2026 Prospects

[mvp 78]

They can also move guys to the pen and build them back up if they need to if there's an injury/opening. It's what they did with Crawford in '23 and that was his best season. 

I'd keep Wehunt as a starter as I think he has the best chance to stick as a starter (most developed 4 pitch mix). Paez can be a bulk innings guy it the Crawford '23 role. Holobetz seems like his stuff could play up in relief. I'd move him to the pen fulltime. I'd move Houck to a Belloesque '26 role, a guy who gets to face hitters one time through the order and be done.

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

They can also move guys to the pen and build them back up if they need to if there's an injury/opening. It's what they did with Crawford in '23 and that was his best season. 

I'd keep Wehunt as a starter as I think he has the best chance to stick as a starter (most developed 4 pitch mix). Paez can be a bulk innings guy it the Crawford '23 role. Holobetz seems like his stuff could play up in relief. I'd move him to the pen fulltime. I'd move Houck to a Belloesque '26 role, a guy who gets to face hitters one time through the order and be done.

Sounds like a good plan.

[moonslav59]

We may or may not have a Rule 5 Draft this year, but if we do these are some players worth mentioning:

Serious consideration?

1A. Brooks Brannon (1B/DH/ Emergency C)

1B. Blake Wehunt (P)

3. Johanfran Garcia (DH/C)

4. Ronny Hernandez (DH/C)

5. Hayden Mullins (P)

Long shots?

Braiden Ward (OF)

Mikey Romero (3B/2B)

Brendan Rodgers (2B)

Noah Song (P)

Nathan Hickey (DH/1B/ Emergency 3rd C)

Nate Baez (C)

[mvp 78]

I think one of Brannon or Garcia is traded in November. I can't see them adding both to the 40 man. Maybe they add Wehunt, but not Mullins. Mullins is drafted and converted to a reliever. 

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I think one of Brannon or Garcia is traded in November. I can't see them adding both to the 40 man. Maybe they add Wehunt, but not Mullins. Mullins is drafted and converted to a reliever. 

Gasper is just terrible news for Brannon and Hickey I would think.

[mvp 78]

42 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Gasper is just terrible news for Brannon and Hickey I would think.

Brannon can't catch anymore. Hickey isn't really a prospect. 

[mvp 78]

As per Nick's article:

 

[Larry Cook]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Brannon can't catch anymore. Hickey isn't really a prospect. 

I think Brannon kept getting dinged up at catcher and they moved him to 1st to keep his bat in the lineup! 
 

 

[a700hitter]

I wonder how this stacks up against other teams.

 

[Hugh2]

9 hours ago, a700hitter said:

I wonder how this stacks up against other teams.

 

I'm going to look for more data, and I suppose comparing 1st round to total draft could net different results, and recent drafts aren't going to show recent data.  But someone did compile a list of WAR from teams draftees from 2000-2016, and the Sox were at the very top of the list.  So apparently pretty good. 

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/how-the-teams-have-drafted-in-this-millennium/

[mvp 78]

10 hours ago, a700hitter said:

I wonder how this stacks up against other teams.

The tough part is that the Sox were picking at the back of the draft for most of those years. You could really only compare them to the other very competitive teams like the Yankees. The years they fell off, they ended up finding a good player here and there (Beni, Teel, Montgomery). Ball was a miss, but not every top 10 pick makes it to MLB anyway. 

[Hugh2]

8 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The tough part is that the Sox were picking at the back of the draft for most of those years. You could really only compare them to the other very competitive teams like the Yankees. The years they fell off, they ended up finding a good player here and there (Beni, Teel, Montgomery). Ball was a miss, but not every top 10 pick makes it to MLB anyway. 

In the 2004 draft the Tigers drafted Justin Verlander with the second overall pick.  The next best player drafted in the top 10 was Homer Bailey. 

I used to always get a kick out of people who would say "when you have a top 10 pick you can't screw that up"

Like.....I'm pretty sure they're trying to draft really good players. 

[mvp 78]

10 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

In the 2004 draft the Tigers drafted Justin Verlander with the second overall pick.  The next best player drafted in the top 10 was Homer Bailey. 

I used to always get a kick out of people who would say "when you have a top 10 pick you can't screw that up"

Like.....I'm pretty sure they're trying to draft really good players. 

Mark Appel was the #1 pick that year!!! Clint Frazier? Kohl Stewart? Colin Moran? 

Kris Bryant, Jon Gray and Austin Meadows worked out. The other guys in the top 10 either weren't notable or didn't sign. 

Here's picks 18-31 from that draft:

Chris Anderson

Marco Gonzales

Jonathon Crawford

Nick Ciuffo

Hunter Harvey

Chi Chi Gonzalez

Billy McKinney

Chrisitan Arroyo!

