2026 Prospects

[mvp 78]

Today is Opening Day for WOO! The other affiliates don't start until April. 

[moonslav59]

Woo Hoo for WOO!

Bennett gets the first start.

[moonslav59]

Looking at the number of catchers added to the Sox farm system is rather shocking, although none are top prospects. It was an area of great need, so it made sense that we added a few, but here is the list of catcher additions:

MLB/AAA: Gasper, Seigler, Thaiss, Delay

AA: Baez

A-: Guzman

A-: Heyman

That's 8 catchers!

[moonslav59]

A recap of top prospects traded away, this winter:

4. Perales (traded for Bennett)

6. Jh Garcia (traded with Travieso for Oviedo, Samaniego & Guzman)

8. B Clarke (traded with Fitts for Sonny Gray + cash)

10. Fajardo (Traded w Dobbins & Aita for Contreras)

12. Sandlin (Part of package that included Hicks and cash for Gage Ziehl)

18. Drohan (Part of package for Durbin & others)

20. Travieso (traded with Jh Garcia for Oviedo & others)

21. Paez (lost to Rule 5)

______________

Added:

6. Bennett (for Perales)

26. Samaniego (part of Oviedo trade for Jh Garcia & Travieso)

28. Ziehl (Part of Sandlin, Hicks & DHam trade)

29. Guzman (part of Oviedo trade for Jh Garcia & Travieso)

30. Watson (Rule 5 pick for J Riemer)

31. Heyman (for Hoppe)

49. Jackson (for Grissom)

[moonslav59]

Opening Day Line-up:

3B Sogard

CF Campbell

1B Gasper

RF Eaton

2B Romero

DH Castro

SS Cheng

C Thaiss

LF Ward

[moonslav59]

We should see the updated soxprospects.com rankings in a week or so, but here is my current rankings:

1. Early

2. Tolle

3. Arias

4. Witherspoon

5. Gonzales

6. Valera

7. Bennett

8. Phillips

9. Soto

10. Godbout

11. Eyanson

12. Holobetz

13. Delzine

14. Azocar

15. Jo Garcia

16. Ramos

17. Rivas

18. Cason

19. Romero

20. Watson

21. Uberstine

22. Mullins

23. Ziehl

24. Guzman

25. Silviero

[Larry Cook]

Worcester won today. 
 

Romero with his first tater of the year 

[moonslav59]

4 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

Worcester won today. 

Romero with his first tater of the year 

KC K'd 4 times and went 1 for 5.

Sogard got on base 3 out of 5 times.

Uberstine went 4 IP (56 pitches) 2 hits, 1 BB, 3 Ks and just 1 ER.

Guerrero got the save.

[moonslav59]

WOO lost 10-8 as Tolle got shelled (5 hits, 2BB and 4 ER in 4IP. 2 unearned runs didn't help.)

Still, the Sox had the lead 7-6 going into the 8th.

Gasper 3-4 w 2B

Ward 2-4 w BB

Romero 1-3 w 2B

Lloyd 1-2 w 3 BB

[moonslav59]

Greenville & Salem open the season April 2nd and Portland April 3rd.

[mvp 78]

Ward:

3 G

3 SB

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

29 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Ward:

3 G

3 SB

I was at Saturday's game when Ward stole third, while the pitcher, third baseman and shortstop all just stood there looking at each other. 

Other positives: decent long relief from Samaniego, clutch hits by Gasper and Delay, HR by Romero.

I won't name the negative, a guy who my son said looked like the worst player on the field. Hints: struck out four times swinging, and hit a double that the centerfielder misjudged, but almost got picked off when he tripped over the bag... in the outfield, bounced a throw home that nabbed a runner, then bobbled a single and lost it off his throwing hand as another run scored... finally, misjudged a flyball but recovered with a last-second lunge over his head sideways to catch it. Eeegads.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

I was at Saturday's game when Ward stole third, while the pitcher, third baseman and shortstop all just stood there looking at each other. 

Other positives: decent long relief from Samaniego, clutch hits by Gasper and Delay, HR by Romero.

I won't name the negative, a guy who my son said looked like the worst player on the field. Hints: struck out four times swinging, and hit a double that the centerfielder misjudged, but almost got picked off when he tripped over the bag... in the outfield, bounced a throw home that nabbed a runner, then bobbled a single and lost it off his throwing hand as another run scored... finally, misjudged a flyball but recovered with a last-second lunge over his head sideways to catch it. Eeegads.

How did Samaniego look? He hasn't pitched above AA before but some believe he'll be up in BOS soon. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

How did Samaniego look? He hasn't pitched above AA before but some believe he'll be up in BOS soon. 

I like him. Kinda hides the ball with a tighter release point -- slightly sidewinding, low three-quarters -- that can  mess up timing in a deceptive extension sense.

