Hot Stove Lunch: Red Sox shutout on Baseball America list

Take this for what it's worth, but the Red Sox were shutout on the annual Baseball America Top 100 Prospects list.

The Sox didn't place a single player in the Top 100. They weren't alone -- the Yankees and Cubs also failed to be represented.

Does this mean that the Red Sox' minor league system has bottomed out? Not necessarily.

There are some extenuating circumstances. For one thing, Michael Chavis missed half of 2018 because of a PED suspension and didn't have much time to improve his stock. (It may also be that evaluators are waiting to see what Chavis can do in a full season after the positive test). For another, Jay Groome, the organization's top pitching prospect, missed almost the entire year after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May.

Certainly, however, the absence of any Sox players suggests that the organization lacks any elite talent for now. That could change, especially if someone like Bobby Dalbec puts together a strong season. Or hard-throwing Darwinzon Hernandez continues to show improvement with his command.

For now, the Sox' minor league system is in transition, still recovering from a series of trades that saw the Sox swap the promise of the future (Yoan Moncada, Michael Kopech, Manuel Margot etc.) for stars of today. And given that those trades helped the Sox win a World Series, it looks to be a worthwhile tradeoff.

These lists are, naturally, very subjective. In the days and weeks ahead, MLB.com and ESPN.com will also issue their Top 100 lists. It will be interesting to see if they evaluate the Sox' system differently than Baseball America has.

Elsewhere...

AL EAST 

Now that the Hall of Fame voting results are complete, the controversy is over, right? Nope.

The Orioles finally got around to finalizing their coaching staff.

No surprise: a Blue Jay was named the top prospect for 2019.

AL CENTRAL

The Indians and Trevor Bauer are headed to arbitration.

The Twins unveiled an alternate uniform.

Forecasting the Tigers' starting rotation.

The White Sox are trying to be patient with Manny Machado.

AL WEST 

Some guesses on the makeup of the first Astros Hall of Fame class.

A former Ranger reveals how he tried to solve Mariano Rivera.

The A's may have a new ballpark plan.

Ichiro is back.

NATIONAL LEAGUE 

Former Red Sox lefty Drew Pomeranz got a deal with the Giants.

HOT TAKE I MAY SOON REGRET

Some sad news this morning: former major league umpire Jim McKean has passed away at 73.

I got to know Jim (mostly) after his umpiring career of nearly 30 years was over. He served as an umpiring supervisor and traveled around, evaluating the work of umpires. He usually watched games from the press box, where I came to know him. Later, he worked as an ESPN analyst, explaining the rules on TV.

McKean led an interesting life. In addition to being an umpire, he also played in the Canadian Football League. He was a natural story-teller, and as a Canadian, was, naturally, a big hockey fan. Sometimes, I think we talked as much about hockey as we did baseball. He was also close to hockey coaching legend Scotty Bowman and frequently watched attended Tampa Bay Lightning games with the Hall of Famer.

Jim had a great zest for life and was a great storyteller. He'll be missed. RIP.