Eric Jagielo

Phillip Ervin

Rob Kaminsky

Ryne Stanek

Travis Demeritte

Jason Hursh

YUCK!!!

[Hugh2]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Mark Appel was the #1 pick that year!!! Clint Frazier? Kohl Stewart? Colin Moran? 

Kris Bryant, Jon Gray and Austin Meadows worked out. The other guys in the top 10 either weren't notable or didn't sign. 

Here's picks 18-31 from that draft:

Chris Anderson

Marco Gonzales

Jonathon Crawford

Nick Ciuffo

Hunter Harvey

Chi Chi Gonzalez

Billy McKinney

Chrisitan Arroyo!

Eric Jagielo

Phillip Ervin

Rob Kaminsky

Ryne Stanek

Travis Demeritte

Jason Hursh

YUCK!!!

I remember everyone saying the Sox were dumb and they would have drafted Meadows.  Like, ya'll didn't know a darn thing about the guy you just saw his name next to Ball a few slots higher on some pre draft rankings and he played outfield.  We had to draft outfielders at the time because our outfield sucked.  But we were literally not far off the emergence of Betts and within a few years we had Benintendi/Betts/JBJ in the outfield by the time Meadows would have been MLB ready.  

Just another good example of why you don't draft for need.  

That was such an awful draft in hindsight. 

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

I remember everyone saying the Sox were dumb and they would have drafted Meadows.  Like, ya'll didn't know a darn thing about the guy you just saw his name next to Ball a few slots higher on some pre draft rankings and he played outfield.  We had to draft outfielders at the time because our outfield sucked.  But we were literally not far off the emergence of Betts and within a few years we had Benintendi/Betts/JBJ in the outfield by the time Meadows would have been MLB ready.  

Just another good example of why you don't draft for need.  

That was such an awful draft in hindsight. 

There were some great players in that draft. It's just that they aren't all taken 1-10! A lot more development happens in MiLB than people want to give orgs credit for. 

[mvp 78]

Dylan Brown getting all the pub the past few weeks. 

 

[notin]

6 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

In the 2004 draft the Tigers drafted Justin Verlander with the second overall pick.  The next best player drafted in the top 10 was Homer Bailey. 

I used to always get a kick out of people who would say "when you have a top 10 pick you can't screw that up"

Like.....I'm pretty sure they're trying to draft really good players. 

The Astros had 3 consecutive #1 overall picks.  Correa certainly worked out.  Appel and Brady Aiken, not so much.

Didn’t slow them down at all, though, did it?

[mvp 78]

17 hours ago, notin said:

The Astros had 3 consecutive #1 overall picks.  Correa certainly worked out.  Appel and Brady Aiken, not so much.

Didn’t slow them down at all, though, did it?

Breggie was drafted #2 overall in the 4th year with Kyle Tucker at #5. 

[Larry Cook]

In my opinion, our top 3 prospects are:

1.) Franklin A

2.) Franklin P

3.) delzine 

none of them were drafted, but I would put our top 3 against any top 3 from any other team!!

 

 

[mvp 78]

6 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

In my opinion, our top 3 prospects are:

1.) Franklin A

2.) Franklin P

3.) delzine 

none of them were drafted, but I would put our top 3 against any top 3 from any other team!!

I wouldn't. I think only Arias should be a top 100 guy right now. 

[Hugh2]

On 10/13/2026 at 2:44 PM, notin said:

The Astros had 3 consecutive #1 overall picks.  Correa certainly worked out.  Appel and Brady Aiken, not so much.

Didn’t slow them down at all, though, did it?

Exactly, without looking it up I think we could do the same thing with the Orioles as well, probably the Rays.  

A top 10 draft pick is like a lottery ticket that has a much much much much much much higher chance of making you rich, but you still have like a 60-70% chance of winning little to nothing.  But the odds drop off closer to zero after the first round. 

[mvp 78]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/boston-prospect-brooks-brannon-no-longer-a-backstop-talks-hitting/

Interview with David Laurila and Brooks Brannon!

[mvp 78]

Brannon: “It’s hard to say, because one thing the Red Sox are — and it took me awhile to appreciate this — is very analytical. The way they approach hitting is like blackjack almost. It’s, ‘This is what is expected to happen, so we’re going to live and die on this hill. Mathematically, this should happen.’ Air-pull being the optimal launch angle, focusing on hitting the ball hard in the air, making the right swing decisions and drawing walks to get on base… that’s what you want."

Brannon: “Instead of looking at average, slug, and OPS, one thing I’m doing differently this year is prioritizing xwOBA and other expected hitting statistics. xwOBA heavily prioritizes hitting the ball in the air and walking more, and in order to have a good xwOBA, I need to prioritize those two things. That has helped me increase everything: average, OPS, homers, doubles. Everything.”

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