White Sox to claim Manny Ramirez – Manny is expected to hit the waiver wire any time now. The Dodgers, like the Red Sox two years ago, are simply fed up with him and want him gone. According to FoxSports, the Chicago White Sox are prepared to claim him and try and work a deal. This was probably the best news that I have heard in a while because you know the Devil Rays would kill to add him to their lineup. And say what you want about Manny, when he is on the field, the dude can hit. If you put him in that Rays lineup they become that much better and you can bet your ass teams will fear him.

I love how Rajon Rondo quit on Team USA – According to WEEI.com, Rondo claimed there were family matters and other things he needed to attend to before the NBA season started. Call me insensitive, but I’m calling bullshit. Rondo was pissed that he wasn’t getting the love that he deserved so he walked out, and I am perfectly OK with that. The kid thinks he is kind of a big deal and demands the respect of a top player in the league. Nothing wrong with that. I guarantee you if he was the starter and not Derrick Rose he would not have quit the team, and you can take that to the bank.

Belichick on Maroney: “I think he’s ready” – Coach Bill talked earlier today about Laurence Maroney and whether or not he was over the case of fumblitis that he contracted last season, and it sounds like he is in pretty good shape. I have been waiting a long time for Maroney to put up an all pro year. In fact, I think I have predicted it for at least the last two, if not three seasons. He is like Alex Gordon (Roayls 3B). Every year I claim he will live up to his lofty potential, and every year he ends up on my fantasy team, and every year he ends up disappointing. Please don’t do me wrong again Laurence. I beg you.

Can we have Lackey pitch every game against the Mariners? Is there a way this can happen? Because he sucks against every other team, even the shitty ones, but for whatever reason dominates the Mariners. Yea, I get that they suck and all, but it’s not just that. The stuff he had in both his starts this year against them has been disgusting. First, he took a no no into the eighth inning out on the left coast earlier this year, and just last night he showed us a fastball that Boston fans haven’t seen since he mowed us down last fall in the playoffs en route to striking out ten over eight innings. Someone needs to play these two tapes on repeat until the guy can figure out his act and pitch like that every game. Please.

Mike Reiss took a look at the Patriots 2008 draft earlier today and the results were not pretty. Two third round picks are no longer with the team (Shawn Crable and Kevin O’Connell) and their second round pick is struggling to make the team (Terrence Wheatley). Good thing they cleaned up in 2009 and 2010 to make up for it.

Anthony Rizzo now has 23 home runs while playing most of the year at AA Portland. For those who don’t know, Rizzo is only 21 years old, and missed a season battling Hodkins Lymphoma. People need to keep an eye on this kid, because he is on the fast track to major league stardom. The Sox are due to produce a home run hitter from their farm system one of these years, maybe he can be the first.

The biggest summer acquisition to the Red Sox this year is likely going to come in the form of adding Felix Doubront to the bullpen in about a week. We have seen him dominate the minors this year and hold his own in two spot starts. Now, we are going to see what he can do coming on in relief.

The first step in this transition was taken this afternoon when Doubront pitched two innings of relief for the Pawtucket Red Sox. Doubront threw 14 of 18 pitches for strikes and allowed only one hit while striking out two and recording the four other outs via ground balls.

It’s unclear who the Red Sox are going to replace with Doubront, but there certainly is no shortage for shitty relievers in our bullpen that could use a demotion.

Look for him to make a couple more relief appearances before we see him in Boston. Hopefully he can bring a reliable seventh inning man to bridge the gap between the starter and Bard/Papelbon.

Anthony Ranaudo continues to impress during his stint in the Cape Cod Summer League. In his most recent outing he threw six innings tallying 9 strikeouts to only 1 walk and 0 earned runs. His line for the season now looks like this:

3-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.61 WHIP, 5 GS, 29.2 IP, 31 K, 8 BB, 10 H, 9.40 K/9.

While I understand it is against college level players, it is still quite an impressive run. After the Red Sox selected him in the sandwich round I felt pretty good about their chances signing him. But with Boras on the other side of the table there was still a pretty good chance that he would return to LSU and re-enter the draft in 2011. Now, after seeing the video and hearing the scouting reports there is no doubt in my mind that this guy is a member of the Red Sox organization come the signing deadline on August 16th.

If you follow this blog on a daily basis, you know by now that Ranaudo was projected as a top 5-10 pick entering the 2010 college season. Due to injuries and mechanical problems he struggled during the season causing concerns among major league scouts. This was the main reason he came to the Cape, to prove that he is indeed healthy and still deserving of top 10 money. Now I don’t know about Theo Epstein, but the kid has me convinced. The Red Sox have done a good job in recent years not letting top prospects get away due to high bonus demands and one has to think that they will continue with this trend. The deal won’t be announced until close to August 16th to appease the commissioner, but if I was 70% sure he would sign when the Sox made the pick, I am now 95% sure after seeing him pitch five games down the Cape.

