SPPod Ep. #171 - Alex Speier talks Homegrown, his top 10 and the Sox system

New Year, new laptop, new podcast, and a new book out from our guest Alex Speier ( @alexspeier ). Chris and Ian spend an hour with the Boston Globe beat writer discussing his new book, Homegrown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up , his Baseball America top 10 rankings and other thoughts from the system, and questions from our listeners in the mailbag. Heck, they even got Alex's real-time "thoughts" on a transaction that broke during the chat! 0:00 – Intros, housekeeping, email us and remember to support the show on Patreon . 4:00 – December and early January transactions 17:20 – Previewing our chat with Alex: his Top 10 rankings and some thoughts about Homegrown 25:15 – A quick look at the Rookie Development Program invitees 27:30 – Alex Speier's on the podcast (whaaaaaaat?!) 30:00 – On Homegrown 1:04:45 – Alex's take on the farm system 1:32:00 – Alex helps us with the mailbag! Want to read more from Alex on the Sox system? Pick up a copy of the Baseball America 2020 Prospect Handbook Players mentioned in the show Juremi Profar Joe DeCarlo Jett Bandy John Andreoli Mike Kickham RJ Alvarez Chris Mazza Robinson Leyer Nick Longhi Sam Travis Angeudis Santos Marco Hernandez Tzu-Wei Lin CJ Chatham Michael Chavis Triston Casas Bobby Dalbec Bryan Mata Jarren Duran Darwinzon Hernandez Thaddeus Ward Jay Groome Gilberto Jiminez Noah Song Tanner Houck Brainer Bonaci Rafael Devers Yoan Moncada Logan Allen Marcus Wilson Jonathan Arauz Yoan Aybar Kyle Hart Durbin Feltman Mookie Betts Jackie Bradley Jr. Xander Bogaerts Andrew Benintendi AJ Politi Chris Murphy Antoni Flores Danny Diaz Felix Doubront Got something to say? We love talking about what you want to hear about. Make sure to email us . Love the show? Want to help us out while also getting exclusive goodies? Support the podcast by contributing to us on Patreon! Go to Sox Prospects on Patreon for the details. Podcast Twitter Links: @SPChrisHatfield @IanCundall @SoxProspects Subscribe on iTunes (please rate and review!) Subscribe on Stitcher (please rate and review!) Listen on Spotify Listen on YouTube Listen on Google Play Music Podcast Archive