2025 Prospects

[Larry Cook]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Me, too.

Maybe having Tolle and Early, as well as Perales in the system will take some of the spotlight off Valera a bit, but we have so many very promising pitchers in the next group poised for a big jump, that I'm super pumped up.

The two 19 year olds, Valera and Fajardo are equally exciting to me.

The three college draftees, all 21, can show major growth, too: Witherspoon, Phillips & Eyanson.

I'm pretty pumped up about 23 year old Holobetz, 18 year old Travieso & 17 year old Soto, too.

These older guys hold some promise, and maybe one surprises us with a big jump: Sandlin (24) Uberstine (26) Drohan (26) & Mullins (26)

I'm not sure about Paez (21) Monegro (23) and Delzine (17.)

I believe Tolle and early need at least half a season in Worcester to sharpen their secondaries. 
 

I did not watch and Arizona league games, so I am blind in perales! 
 

 Valera has special stuff!! Really special stuff, but health is a huge developmental factor for him. 
saw fajardo pitch once. And while the stuff played well, I need to see more innings, 

I have never seen travieso or Soto or delzine play so I cannot comment. 
 

While uberstine, drohan and Mullins have pedestrian stuff, I am confident all three can help in the Boston bullpen in 2026. I would be sad to lose Mullins in the rule 5 draft! (But happy if we could replace him with the Yankees pitcher cohen or Corbin. Something like that. That guy has some exciting stuff for the bullpen!!!)

paez and monegro had decent stuff (pre injury) long term development needed on them! 
 

the 3 college pitchers are a mystery. I watched Witherspoon battle kade Anderson last year. No shame that Anderson won that game. Important point: Witherspoon is not Tolle! To hang Tolle like expectations on Witherspoon is not fair to Witherspoon. 
 

Evanson has two really good pitches. If he develops a third pitch, we may have something  special!!  Love his demeanor on the mound. He throws it up there and challenges guys to hit it. He could be our next Olive Garden pitcher serving up a lot of meatballs! 
 

sandlin is our current Olive Garden out here. Everything this guy throws is fast, but actual straight line, hitters just have to time it up!! Trade bait for sure!!! 
 

mcneil???  I saw a lot of Tennessee games and I think the best thing I can say about McNeil is that…..  he is the new Clarke!!! 
 

 

[moonslav59]

Good rundown, Larry. I like hearing from people who have seen these guys pitch, but at their ages, some big jumps can happen at any time. Also, seeing a guy on a couple bad nights might also not help with your views.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Are the high ratings for Dorian Soto based entirely on potential? He hasn't played at any pro level yet beyond the Dominican Summer League. No one on Soxprospects has even seen him play...

Already the Sox' #10 best prospect and won't turn 18 until February... because he's still growing? What is this guy's top asset -- his arm? He's not noted as a great hitter or speed demon, and reports are they don't even know if he can stick at shortstop...

Don't get me wrong; I'm not down on Dorian, just intrigued. Will he be the next Soto to make the majors before he can legally buy a beer? Does his presence in the system make trading Franklin Arias acceptable? Does anyone remember Robin Yount, who started at shortstop in Milwaukee at age 18?

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Are the high ratings for Dorian Soto based entirely on potential? He hasn't played at any pro level yet beyond the Dominican Summer League. No one on Soxprospects has even seen him play...

Already the Sox' #10 best prospect and won't turn 18 until February... because he's still growing? What is this guy's top asset -- his arm? He's not noted as a great hitter or speed demon, and reports are they don't even know if he can stick at shortstop...

Don't get me wrong; I'm not down on Dorian, just intrigued. Will he be the next Soto to make the majors before he can legally buy a beer? Does his presence in the system make trading Franklin Arias acceptable? Does anyone remember Robin Yount, who started at shortstop in Milwaukee at age 18?

I don't think he affects how we view Arias, and our future infield situation is very fluid, right now.

We don't have a 3Bman, 2Bman and need a comeback from Casas at 1B. Story has 2 years left. Mayer will probably fill one slot. but nobody views Romero as a FT'er. Not many view Romy as anything more than a short-side platoon at 2B, 1B or DH- maybe 3B.