(2009 3rd round pick, David Renfroe)

Tuesday night, instead of watching the All Star game, Keith Law was in Lowell watching the Spinners take on the Cyclones in the short season New York Penn League. He posted in his blog some comments on what he saw Wednesday morning, but it is only for ESPN Insiders. For those who don’t have insider, I’ll sum up his thoughts for you, I can’t get in too much trouble for that, right?

Kolbrin Vitek – The Red Sox first pick in the 2010 draft hit his first professional home run, a grand slam on a two strike curve ball. Law thinks he has a great athletic body, good bat speed, strong hands, a steady head, good extension, and can already adjust to different pitches in different situations. Law seemed most impressed by his ability to stay back on off speed pitches and says he actually was putting a better swing on them than he was the fastballs. Vitek didn’t play in the field but looked shaky at third during warm ups and also showed average speed.

Bryce Brentz – Law loves Brentz, he talked him up before the draft, and raved when the Sox picked him with their second pick last month. He just needs to stop trying to hit the ball 500 feet every time up. He showed a good swing in BP and squared up a lot of balls leading Law to believe it’s a mental thing more than anything else as there is nothing wrong with his mechanics.

Brandon Jacobs – Law says Jacobs has dropped all of his football weight leaving him a body more flexible and much better suited for baseball. He was out in front a lot but showed incredibly strong hands and good control of the bat head. He saw a lot of off speed pitches striking out twice on sliders out of the zone, but then made good adjustments in his later at bats to pick up hits on a change up and slider.

David Renfroe – Coming into the season, Renfroe was one of the guys I was most excited for. The big third baseman was a tough sign out of the third round in the 2009 draft and was one of the top high school prospects but was said to have a strong commitment to the University of Mississippi. Funny what $1.4 million can do for you. Unfortunately, Law seemed lest impressed with his play than anyone else.

“If you asked me right now to bet $100 on whether he’d be a big leaguer or not, I’d ride the money in the latter category.”

Perhaps it was just a bad night for Renfroe, but he struck out for times and looked helpless in each at bat. He also made five misplays at third base.

Law is one of the most respected talent evaluators in the industry, but while reading you should keep in mind that judging talent of this level is extremely difficult and it is almost impossible to project where a 19 year old will be 3-5 years down the road. Still, it’s never too early to think about the future and nothing gets me more giddy than reading a good evaluation of young prospects.

If you couldn’t put two and two together, this is Ryan Westmoreland’s Twitter account, and this is more great news for the former top prospect. The kid is surprising people everyday. It’s still a long shot that he makes it all the way back, but it looks like he will at least be able to live a normal life going forward.

1 – Casey Kelly – Portland – Kelly has struggled to find consistency this season and has really been hit or miss when he is on the mound. In a league where the average pitcher is 24 years old, the 20 year is facing adversity for the first time in his career and as Theo Epstein recently said is learning how to pitch.

2 – Lars Anderson – Pawtucket – One of the biggest questions after 2009 for the Red Sox was what happened to Lars Anderson? After dominating in 2008 at all levels, he came back last year and struggled with both injuries and his overall performance. It didn’t take him long to put 2009 behind him though as he came out this year and hit .355/.408/.677 with 5 home runs in 17 games before getting promoted to AAA Pawtucket. His numbers there have been far from impressive since, but like Kelly, he is young for the league.

3 – Ryan Kalish – Pawtucket – Kalish has followed the same path as Anderson for this season. He started the year in Portland and played well hitting .293/.404/.527 with 8 home runs and a whopping 13 stolen bases (to only one caught stealing) in 41 games. However, unlike Anderson, he has turned it up of late in AAA and is now hitting .333/.407/.457 in 81 at bats.

4 – Anthony Rizzo – Portland – Rizzo started the season in single A Salem and fared OK, but didn’t put up numbers that had him knocking on Portland’s door. He showed good power with 5 home runs and 12 doubles in 29 games, but he only batted .248 with a .333 OBP. Regardless, the Red Sox promoted him the Portland and he has since struggled. Rizzo is only 20 years old and missed much of the 2008 season due to Hodgkin’s Lymphoma so to even see him playing at this level is impressive enough.

5 – Jose Iglesias – Portland – Before landing on the DL with a busted hand, Iglesias lived up to all the hype. He is hitting .306 in 147 at bats and has been flawless in the field. It is said that he is going to start hitting off a tee soon, but he still remains a ways away from playing ball again.

6 – Felix Doubront – Pawtucket – Doubront has now made two spot starts with the Red Sox and has held his own. He shot onto the scene this year after being a relatively unknown prospect. But now, at age 22, the kid looks to be a legitimate three or four starter. Look for Doubront to land in the Sox bullpen by the end of the year and continue filling in when an extra starter is needed.

7 – Josh Reddick – Pawtucket – After batting almost .500 during spring training hopes were high for Reddick coming into the year. Rated as high as 3rd on my list, Reddick’s stock has fallen more than any other prospect of late and he is only hitting .207/.255/.353 on the season.

