ESPN/Scouts Inc.'s Keith Law has released his rankings of the Top 100 major league baseball prospects for the 2008 season. Not surprisingly, several Red Sox made the list. The Tampa Bay Rays lead all teams with nine players in the top 100. Texas is second with six, and the Red Sox and the Dodgers each placed five players on the list. No team was shut out and five teams appear just once: Mets, White Sox, Tigers, Royals, and Phillies.

Sox Prospects in the Top 100
4. Clay Buchholz - RHP
19. Jacoby Ellsbury - OF
28. Lars Anderson - 1B
55. Jed Lowrie - 2B/SS
58. Justin Masterson - RHP

And just for the sake of interest, here are the rankings of the four prospects the Twins got for Johan Santana - compared to the Sox offered prospects' rankings above. Somebody got hosed...

35. Carlos Gomez - OF
80. Deolis Guerra - RHP
-- Phil Humber - RHP
-- Kevin Mulvey - RHP

More rookie news:

Here's a fabulous roundup discussion of all the various prospects in the Sox farm system- from the breakout stars Jacoby Ellsbury and Clay Buchholz, all the way down to the newly-drafted guys.

Jed Lowrie (link):

I'm not concerned about who's ahead of me, who's behind me. I'm just concerned about what I am, the player that I can become.

I remember last year, the first week that I came to Pawtucket, you want to make a good impression, but it's tough to find a comfort level. You want to understand how the clubhouse is run." It didn't take long for Lowrie to make a favorable impression.

My feeling, my thoughts are that you can continue to improve as long as you're playing. There are so many different wants to approach that. The biggest thing for me in the offseason was to recoup mentally and physically, you get worn down. So you have to take a deep breath and clear everything and think about what you did well and what you can do better.

I can continue to improve as a shortstop, that's my No. 1 priority. That means refining my footwork, getting better jumps on the ball, taking more reps, seeing the balls off the bat better, getting good breaks on balls. At the plate, my No. 1 goal is to drive the ball, to try not to chase pitches.

"I was decent but I wasn't a star," Corsaletti said of his Little League career. "I was never a standout stud anywhere I played. But I always worked hard, and I worked a lot when nobody was watching."

The former Charlotte High School and University of Florida player hopes to follow the career path of good friend Jacoby Ellsbury this season. Red Sox position players will report for training camp Feb. 20 in Fort Myers. Corsaletti's game is somewhat similar to Ellsbury. Like Ellsbury, the 6-foot Corsaletti is a left-handed hitter who works the count and steals bases. Corsaletti hit .266 with six homers, 58 RBI and 20 stolen bases for Portland in 2007.

"He's a guy who is always on base," said pitcher Andrew Dobies, who played with Corsaletti at Portland. "He can take a pitcher out of his game. It's fun to watch."

It is probable that Bowden will open the regular season in Class AA, but a strong spring showing with and against major league players could vault him into Class AAA Pawtucket.

"Spring training really isn't a tryout, especially for guys in my situation," he said. "I'm going to work my butt off and do everything I can, but I'm not going to hurt myself. If I do perform very well I guess there could be a chance I could start in Triple A, which would be by far the best case scenario."

The Red Sox have been tracking Bowden's offseason closely, bringing him to Boston on three occasions and sending him to the team's facility in Pensacola, Fla. for five weeks.

"It feels good to feel like a priority," he said. "I know they think highly of me and you can't go wrong with that. It's a good feeling and I hope I can keep them thinking that way."