Xander Bogaerts is ranked as the 2nd best Shortstop prospect in baseball, and the 6th best overall prospect in the game on mlb.com. Some are comparing him to Manny Machado of Baltimore due to their similar skill set and maturity at such a young age. I think the Red Sox would be very happy if he produces similarly to the young Orioles Third Baseman.  Boston traded away its top defense Infield prospect (in Jose Iglesias) to create room for Bogaerts.

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By Ryan Dana (MLB Reports Writer and Red Sox Correspondent): Follow @ryandana1

As September approaches all teams have some uncertainty with their team heading towards the playoffs or the links.

Even serious contenders like the Red Sox have inefficiencies that they would like to correct.

Their decisions now will be under harsher criticism than ever as the franchise has missed out on the playoffs the past two seasons in dismal fashion.

There are certainly still big question marks on the clubs pitching staff like the health of Clay Buchholz.

The outfield also has question marks like Shane Victorino who is playing through injury right now to the point where he has dropped hitting from the left side (at the moment) because the injury affects his swing too much from that side of the plate.

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