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Article first found at Boston Sox Journalism .

The original article is found at Boston Sox Journalism , the newest site dedicated to Red Sox journalism at it's finest.

Here we sit in the first week of 2010, and the Atlanta Braves still, seemingly, have a hole to fill in the outfield.

With a starting group currently composed of Cabrera-McLouth-Diaz (the Braves will probably end up taking the Hanson route with Heyward), you can kind of see why.

With that in mind, though, you have to think that the Braves aren't going to be looking to break the bank (sorry, no Matt Holliday ) since they could go to war with that group and be okay.

The Baseball America Prospect rankings were released last week, a list coveted by fans and media, but otherwise superfluous for the organizations themselves, who have their own rankings and plans for their players.

The Red Sox minor league system has some gems, but the conclusions that BA came to should be slightly disturbing. The list of the top ten prospects, as I say, seems strong, with names that we have heard regularly, such as Casey Kelly, the shortstop-turned-pitcher, and Jose Iglesias, the first round pick and shortstop of the future.

After spending his first seven seasons in the league across the bay with the Oakland Athletics, Barry Zito hit the jack pot with a seven-year $126 million contract with the San Francisco Giants.

When Zito signed what was then the richest contract of any starting pitcher in MLB history back in 2006, Giants fans were expecting to receive pitching worthy of top money. Unfortunately, they have yet to witness any long term consistency from Zito over the first three years.

Derek Norris, the Washington Nationals come-from-nowhere prospect, followed up an impressive rookie-league season in 2008 with a breakout year for the Hagerstown Suns and has won the “MiLBY” Award for being the best hitter in all of Class-A baseball.

With the new year in full swing, the A's need to stick to their New Year's resolution and continue to get younger and stronger. However, with the recent offseason moves made by Billy Beane, it's hard not to notice that they've strayed just a tiny bit from their Youth Movement.

The A's third base situation is probably their biggest priority, since they've traded away top prospect Brett Wallace to Toronto in exchange for another highly regarded prospect, Michael Taylor. Now, the A's have Jake Fox to provide some kind of insurance to the injury-prone Eric Chavez.

The Rawlings glove that resides in the back seat of my car all summer long has been replaced by the winter gloves, my Nike cleats still caked with dried mud and infield turf have been abandoned in favor of a pair of Cabela Snow Runners, and the Louisville Slugger has been packed away in favor of a snow brush.

As snow piles up outside the window of our Massachusetts home and hockey is being played at, of all places, Fenway Park, the thought of spring training couldn't be further from reality.

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