8 – Luis Exposito – Portland – I had high hopes for him coming into the season offensively, and still think he has the talent to succeed in the big leagues, but he hasn’t put together the best season for Portland. He has shown some pop hitting nine homers, but the average needs to get back to last years level soon as he is close to dropping out of my top ten.

9 – Stolmy Pimentel – Salem – Most recently seen pitching in the MLB Futures game Pimentel retired both batters he faced. The former international free agent has had a coming out party of such this year, along with Doubront. He seems to have all the stuff to make it, but his consistency needs to improve.

10 – Raymond Fuentes – Greenville – The 2009 1st rd pick for the Sox is only batting .267, but he is 28 of 29 in stole base attempts and is only 19 years old playing single A baseball. Fuentes is a future Jacoby Ellsbury and I can’t wait to see him progress up the ladder.

Just missed…

11 – Kolbrin Vitek – Lowell

12 – Michael Bowden – Pawtucket

13 – Oscar Tejada – Salem

14 – Will Middlebrooks – Salem

15 – Kyle Weiland – Portland

I have to admit, I get more and more excited about this kid every day. He looks real good in this video. Not many batters are making good contact and more importantly he is repeating his delivery from the wind up and out of the stretch consistently. One of his biggest problems in college was getting out of his mechanics due to injury so to see him use good form throughout the game is huge. We are going to have to wait until the August 16th deadline before we know if the kid is going to sign, but if he keeps looking like this out there than there is no doubt in my mind that Theo makes it happen.

The once No. 1 prospect in the Red Sox organization has been promoted to the Red Sox AAA affiliate the Pawtucket Red Sox.

Pre-2009 Anderson was the No. 1 prospect in the Red Sox organization and the No. 17 prospect in all of the major leagues, according to baseball America.

A stellar 2008 season, split between single A Lancaster and AA Portland, hitting .317 with 18 HR and 80 RBI in 118 games earned him his No. 1 prospect status.

His below average 2009 season, with AA Portland, hitting just .233 with with 9 HR and 51 RBI in 119 games had the Red Sox worrying about his potential.

This season Anderson was on a mission to prove his worth hitting .355 with 5 HR and 16 RBI in just 17  games with AA Portland, earning him the promotion to Pawtucket.

This is great news for the Red Sox.

Anderson now provides them with one hell of a young future 1B or great trade bait to bring in the power hitter they loathe for.

Now we just need to wish for San Diego to cool off from their 13-8 start so Adrian Gonzalez will be available come July.

Editors Note: Fuck Adrian Gonzalez, David Ortiz better watch his back because Lars is coming for his spot. If he hadn’t sucked last year people would be talking about him knocking on Boston’s door right now. Don’t be surprised to see him in the big leagues come August.

Last Year: NR

Projected Start: Portland

ETA: Mid 2011

2009 Recap – Esposito started the 2009 season in single A Salem and played 76 games before earning a promotion. In Salem, he batted .274/.332/.427 while playing above average defense behind the plate. One of his main focuses in 2009 was to become more patient at the plate, an aspect where many believe he has greatly improved. He finished off the season strong after his promotion to Portland batting .337/.371/.489 over 23 games and 92 at bats. While solid defensively, he struggled to throw people out despite having a strong arm, something he is going to need to work on going into 2010.

Strengths – Coming in a 6′ 3″ and 215 pounds, Exposito is extremely strong and shows plus raw power. He has a good approach at the plate consistently hitting pitches to where they are pitched with a focus on driving the ball up the middle. His hands are extremely quick and he has shown good lift in his swing. He only hit 9 home runs last season compared to 21 in 2008 but his swing is tailor made for hitting home runs and he definitely has the strength to get the ball out of the park. Behind the plate his reactions are quick translating into good ability in blocking balls in the dirt and his arm is above average. He has been a great team player and shows good leadership skills always being a favorite in the locker room.

Weaknesses – Currently he is a tremendous fastball hitter but needs to work more on the off speed offerings. Pitch recognition more than anything will help Exposito the most now that he is advancing to higher levels in the minors. He needs to work on his release when throwing out runners and making it smoother and more compact. Currently it takes him far to long to get rid of the ball. Managing the pitching staff is something he has been working hard on but currently is not one of his best aspects.

2010 outlook – Exposito will look to build on the success that he had at the end of the year in Portland, although being a catcher, offense isn’t the most important aspect of the position. If Exposito wants to make it as an every day catcher he can greatly improve his chances by simply ironing out his release to second base. There will always be a spot in the Major Leagues for an above average defensive catcher who can keep base runners honest. Second to honing his skills behind the plate something to look for this year will be his pitch recognition at the plate and whether or not his power can translate from the lower levels of the minor leagues to Portland and ultimately Pawtucket. If he can improve his pitch recognition and selection he will be able to take better advantage of a pitchers mistakes ultimately helping him at the plate.

- Chris