IFA Red Sox Prospects

[moonslav59]

According to MLB.com, the Sox have the most IFA prospects in their top 30- fifteen of them!

Here is how soxprospects.com ranks the Sox IFA prospects:

2. Arias '23

5. Valera '23

7. Gonzales '24

8. Soto '25

16. Bleis '21

17. Cespedes '23

18. Azocar '24

20. Castro '19

21. Delzine '25

22. Ramos '25

23. Rivas '25

24. Jo Garcia '22 (That's 12 in the top 24, but most are bunched from 16-24th.)

26. Monegro '20 (He is the 13th in the top 30.)

32. Primera

33. Silverio

34. Brito (16 in the top 34.)

The Sox have usually done pretty well with IFA signings, and it's nice to see them seemingly doing well, again.

IFA players on the current 40:

Rafaela, Bello & Yoshida

That's a much lower percentage than the top prospect list.

 

[mvp 78]

17 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

According to MLB.com, the Sox have the most IFA prospects in their top 30- fifteen of them!

Here is how soxprospects.com ranks the Sox IFA prospects:

2. Arias '23

5. Valera '23

7. Gonzales '24

8. Soto '25

16. Bleis '21

17. Cespedes '23

18. Azocar '24

20. Castro '19

21. Delzine '25

22. Ramos '25

23. Rivas '25

24. Jo Garcia '22 (That's 12 in the top 24, but most are bunched from 16-24th.)

26. Monegro '20 (He is the 13th in the top 30.)

32. Primera

33. Silverio

34. Brito (16 in the top 34.)

The Sox have usually done pretty well with IFA signings, and it's nice to see them seemingly doing well, again.

IFA players on the current 40:

Rafaela, Bello & Yoshida

That's a much lower percentage than the top prospect list.

Most IFA players don't work out. Of the guys you list, only two should make it to AAA this season. Having a bunch of guys listed who haven't played stateside yet shows that the organization is pretty weak IMO.  

[moonslav59]

38 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Most IFA players don't work out. Of the guys you list, only two should make it to AAA this season. Having a bunch of guys listed who haven't played stateside yet shows that the organization is pretty weak IMO.  

I don't disagree, and almost all of these IFAs start out in DSL and FCL.

We do have quite a few IFAs who should begin the season in AA or get there, this year, so not all are very far away, anymore:

AA: Arias, Jo Garcia, YRod, Bleis & Castro (plus NR Liendo, F de Leon & others?)

A+>>AA? Valera, J Gonzalez & others?

I do agree that many of these players will never make the bigs, but it is nice to see more IFAs getting into the picture.

 

[mvp 78]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I don't disagree, and almost all of these IFAs start out in DSL and FCL.

We do have quite a few IFAs who should begin the season in AA or get there, this year, so not all are very far away, anymore:

AA: Arias, Jo Garcia, YRod, Bleis & Castro (plus NR Liendo, F de Leon & others?)

A+>>AA? Valera, J Gonzalez & others?

I do agree that many of these players will never make the bigs, but it is nice to see more IFAs getting into the picture.

 

In looking at the IFA guys right now, there are probably a few different levels.

Likely MLB guys: Arias, Castro

Great prospects, but too soon to tell: Valera, JGonzales

Mid tier prospects (rising or falling): Bleis, Cespedes, Azocar, JGarcia, Monegro, YRodrigruez

Non-prospects at AA: Liendo, Alcantara, Rosario, De Leon, Sena, Cohen, Montero, Chacon, Liu

Guys who haven't appeared stateside: Soto, Delzine, Ramos, Rivas, Primera, Silverio, Brito

AA seems like an organizational filter for IFA guys. There are no projected IFA players on the Opening Day AAA squad. I can't be too excited about Soto being ranked #8 on SP considering how other DSL top 10 guys have shaked out recently (Bleis, Cespedes, Jimenez). Why have Rivas ranked 15 spots lower when he's already at his future defensive position, has plus tools across the board and is the same age as Soto? Is it just because Soto got the bigger signing bonus? 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

In looking at the IFA guys right now, there are probably a few different levels.

Likely MLB guys: Arias, Castro

Great prospects, but too soon to tell: Valera, JGonzales

Mid tier prospects (rising or falling): Bleis, Cespedes, Azocar, JGarcia, Monegro, YRodrigruez

Non-prospects at AA: Liendo, Alcantara, Rosario, De Leon, Sena, Cohen, Montero, Chacon, Liu

Guys who haven't appeared stateside: Soto, Delzine, Ramos, Rivas, Primera, Silverio, Brito

AA seems like an organizational filter for IFA guys. There are no projected IFA players on the Opening Day AAA squad. I can't be too excited about Soto being ranked #8 on SP considering how other DSL top 10 guys have shaked out recently (Bleis, Cespedes, Jimenez). Why have Rivas ranked 15 spots lower when he's already at his future defensive position, has plus tools across the board and is the same age as Soto? Is it just because Soto got the bigger signing bonus? 

Good breakdown.

I doubt Castro sees MLB or ever gets a long look.

I like Jo Garcia more than many do.

I see 3 very promising IFAs near AA/AAA: Arias, Gonzales & Valera. 3 is not bad.

The rest are too far away or don't appear to have high ceilings.

[mvp 78]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Good breakdown.

I doubt Castro sees MLB or ever gets a long look.

I like Jo Garcia more than many do.

I see 3 very promising IFAs near AA/AAA: Arias, Gonzales & Valera. 3 is not bad.

The rest are too far away or don't appear to have high ceilings.

