcello and two years of Hanley Ramirez, just to name a few really important guys. Oh, and there’s not really many future huge impact guys in the Red Sox system anymore.

The consensus is first baseman Sam Travis and third baseman Rafael Devers will likely develop into everyday players. Then you’ve got a few guys with MLB experience who could do something. Marco Henrnandez could be a damn good utility infielder and don’t count Brian Johnson out just yet, not to mention Blake Swihart will probably be an everyday big leaguer at some point, plus Brandon Workman could be a solid reliever. But the Red Sox really don’t have much prospect talent in the upper minors…

Here’s Blake Swihart hitting a home run to make you feel better about the Red Sox poor farm system.

Maybe Baseball Prospectus is a little low on the Red Sox farm system. Maybe they’re exactly right. But the Red Sox don’t have another crop of killer B’s (Mookie Betts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Xander Bogaerts) coming up any time soon and God knows they can’t develop any pitching prospects, and so does Anthony Ranaudo.