Guys like Soto are hard to project- kinda like Cespedes, who had some high potential a while back.

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Are the high ratings for Dorian Soto based entirely on potential? He hasn't played at any pro level yet beyond the Dominican Summer League. No one on Soxprospects has even seen him play...

Already the Sox' #10 best prospect and won't turn 18 until February... because he's still growing? What is this guy's top asset -- his arm? He's not noted as a great hitter or speed demon, and reports are they don't even know if he can stick at shortstop...

Don't get me wrong; I'm not down on Dorian, just intrigued. Will he be the next Soto to make the majors before he can legally buy a beer? Does his presence in the system make trading Franklin Arias acceptable? Does anyone remember Robin Yount, who started at shortstop in Milwaukee at age 18?

Compared to how they've treated some other prospects, they are going light on Soto.

Antoni Flores ranked 10th after only 4 GCL AB's. Never OPS'd above 700 again.

Gilberto Jimenez ranked 8th before showing up stateside. Pushed to 4th after his Lowell appearance. 

Miguel Bleis ranked 7th before being sent to FCL (3rd at the end of the season). 

Yoeilin Cespedes ranked 6th before being sent to FCL (when org was at its peak).

Once Anderson Espinoza popped in 2015, it seemed like they were always overly high on one or two guys every year in the DSL. With how MiLB is now, I'm not sure numbers matter until SAL or maybe even GRE. 

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Compared to how they've treated some other prospects, they are going light on Soto.

Antoni Flores ranked 10th after only 4 GCL AB's. Never OPS'd above 700 again.

Gilberto Jimenez ranked 8th before showing up stateside. Pushed to 4th after his Lowell appearance. 

Miguel Bleis ranked 7th before being sent to FCL (3rd at the end of the season). 

Yoeilin Cespedes ranked 6th before being sent to FCL (when org was at its peak).

Once Anderson Espinoza popped in 2015, it seemed like they were always overly high on one or two guys every year in the DSL. With how MiLB is now, I'm not sure numbers matter until SAL or maybe even GRE. 

Good points. 

After signing Devers in 2013, he stated out at #18 in spring '14, jumped to 12th and 4th during 2014.

[mvp 78]

28 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Good points. 

After signing Devers in 2013, he stated out at #18 in spring '14, jumped to 12th and 4th during 2014.

Devers actually deserved it and had more stateside appearances than the other guys listed. He was in the GCL on 7/4/14 after just a month in the DSL and didn't stop hitting. He stayed a top 5 prospect throughout his time in MiLB. 

Soto ranked 17th before appearing in a DSL game and is now 10th after OPS'ing 790. Part of it is because he was 17 and the projections have him being better in '26. Still a little high for me TBH.

[mvp 78]

The most recent TalkSox poll (AUG) was:

Payton Tolle (SP 1)
Jhostynxon Garcia (6)
Franklin Arias (2)
Kyson Witherspoon (5)
Connelly Early (3)
Luis Perales (4)
Mikey Romero (15)
Juan Valera (7)
Brandon Clarke (n/a)
Justin Gonzales (9)
Marcus Phillips (12)
Dorian Soto (10)
David Sandlin (11)
Anthony Eyanson (13)
Miguel Bleis (22)
Johanfran Garcia (29)
Jedixson Paez (20)
Yoeilin Cespedes (23)
Yhoiker Fajardo (9)
Yophery Rodriguez (38)

 

My personal top 20 is probably closer to SP than what TalkSox has up. 

Tolle (higher than Early due to ceiling, but could go either way)

Early

Arias

Perales

Witherspoon (hasn't pitched professional innings, but I heard good reports about character and pitch mix)

Garcia

Valera

Fajardo

Gonzales

Sandlin

Phillips (next three could jump early in the season)

Eyanson

Godbout

Soto

Romero (will hit a lot of HR's in WOO, but high k/low bb guy now)

Holobetz

Drohan (age 26)

Uberstine (age 26)

Paez (injury)

Mullins (age 26)

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Good lists, MVP.  I usually give Baseball America more regard because they specialize in evaluating ballplayers on the way up -- but not if they've never seen a guy yet. 

