Three Former MLN FAB50 Phenoms Power Up Boston Red Sox in ALCS Hunt for 2007

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - BOSTON, MA - Three of the Boston Red Sox' American League Division Series playoff roster spots announced today by Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein are past honorees of the Minor League News MLN FAB50 Baseball rankings at the online magazine MLN Sports Zone (SZ), and  pitcher  Jon Lester who has been added to the roster as an injury replacement for righthanded pitcher Matt Clement, was featured in article "The Big Save", SZ. 06.19.07.

The MLN FAB50 is a more practical mid-season talent and movement ranking designed by the editors of Minor League News (MLN) to reflect not only the talent of the player, but the realities of the organization where they play. "With lots of big dollar contracts and no opportunity to play, it doesn't matter how talented you are," noted MLN Sports senior editor Brian Ross. "Theo Epstein has maintained a careful balance between his home-grown players down on the farm and his free-agent signings. The result has been a boon to Boston Red Sox fans in the form of real contenders year after year."
 
FAB50 honorees RHP Jonathan Papelbon (2005, No. 11), infielder Dustin Pedroia (2006, No. 26, 2005, No. 46), and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury (2007 No. 14) was not only honored in SZ with a FAB50 feature, but also was featured in the Arizona Fall League piece ("Speed Kills", SZ. 01.12.07).  Ellsbury was added to the post-season roster as an injury replacement for righthanded pitcher Brendan Donnelly.  

"The payday for the Boston Red Sox top-flight farm system is coming," said Ross. "The Red Sox player development system is one of the best in professional baseball. We honored them in 2005 as the first MLN Farm System of the Year. Unfortunately for Boston they're very evenly matched in this round by  the Los Angeles Angels, our MLN Farm System of the Year 2007.  It's another club very deep in talent, that has spent years cultivating players like Brandon Wood, Howie Kendrick and Nick Adenhart.

On the numbers, the club that emerges from this contest will be one of the strong contenders for the rest of the World Series race.

Each player is given their own photo spread and bio page in a FAB50 award. To see the full FAB50's from any year, begin by clicking on the player link above.  MLN Sports has been the leader in minor league sports news since 2000. SZ is the only multi-sport magazine, print or web,  of minor league and independent sports.

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