Five Red Sox Prospects Who Underperformed Expectations in 2025

With the 2025 Red Sox minor league season coming to a close, it's time to take a look back on the performance of some of the top prospects in the organization. Coming into the season, these five prospects brought some high expectations with them, but didn't quite live up to them. This is not to say they no longer project as valuable big league ball players, but rather that the team may need to pump the brakes and reassess what 2026 and beyond might look like for them now that we have a better picture of what they could be. After all, how a player responds to a down year is just as important as what they bring to the table at their best.

Yophery Rodriguez

Yophery Rodriguez entered Boston's farm system earlier this year as the return in a trade that sent pitcher Quinn Priester to the Brewers. Initially, this looked like a steal for the Red Sox—and still could be in the long run. However, Rodriguez's production didn't quite match his 2024 performance. When it is expected that a young, toolsy prospect like Rodriguez should in fact take a step forward in his second year of full-season ball, it's easy to feel let down by his performance in Boston's system.

Rodriguez was the top signee in Milwaukee's 2023 international signing class, and after tearing up the Dominican Summer League that year, he posted a solid season with Low-A Carolina. In 484 plate appearances at just the age of 18, Rodriguez hit seven home runs on his way to a 112 wRC+. In 2025, he played just three games in Milwaukee's system before being traded to Boston. In those 101 games he spent with the Red Sox at High-A Greenville, he hit five home runs with a .642 OPS and a 92 wRC+.

The good news for Rodriguez is there is still a lot of promise for the young outfield prospect. Despite the drop in overall production, he managed to decrease his strikeout rate while maintaining his walk rate from last year thanks to his mature approach for his age. He has also proven to be a positive base runner and defender, which is where he is likely to accrue a lot of his value. It's also important to note that he doesn't turn 20 until the end of this year, so there's still plenty of leash for Rodriguez. However, given that he was acquired for an MLB-ready pitcher, a tough campaign at the plate following the trade isn't super encouraging.

Conrad Cason

While there is still plenty of hype around Conrad Cason, the young, two-way player makes this list due to the fact that we weren't able to see what he is capable of because of injury. An eighth-round draft pick out of high school a year ago, Cason signed with the Red Sox for one million dollars over his slot value. Scouts across baseball preferred Cason as a pitcher, but the Red Sox went ahead and signed him as a two-way player to give him a shot at doing both in the lower levels of the minors.

Unfortunately for the now-19-year-old Cason, he only appeared in one game as a pitcher and two games as a hitter in 2025. Arm fatigue plagued him for the majority of the year before his season ended in August, as he underwent Tommy John surgery. While Cason doesn't necessarily fit the mold of an "underperforming" prospect simply because he was barely on the field in 2025, it's still disappointing to have not seen what he can do in the pro ranks yet, given the Red Sox's belief in his two-way ability. It was always expected that Cason was going to eventually transition to pitching full-time if his bat wasn't showing any significant production. While returning from Tommy John surgery as a pitcher is definitely still in the cards for Cason, there is a lot more uncertainty around what his future looks like moving forward.

David Sandlin

David Sandlin was an acquisition via trade prior to the 2024 season after he was drafted in the 11th round by the Royals in 2022. Since entering Boston's system, Sandlin has shown promise as one of the top pitching prospects in the organization, but it has yet to really show up in his production.

Sandlin opened with the Red Sox in Double-A Portland, where he spent half of 2024. His performance did improve from 2024 to 2025, with his ERA dropping by two runs, going from 5.61 to 3.61. While his strikeout and walk numbers trended in opposite directions, he did manage to limit home runs at a much better pace, with his HR/9 at Double-A going from 2.45 in 2024 to 0.77 in 2025. His solid start to the season led to a promotion to Triple-A Worcester later on, but he found nowhere near the amount of success as he did in Double-A. 

Sandlin transitioned nearly full-time to the bullpen, making one start for Worcester while appearing in 14 games in a relief role. In 23 2/3 innings of work, Sandlin posted a 7.61 ERA, 5.27 FIP, and a 2.03 WHIP. On top of those numbers, his strikeout rate on the season dropped nearly ten percent from what it was last year, going from 33.2% to 23.4%. The adjustment needed for transitioning to a bullpen role can likely be attributed to these numbers, but it's not very promising regardless considering Sandlin is set to turn 25 before the 2026 campaign. There are still plenty of characteristics in his profile that can lead to future success in the big leagues, but there are some obvious concerns that need to be addressed beforehand. 

Yoeilin Cespedes

As did Yophery Rodriguez, Yoeilin Cespedes received the highest signing bonus from his respective team during the 2023 international signing period. Upon his entrance into Boston's system, Cespedes tore up short-season ball. As an undersized 17-year-old in the Dominican Summer League, he hit six home runs on his way to a .953 OPS and a 146 wRC+ across 209 plate appearances. Injuries shortened his 2024 campaign in the Florida Complex League, but in the 25 games he did appear in, he continued to hit at a high level, blasting five home runs with a 1.015 OPS and a 155 wRC+.

Entering his age-19 season and first year of full-season ball with Low-A Salem, Cespedes came into 2025 with a lot of hype. However, he didn't quite live up to it. He did stay healthy, but only mustered up a .668 OPS and an 88 wRC+. The jump from short-season to full-season ball is a common difficulty spike for young, international prospects like Cespedes, so there isn't too much to worry about. However, given what we saw from him in the DSL and FCL, there was hope he'd make it to High-A before the year was out. Having just turned 20 earlier in September, Cespedes certainly has a lot of time to figure it out at the lower levels of the minors, but he'll need to learn a lot from this year to get back on track.

Antonio Anderson

Antonio Anderson is another prospect that the Red Sox would have liked to see take a substantial step forward given that 2025 was his second year of full-season ball. Anderson was a third-round draft pick in 2023, and while players drafted out of high school are more of a risk than college players, there is still an expectation for them to be able to handle the lower levels of the minors with some ease. That hasn't quite been the case for Anderson, and his promotion to High-A Greenville earlier this season certainly showed that. 

He struggled at Low-A Salem a year ago, where he hit five home runs while slugging just .270 on his way to a .581 OPS and a 77 wRC+ in 482 plate appearances. He managed to right the ship in 2025 in Salem, posting a .924 OPS and a 162 wRC+ in 101 plate appearances before his promotion to Greenville. Following his promotion, his slugging percentage dropped back down below .300 as he hit just two home runs, while his strikeout rate jumped up to 34.5%, a career high to this point. 

Anderson doesn't necessarily have a standout tool that is going to carry him through the minors. With that being said, it would have been great for either his hit or power tool to develop further. He is a switch hitter, but has struggled a lot against right-handed pitching to this point in his career, so there isn't a whole lot to dream on with his ability to hit from both sides of the plate. The 2026 season will be a pivotal year for the development of his bat, given that he isn't a plus runner and is an average defender at third base.

Interested in learning more about the Boston Red Sox's top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!