[moonslav59]

Here are the highest ranking some of our prospects placed on past soxprospects.com rankings:

2. Bleis (summer '23)

7. Cespedes (summer '24)

8. Romero (summer '23)

10. Zanetello (summer '24)

13. Castro (fall '23)

18. Jo Garcia (summer '24)

18. Taylor (summer '25)

21. D Reyes (spring '25)

22. Cason (spring '25)

26. Wehunt (summer '25)

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Here are the highest ranking some of our prospects placed on past soxprospects.com rankings:

2. Bleis (summer '23)

The hype train was in overdrive. 

[moonslav59]

33 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The hype train was in overdrive. 

sps.com does do a pretty good job, though.

[mvp 78]

36 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

sps.com does do a pretty good job, though.

I think they tend to overhype a certain type of player TBH. They do a better job than anyone else does.

[moonslav59]

5 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I think they tend to overhype a certain type of player TBH. They do a better job than anyone else does.

The pattern of overhype seems to be with the "5 tool" everyday players more than anyone else, and I guess this makes sense. Since so much of the value being given is speculative, in nature, they give more value to the "highly-skilled" players.

They seem more cautious with pitchers, but the Sox farm system has had so many disappointments with "promising" pitchers, over the past few decades, I can understand their reluctance in over-hyping them.

[mvp 78]

WOO scored more runs last night than BOS has all year.

 

[mvp 78]

 

[mvp 78]

 

[moonslav59]

https://soxprospects.com/history.htm

soxprospects.com came out with their Spring 2026 rankings list:

1. Tolle (#1 fall '25)

2. Arias (#2)

3. Early (#3)

4. Witherspoon (#5- Perales was #4)

5. Valera (7- Jh Garcia #6)

6. Eyanson (14) 

7. Phillips (13) 

8. Gonzales (9- Clarke was #8)

9. Soto (11)

10. Bennett (n/a- Fajardo was #10) 

11. Godbout (15)

12. Romero (16- Sandlin was #12)

13. Uberstine (17)

14. Holobetz (19)

15. Azocar (25)

16. Castro (26)

17. Ramos (28)

18. Rivas (29)

19. Samaniego (n/a- Drohan was #18)

20. Wehunt (below 30- Travieso was #20)

21. Bastardo (n/a- J Paez was #21)

22. Taylor (below 30)

23. Delzine (27)

24. Mullins (22)

25. Monegro 

26. Silverio

27. Brito

28. Ziehl

29. G Rodriguez

30. Watson

31-35: Heyman, Rivera, Bleis, Cespedes Finley

36-40: Primera, Cason, White, Jackson, Ward

41-45: Song, Alcantara, Guzman, Morgan, Wu-Yelland

46-50: Ingrassia, Martin, Neely, Nunez, Bravo

51-55: Jo Garcia, Ogando, Brannon, McShane, YRod

56-60: Foutch, Rogers, Ehrlicher, Patton, Brown

(I wonder where they might squeeze Paez in, if nobody claims him.)

[moonslav59]

They did bounce Bleis & Cespedes from the top 30, but Castro went up.

I'm surprised by the drop of Jo Garcia from 30 to 51, but these guys know more than I do.

[moonslav59]

On 4/1/2026 at 2:42 PM, mvp 78 said:

 

It's just one slot, but they had Eyanson jump over Phillips.

The NOV 2025 rankings had Phillips 13 and Eyanson 14. Since then, we traded away #4 Perales, #6 Jh Garcia, #8 Clarke, #10 Fajardo & #12 Sandlin, so the rise by these two was almost all due to attrition.

I did not see the jump by Wehunt coming.

I would not have jumped Castro up.

Azocar went from #25 to #15.

Ramos & Rivas jumped 10 slots, but abut 10 prospects ahead of them were traded away.

Biggest drops:

23 Bleis> 33 (about 10 guys above him were traded)

24 Cespedes>34

30 Jo Garcia>51

[mvp 78]

My guess is Paez is slotted in right behind Bastardo. 

[mvp 78]

I have to agree with them dropping Bleis and Cespedes out of the top 30. 

System looks pretty weak overall which is how a steadier guy like Castro has risen in the rankings. Aside from the pitchers at the top, there isn't a lot to get excited about. 

[mvp 78]

From Mike Andrews:

Notable Fallers
Hayden Mullins from 15 to 24
Miguel Bleis from 16 to 33
Yoeilin Cespedes from 17 to 34
Johanfran Garcia from 23 to 51
Yophery Rodriguez from 37 to 55

I haven't heard much about Mullins falling off, but I can see it from the other 4 unfortunately. YRod hasn't been impressive at all. The knee injury was an awful setback for Garcia. Bleis just never reached his potential. Cespedes was a DH from day one and maxed out physically so was always ranked too high.

[mvp 78]

It's Opening Day for Greenville! 

Tomorrow is Opening Day for Portland and Salem!

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Early in Boston is still a prospect?

But Campbell in Woo is no longer a prospect? And what does that say for his prospects...