I generally want to see (which means read) how he looks at at least one pro level, though some D1 programs are probably equivalent to rookie ball or foreign leagues as far as quality competition.

"Can't Miss" labels are almost as cliche as cliche. There are few Lebron James who look like they're pushing 30 in high school while knocking down bowling pins disguised as skinny boys.

[mvp 78]

53 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Good lists, MVP.  I usually give Baseball America more regard because they specialize in evaluating ballplayers on the way up -- but not if they've never seen a guy yet. 

I generally want to see (which means read) how he looks at at least one pro level, though some D1 programs are probably equivalent to rookie ball or foreign leagues as far as quality competition.

"Can't Miss" labels are almost as cliche as cliche. There are few Lebron James who look like they're pushing 30 in high school while knocking down bowling pins disguised as skinny boys.

For many college guys they are skipping them straight to GRE. A guy like Godbout should be in AA around the All Star Break. 

For the 2024 draft:

Straight to GRE- Tolle, Ehrhard, Turner, White

A little time in SAL - Clarke (3 starts), Aita (10 starts), Futrell (12 starts), Tygart (4 starts), Sprague (10 G), 

Whole season in FCL/SAL - Brooks, Bouchard, Gartrell, Kilander, Cruz, Ortiz, Hansen

Because of how last year went, I bet Witherspoon, Godbout, Eyanson, White, Martin and Foutch start in GRE. I bet Phillips, Morgan and Winnay are early callups. SP projects Phillips to start in GRE, but I wonder if they put him in SAL for a few weeks as he's less experienced than Witherspoon and Eyanson. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Devers actually deserved it and had more stateside appearances than the other guys listed. He was in the GCL on 7/4/14 after just a month in the DSL and didn't stop hitting. He stayed a top 5 prospect throughout his time in MiLB. 

Soto ranked 17th before appearing in a DSL game and is now 10th after OPS'ing 790. Part of it is because he was 17 and the projections have him being better in '26. Still a little high for me TBH.

Exactly. Devers was ranked about where Soto was to start. He did climb to 4th in a year, but deserved it.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

The most recent TalkSox poll (AUG) was:

Payton Tolle (SP 1)
Jhostynxon Garcia (6)
Franklin Arias (2)
Kyson Witherspoon (5)
Connelly Early (3)
Luis Perales (4)
Mikey Romero (15)
Juan Valera (7)
Brandon Clarke (n/a)
Justin Gonzales (9)
Marcus Phillips (12)
Dorian Soto (10)
David Sandlin (11)
Anthony Eyanson (13)
Miguel Bleis (22)
Johanfran Garcia (29)
Jedixson Paez (20)
Yoeilin Cespedes (23)
Yhoiker Fajardo (9)
Yophery Rodriguez (38)

 

My personal top 20 is probably closer to SP than what TalkSox has up. 

Tolle (higher than Early due to ceiling, but could go either way)

Early

Arias

Perales

Witherspoon (hasn't pitched professional innings, but I heard good reports about character and pitch mix)

Garcia

Valera

Fajardo

Gonzales

Sandlin

Phillips (next three could jump early in the season)

Eyanson

Godbout

Soto

Romero (will hit a lot of HR's in WOO, but high k/low bb guy now)

Holobetz

Drohan (age 26)

Uberstine (age 26)

Paez (injury)

Mullins (age 26)

I like this ranking, and also like Early ahead of Arias.

I'm losing faith in Sandlin.

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I like this ranking, and also like Early ahead of Arias.

I'm losing faith in Sandlin.

Sandlin could drop the way Romero is currently doing. I know he has great stuff, but he needs to produce results in games. If he gets nudged to the pen, I'd push him behind Mullins to 20. 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Sandlin could drop the way Romero is currently doing. I know he has great stuff, but he needs to produce results in games. If he gets nudged to the pen, I'd push him behind Mullins to 20. 

So many pitchers with "great stuff" never break through. Of course, you have a better shot with great stuff than without, but yes, it's time to get results.

[Larry Cook]

22 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Good rundown, Larry. I like hearing from people who have seen these guys pitch, but at their ages, some big jumps can happen at any time. Also, seeing a guy on a couple bad nights might also not help with your views.

That is why I try to see as many games as possible. 
 