Castro might not have the prospect status he once did, but he continues to climb up the ladder. In ST, he hasn't looked overmatched against legit MLB pitching. I don't know if he'll be an MLB starter, but I think he'll get to MLB with his toolset. Maybe not here. Some team could use him. 

[moonslav59]

49 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Castro might not have the prospect status he once did, but he continues to climb up the ladder. In ST, he hasn't looked overmatched against legit MLB pitching. I don't know if he'll be an MLB starter, but I think he'll get to MLB with his toolset. Maybe not here. Some team could use him. 

He is having a decent ST'ing, but this is a tiny sample size and he was not very often facing MLB pitching.

[moonslav59]

Here is my list of Sox propsects I project will drop the farthest in the rankings over the 2026 season:

(soxprospects,com's rankings)

16 Bleis to below 30

17 Cespedes to below 30

19 Castro to below 30

12 Romero to 20th

Just my gut feelings.

[moonslav59]

Here's my list on Sox prospects I think will rise the most in the rankings during the 2026 season:

Jo Garcia 23> top 10

Delzine 20> 11

Azocar 18> 12

Silverio 43>25

[mvp 78]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Here is my list of Sox propsects I project will drop the farthest in the rankings over the 2026 season:

(soxprospects,com's rankings)

16 Bleis to below 30

17 Cespedes to below 30

19 Castro to below 30

12 Romero to 20th

Just my gut feelings.

I think Castro and Romero stay about the same. There would have to be an influx of new prospects to bump them down. I think their rankings are kind of sticky.

I'd be surprised if Bleis or Cespedes dropped below 30 during the season. Bleis will be at AA and they'll give him the benefit of the doubt as being young for the level. Cespedes will probably start in High A and should have better offensive numbers than last year (Salem is a horrible park). There's a case that they shouldn't be top 20 guys, but I don't think they fall into the 30's. 

Guys I think could fall: Uberstine, Mullins (high BB rate), Johanfran (if his bat doesn't bounce back), Taylor.

[mvp 78]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Here's my list on Sox prospects I think will rise the most in the rankings during the 2026 season:

Jo Garcia 23> top 10

Delzine 20> 11

Azocar 18> 12

Silverio 43>25

Garcia will really need to go back to hitting in order to jump that much. He hasn't been the same since his injury. 

The DSL guys are always hard to project. I don't know how to get a good read on any of them. If I had to pick a guy to jump out of that group it'd be Rivas. 

What if Cason really shows he's capable at SS? That would jump his ranking considerably. 

 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I think Castro and Romero stay about the same. There would have to be an influx of new prospects to bump them down. I think their rankings are kind of sticky.

I'd be surprised if Bleis or Cespedes dropped below 30 during the season. Bleis will be at AA and they'll give him the benefit of the doubt as being young for the level. Cespedes will probably start in High A and should have better offensive numbers than last year (Salem is a horrible park). There's a case that they shouldn't be top 20 guys, but I don't think they fall into the 30's. 

Guys I think could fall: Uberstine, Mullins (high BB rate), Johanfran (if his bat doesn't bounce back), Taylor.

I almost mentioned Mullins.

I was never very high on Uberstine, but watching him pitch in ST'ing has made me think he might have a shot.

I don't know enough about Taylor to make a projection.

I've always been higher on Jh Garcia than most, so I guess I just feel better about his chances than most.

You made good points about the others I see dropping, and saying "below 30" might have been too harsh.

We have a lot of prospects with talent and some have not even played much, or at all, so there is room for a lot of movement.

[mvp 78]

34 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We have a lot of prospects with talent and some have not even played much, or at all, so there is room for a lot of movement.

These guys always move a lot more than we think they will. The midseason standings post-draft will be interesting to gauge how the system is measuring up IMO. If Bleis is having a mediocre season and not falling, it probably means that the overall health of the system isn't great. 

[moonslav59]

26 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

These guys always move a lot more than we think they will. The midseason standings post-draft will be interesting to gauge how the system is measuring up IMO. If Bleis is having a mediocre season and not falling, it probably means that the overall health of the system isn't great. 

True. We have 3 prospects in the top 10 that have yet to play an inning in the minors. That's just one element of the potential volatility of the rankings. There are several others that just played a few games or are at the DSL and FCL levels who have enormous ranges of outcomes. Many may not show signs of greatness, this season, but may still end up rising high in the rankings, and many will never amount to a top 30 placement.

I'm no expert on prospects, but I think we have a lot of talent, and many prospects are likely to show it, this summer. I'm very excited about our farm and think we will see a pretty good system ranking by the end of 2026, despite just graduating Anthony, Mayer, KC and Narvaez.

[mvp 78]

27 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm no expert on prospects, but I think we have a lot of talent, and many prospects are likely to show it, this summer. I'm very excited about our farm and think we will see a pretty good system ranking by the end of 2026, despite just graduating Anthony, Mayer, KC and Narvaez.

I think most places have the Sox ranked towards the middle of the pack now. For them to bounce back, it'll take a big step forward from the DSL guys (like what we saw from Rafaela and others in the past) and the college draftees to all progress as expected. 

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I think most places have the Sox ranked towards the middle of the pack now. For them to bounce back, it'll take a big step forward from the DSL guys (like what we saw from Rafaela and others in the past) and the college draftees to all progress as expected. 

I think this has to be part of a rise in our rankings, but we also have a lot of potential in guys like Phillips, Gonzalez, Godbout, Valera, Eyanson and some others.

Another help could come from our big four moving up further, but if they end up graduating, it won't help the farm rankings.

Maybe someone from Bennett, Romero, Holobetz or the like figure something out and move up sharply.