Due to a back injury to veteran Kevin Youkilis, the Boston Red Sox club has promoted catcher/designated hitter Ryan Lavarnway to the Major Leagues. He made his debut Thursday night against the Kansas City Royals and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Lavarnway, 24, is not going to step into the Red Sox lineup and immediate produce at the star level that Youkilis has (4.1 WAR in ’11), but he should be slightly-above replacement level in the short term.

I’ve been eagerly anticipating Lavarnway’s arrival in the Majors. Out of the five pre-season Top 10 prospect lists for Boston [Baseball America, Kevin Goldstein, Keith Law, John Sickels], the scribe from minorleagueball.com and I were the only ones to place him on the Boston lists (Law earns mega points, though, for placing both Will Middlebrooks and Xander Bogaerts on his list).

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Although the Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates come close, no organization in Major League Baseball has improved its minor league system more in the last two years than the Washington Nationals. The team has made huge strides in distancing itself from “The Dark Years” when it was controlled by Major League Baseball on a shoestring budget, and under the questionable guidance of then-GM Jim Bowden.

The Nationals, headed by savy third-year General Manager Mike Rizzo, likely did not begin the 2011 draft expecting to be quite so aggressive when trying to build upon the momentum from 2010’s draft – and set yet another draft spending record. But that’s just what they did by locking up three first round talents (when healthy) and a fringe first rounder. In fact, both third baseman Anthony Rendon and left-hander Matt Purke entered the 2011 college season with the chance to be chosen first overall. Both slipped due to injuries, although Rendon’s was considered far less serious in terms of long-term damage.

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With today being the deadline (at midnight) to get amateur draftees to sign on the dotted line, we’ve been building up to the occasion with a look back at the big draft spenders during the past three seasons. If you’ve missed the past two articles, you can find them here: Boston and Pittsburgh. There is bound to be a lot of draft news today as Major League Baseball finally lifts the gag order on big-money contract agreements.

After the 2009 amateur draft debacle that helped send former GM J.P. Ricciardi out of town, the Jays organization took a much different – and much more aggressive – approach to the 2010 draft. Under the guidance of new GM Alex Anthopoulos and scouting director Andrew Tinnish, the club exploited its massive scouting department and focused on high-ceiling talent.

Putting faith in its scouts, the club handed out a whopping 17 contracts that met or exceeded $200,000. Of those picks, 11 were pitchers, and the hitters were mostly of the up-the-middle variety — save for corner outfielder Marcus Knecht and third baseman Kellen Sweeney (who was a shortstop in college). The results – so far – have been rather impressive, which has made Toronto into a top-three organization in terms of overall talent.

College Picks
1st – Deck McGuire, RHP
1st – Asher Wojciechowski, RHP
4th – Sam Dyson, RHP

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As we saw earlier this week, a number of teams have developed a reputation for using the annual amateur draft as a means of infusing their organizations with talent. With an eye to the future, these clubs see the cost benefit to developing future stars in-house, rather than seeking out established, and quite likely more expensive, talent through trades and/or free agency.

Over the past three seasons (2008-10), the Pittsburgh Pirates organization has spent more cash on the amateur draft than any other club in Major League Baseball. The small-market organization sees the benefit of spending to acquire and develop amateur talent, rather than competing with The Big Boys for high-end free agents. Whereas the Boston Red Sox organization spent a whack of dough on 10 players in the ’10 draft, the Pirates spent a lot in the upper level of the draft, in part because it chose second overall and had to secure the best prep arm in the draft (if not the Top 2); the club used its hefty bankroll for seven players.

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The Boston Red Sox organization is known for flexing its financial muscle with an eye to sustainable development by signing numerous draft picks to above-slot deals each season. In fact, over the past three years the organization has handed out more draft bonus money than any other organization in baseball other than the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2010, the Red Sox club handed out 10 contracts for more than $200,000 each.

College Picks
1st – Kolbrin Vitek, 2B
1S – Bryce Brentz, OF
1S – Anthony Ranaudo, RHP
2nd – Brandon Workman, RHP
7th – Chris Hernandez, LHP
8th – Matthew Price, RHP
11th – Lucas LeBlanc, OF (Junior College)

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This article wraps up a look back at the pre-season Top 10 prospect lists here at FanGraphs. You can read the other reviews: NL West | NL Central | NL East | AL West | AL Central.

Tampa Bay Rays
1. Jeremy Hellickson, RHP
2. Matt Moore, LHP
3. Desmond Jennings, OF
4. Chris Archer, RHP
5. Jake McGee, LHP
6. Josh Sale, OF
7. Alex Colome, RHP
8. Alex Torres, LHP
9. Justin O’Conner, C
10. Hak-Ju Lee, SS

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Our review of the FanGraphs 2011 Top 10 prospect lists continues with the American League Central.

Detroit Tigers
1. Jacob Turner, RHP
2. Nick Castellanos, 3B
3. Andy Oliver, LHP
4. Daniel Fields, OF
5. Daniel Schlereth, LHP
6. Chance Ruffin, RHP
7. Wade Gaynor, 3B
8. Josue Carreno, RHP
9. Bruce Rondon, RHP
10. Dixon Machado, SS

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After a short break to help cover the trade deadline, we’re back taking a look at the pre-season Top 10 lists for all the MLB organizations. Previously, we looked at the National League. The American League is up now and the review begins with the West Division.

Texas Rangers
1. Jurickson Profar, SS
2. Martin Perez, LHP
3. Tanner Scheppers,
4. Robbie Erlin, LHP
5. Michael Kirkman, LHP
6. Mike Olt, 3B
7. Robbie Ross, LHP
8. Jake Skole, OF
9. Luis Sardinas, SS
10. Neil Ramirez, RHP

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Potential aces don’t grow on trees. So it came as quite a shock that the New York Mets acquired the San Francisco Giants’ top pitching prospect, Zack Wheeler, for free-agent-to-be Carlos Beltran.

Despite an ill-conceived article* on USA Today’s website, which suggests that the organization’s pitching prospects cannot be trusted, this was a shrewd move by the Mets organization and a very questionable decision by the Giants. Even as an amateur, Wheeler was a highly sought after talent and went to San Francisco sixth overall in the 2009 draft. Prior to the 2011 season during the Top 10 prospect lists, I ranked him as the Giants’ second best prospect in the system behind 1B/OF Brandon Belt.

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Rumors are swirling that the Philadelphia Phillies are zeroing in on Houston Astros outfielder Hunter Pence. What I don’t understand, though, is why the Phillies don’t already have him. The rumored offering for the 28-year-old outfielder is top prospects Jarred Cosart and Jonathan Singleton, along with a third unnamed prospect. While Pence is a very nice baseball player, he is not a difference-maker all on his own. Nor is he a star player.

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