I have seen arias the most of all the Red Sox prospects and I will say truthfully, that defensively he is one of the best Red Sox shortstop prospect I have ever seen!!!  
his range is incredible and he Hoovers everything!  
But the very first game I ever saw him play, he airmailed a throw on a routine ground ball with the world’s slowest runner chugging to first base.  
I am so glad I got to see him many more times after that, because he is amazing defensively! 
Ps: still got way too much rafeala in his offensive game! 

[mvp 78]

10 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

That is why I try to see as many games as possible. 
 

I have seen arias the most of all the Red Sox prospects and I will say truthfully, that defensively he is one of the best Red Sox shortstop prospect I have ever seen!!!  
his range is incredible and he Hoovers everything!  
But the very first game I ever saw him play, he airmailed a throw on a routine ground ball with the world’s slowest runner chugging to first base.  
I am so glad I got to see him many more times after that, because he is amazing defensively! 
Ps: still got way too much rafeala in his offensive game! 

I don't understand that Rafaela offensive comp. He has a much higher bb rate and lower k rate at his age/level. Is he just a bad ball swinger? 

[drewski6]

On 12/1/2025 at 10:44 AM, moonslav59 said:

Good points. 

After signing Devers in 2013, he stated out at #18 in spring '14, jumped to 12th and 4th during 2014.

Abreu is another guy who was supposed to be burried based on soxprospects.com rankings.

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Abreu is another guy who was supposed to be burried based on soxprospects.com rankings.

When the trade was made, many felt E Valdez was the prize, but Abreu was highly regarded in the Atsros system.

[mvp 78]

47 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Abreu is another guy who was supposed to be burried based on soxprospects.com rankings.

Yup. They were slow on a lot of MLBers (Meidroth, Hamilton, Vazquez). 

[mvp 78]

42 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

When the trade was made, many felt E Valdez was the prize, but Abreu was highly regarded in the Atsros system.

Valdez was so great, the Sox wanted to try him out at every position!

[moonslav59]

20 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Valdez was so great, the Sox wanted to try him out at every position!

EV put up some very nice numbers on the farm, but many in HOU felt Abreu was better.

[moonslav59]

soxprospects.com projects this Greenville rotation:

WOW!

Valera, Fajardo, Witherspoon, Phillips, Eyanson, Aita

POR: Rogers, Wehunt, Rivera, Holobetz, Paez, Dean (Meh)

WOO: Tolle, Early, Dobbins, Uberstine, Perales, Drohan, Anderson (Nice)

The Ridge Yaks: Travieso, J Bello, Finley, Patton, Brown, Morgan (interesting & promising)

[drewski6]

On 12/2/2025 at 1:13 PM, mvp 78 said:

Valdez was so great, the Sox wanted to try him out at every position!

And then he lost his spot to pablo reyes (womp womp)

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, drewski6 said:

And then he lost his spot to pablo reyes (womp womp)

Actually, E Valdez was replaced at 2B by Campbell.

EV played to the end of 2024 at 2B and some 3B. Campbell began the 2025 eason as our FT 2Bman.

[drewski6]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Actually, E Valdez was replaced at 2B by Campbell.

EV played to the end of 2024 at 2B and some 3B. Campbell began the 2025 eason as our FT 2Bman.

And in 2023? In 2023, Valdez was supposed to win 2b from  Christian Arroyo. Arroyo got hurt for a month or 2 in the early season, leaving the position open for Valdez. Sox traded for (or claimed) Reyes for depth. Adding a waiver wire add in Reyes should have been of no concern to EV.  Also, around that time, Kike went to absolute crap with the failed SS experiment, and Sox really had no middle infielders.  So should have been wide open for EV to claim one of the vacant MI roles like he was expected to.

But despite our middle infield going from from Arroyo and Kike to nobody, EV still couldnt grab a spot.  The Sox soon after claimed Yu Chang, and EV found himself sitting most nights in favor of 0 offense Chang and AAAA Reyes. Then Arroyo came back from injury forcing the sox to make a move, so Valdez was sent packing to AAA as the sox elected to keep Reyes, Chang, Arroyo, and Kike as their MI rotation.  Sox and fans wanted 23/24 yr old Valdez to grab a spot and not look back and gave him ample opportunity, but he couldnt out play Reyes (or even Chang) and was thus sent back to Worcester upon Arroyos return until Sept 1 roster expansion.

