Brock Beauchamp

MLB Trade Rumors released their top 35 trade candidates for the 2024-2025 offseason. The only Red Sox player to make the list is outfielder Wilyer Abreu. There is consternation from both within and without the organization that the Red Sox need to become less left-handed in 2025. While they have several options to accomplish this goal (Abreu, Triston Casas, and Jarren Duran), Abreu is probably the easiest choice of the three: Casas is a work in progress, Duran is wildly valuable in the here and now, and Abreu sits in the middle. He carries significant value today after a strong rookie campaign (114 OPS+), has lengthy team control at the minimum salary, and can be flipped to fill a need in 2025 without causing catastrophic damage to the Red Sox lineup.

The Red Sox have made a habit of trading away quality pitching prospects, dealing away a small army of young arms this offseason in their myriad of trades aimed to improve the major-league roster. And yet, they made a few names untouchable in trade talks (spoiler alert for the rest of our top-20 rundown): Payton Tolle, Connelly Early, Kyson Witherspoon, and Juan Valera. That's some lofty company for Valera, 19, to find himself in after just two seasons of full-time ball. But the teenager out of the Dominican Republic has earned the hype, even after a 2025 season that flashed some red flags. Across 10 starts with High-A Greenville, Valera consumed 38 innings while posting a 5.45 ERA and 3.97 FIP. The more advanced hitters at the level were able to square him up frequently, as he surrendered six home runs in just 167 plate appearances. That being said, the underlying metrics are tantalizing. He struck out 27.5% of hitters and walked just 6.0% of them, displaying a mastery of the strike zone you almost never see in young pitchers. That control is even more impressive when you consider that Valera throws a high-90s fastball and a gyro slider with big break both horizontally and vertically. Those offerings play nicely off each other; his fastball features some natural cut action (i.e., movement to his glove side) and his slider displays some sweeping tendencies while still retaining vertical break. To combat his two primary offerings both featuring glove-side action, Valera has been tinkering with a changeup, but it is certainly his weakest offering. It's firm and a little flat, lacking the fading action that he needs to really work both sides of the plate. Still, because the pitch routinely flashes in the low-90s, he's able to use it effectively down in the zone. The bigger concern is health, as is the case for most pitching prospects with elite velocity. He missed multiple months in 2025 while tending to elbow soreness, though he returned to Greenville by the end of the regular season and reportedly had a "normal" offseason in terms of preparation. That's worth monitoring as he climbs further up the ranks, but he and the Red Sox appear to have dodged a bullet for now. Valera's delivery actually reminds me a bit of Nestor Cortes. Though he's less eccentric on the mound that the former New York Yankees southpaw, he's got a simple, repeatable motion that he'll deviate from in an effort to mess with hitters' timing. He doesn't change much more than his tempo — and he certainly doesn't freestyle in the way Cortes does — but the young right-hander does have an advanced feel for his mechanics and isn't shy about altering his style in order to gain the upper hand. He still needs to hit key developmental goals (a third and even fourth reliable offering would be game-changing) and prove that he can handle even a semi-reliable workload (his career high in innings is 63 1/3), but Valera's arrow is pointing upward heading into 2026. Despite not turning 20 until May, he'll likely crash Double-A before the All-Star Break, with a slim chance to make it to Worcester if he remains healthy all year long. By this time next year, he could be the consensus top prospect in the system.

The second right-handed pitcher featured on the top 20 prospect list, Yordanny Monegro, is hard to miss, standing 6’4”. He was signed as an international free agent in 2020. This season, he posted a 6-2 record over the 2024 season with a 2.73 ERA, 3.34 FIP, and an 11.18 K/9. He features a fastball that sits 92-96 mph, a slider, a curveball, and a change-up. Unfortunately, no pitch profiles as a true strikeout pitch, which limits his usability as he progresses throughout the minor leagues. Should he add another pitch to the mix and hone his fastball to be more effective, he would profile as a middle-inning reliever.

Hunter Dobbins was selected in the eighth round of the 2021 draft out of Texas Tech. He began the year in Portland before being called up to Worcester towards the end of the season. Combined, he went 8-5 with a 3.08 ERA, 2.82 FIP, and an 8.59 K/9. He notched one quality start in Worcester, his only win of the season. However, during those four games in Worcester, he brought his ERA down from 3.17 to 2.61. Dobbins showcases a fastball that sits 93-96 mph and tops out at 98 mph, a split-finger sinker, cutter, slider, sweeper, curveball, and splitter. He currently profiles as a long reliever and could reach a ceiling of back-end starter if his pitch mix is reigned and he focuses on plus pitches.