Checking on repeat players

In an ideal world, prospects would follow a natural progression by advancing a level each year and assuming their rightful place on the big league club in a few years' time. But every season, a variety of circumstances conspire to keep a player at the same level he spent the previous year, be it a logjam at the position or additional developmental requirements for the player.

Whatever the case, repeating a level is far from an indictment of the player's future. This year, the list of players who began 2012 with the same affiliate they started with in 2011 comprises a pair of top prospects trying to permanently break through the glass ceiling in Pawtucket, a bundle of bonus babies, and several players on the 40-man roster. 

Here's a rundown of those players, and how they've fared so far this season on ESPN Boston by Jon Meoli.

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