None of these jokers were with the team by the end of 2024.

Understood they tried again with Valdez at various points in 2024, but the luster was gone and it was more of a Hamilton situation where hes getting called up and hanging around due to lack of other options and maybe he even filled in for a spell, but nobody actually considered him a starter or on a path to eventually become a starter. That hope died in 2023 when he Valdez couldnt win a job against either pablo reyes or yu chang.

And thus the complimentary piece in the deal (Abreu) became the headliner. And the dude who we thought was the headliner (Valdez) became.....honestly Im not even sure? He in Japan?

[Larry Cook]

6 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

soxprospects.com projects this Greenville rotation:

WOW!

Valera, Fajardo, Witherspoon, Phillips, Eyanson, Aita

POR: Rogers, Wehunt, Rivera, Holobetz, Paez, Dean (Meh)

WOO: Tolle, Early, Dobbins, Uberstine, Perales, Drohan, Anderson (Nice)

The Ridge Yaks: Travieso, J Bello, Finley, Patton, Brown, Morgan (interesting & promising)

That Worcester rotation could develop into an amazing rotation! 
 

I saw that drohan was predicted to start the year in the Boston bullpen! We definitely need more lefties since bres-slow sent a ton of them elsewhere earlier this offseason. 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Larry Cook said:

That Worcester rotation could develop into an amazing rotation! 
 

I saw that drohan was predicted to start the year in the Boston bullpen! We definitely need more lefties since bres-slow sent a ton of them elsewhere earlier this offseason. 

We could see Harrison at AAA, too.

It is stacked and deep.

[moonslav59]

So we traded #19 Travieso, and I wonder if the two prospects we got back will be ranked.

If PIT felt Tyler Samaniego needed Rule 5 protection, he must be decent. He did okay in AA. the last couple years, but 3 years at that level makes me wonder. Maybe he'll be slotted about 25th?

We needed catcher depth on the farm, but Adonys Guzman is a far-away one. He was a fifth rounder in the '25 draft. That was between Mason White (39th) and C Foutch (46th). Maybe he's slotted 45th to 60th?

[moonslav59]

The new soxprospects podcast projected Guzman in the low 30's and Samaniego in the mid 40's.

We traded #6 Garcia and #19 Travieso.

They spoke of the upside on Perales as being top 25 nationally.

They like the uptick in velo for Early and credited that with his move from #5 to #2. They also mentioned he has gained 20-30 lbs, mostly "muscle."

On Witherspoon, they have nothing to judge with except that he was viewed by some as the top RH'd SP'er in the draft.

They spoke of the big jump by catcher Franklin Primera from the DSL. (87% contact rate/7% in zone whiff rate/21% chase rates) Looks real good on D.

[mvp 78]

On 12/7/2025 at 3:18 PM, moonslav59 said:

The new soxprospects podcast projected Guzman in the low 30's and Samaniego in the mid 40's.

We traded #6 Garcia and #19 Travieso.

They spoke of the upside on Perales as being top 25 nationally.

They like the uptick in velo for Early and credited that with his move from #5 to #2. They also mentioned he has gained 20-30 lbs, mostly "muscle."

On Witherspoon, they have nothing to judge with except that he was viewed by some as the top RH'd SP'er in the draft.

They spoke of the big jump by catcher Franklin Primera from the DSL. (87% contact rate/7% in zone whiff rate/21% chase rates) Looks real good on D.

They said that Garcia and Travieso should have been equal value for Oviedo and other sources were surprised that Breslow was able to bring back additional value. Guzman's glove gives him a high floor, but needs to work on the offensive side (has shown patience and pull power). Samaniego adjusted his mechanics post surgery and was able to be more effective in '25, but has not pitched above AA (secondaries need work).

While Garcia was ranked 6th, they could make the case that he was in a tier that was anywhere from 6 to 15 or so (where some teams value him). Travieso was seen as a top 10 prospect by some other franchises, but also had a very fluid value similar to Garcia.