The Red Sox have spent considerable time and resources these past four years developing their farm system, and in doing so they have acquired an impressive collection of talented young stars.

But according to the experts, the Red Sox still have work to do.

According to both Baseball America and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel, each of whom released their 2024 farm system rankings on Friday, the Red Sox system ranks No. 13 out of 30 clubs. Each cited Boston’s impressive collection of position players, but dinged the club for its relative lack of pitching talent.

“The Red Sox have developed a nice mix of top prospects, led by top recent draft picks SS Marcelo Mayer, OF Roman Anthony and C Kyle Teel, as well as likely solid MLB contributors, such as OFs Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu,” Baseball America wrote. “Boston’s system is a little hitter-heavy at this point.”

The Red Sox actually dropped in Baseball America’s rankings relative to the past few years. Boston ranked No. 10 last year and No. 11 in 2022 after having spent 2019-21 in the bottom third of the league.

Boston’s farm system is highlighted by consensus top prospects Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel and Ceddanne Rafaela, each of whom have consistently been ranked Top 100 prospects by most major outlets. Outfielder Miguel Bleis is also regarded as a potential five-tool talent, but he fell out of most Top 100 rankings after missing most of last season with a shoulder injury.

The Red Sox have plenty of competition ahead of them in the rankings too. The Baltimore Orioles system is universally regarded as the best in baseball by a wide margin, thanks to a stacked pipeline highlighted by consensus No. 1 overall prospect Jackson Holliday. Baseball America also has the Tampa Bay Rays at No. 7 and the New York Yankees at No. 9, though the Red Sox are ahead of one AL East rival in the Toronto Blue Jays, who rank No. 24.

Four Red Sox named to MLB Pipeline Top 100 Prospects list