If Masa is DFA'd, he'll either go back to Japan or grab a one year MLB minimum deal to play at his preferred location. No way is he signing a multi-year deal right after being DFA'd.
I think the first impressions of him hitting 823 in April are what stuck in many people's minds. My other guess is that some of the writers just really don't pay attention to the prospects. Every national listing that I found (SoxProspects, MLB, FanGraphs, etc.) has Yophery outside the top 30 for the Sox. TalkSox having him at #16 shows a big flaw in our ranking system.
Verdugo was a SSS mirage in 2020. That year was awful and we didn't have anything to be hopeful for. A guy like him was never going to be successful long term in Boston. That's why Cora was so frustrated with him all the time. He could have built a career for himself but threw it away instead.
Not sure I want Masa in the field for a long period of time. He has bad range, bad speed and a horrible arm. Eaton is closer to average across the board with elite sprint speed.
I think we should be past the hype on Bleis. He hasn't put up 750 OPS since '22 in FCL. Having him or Cespedes ahead of Allan Castro doesn't make much sense to me anymore. Those two haven't shown anything. Castro keeps showing up, getting on base and moving up the ladder. The ceiling for Bleis may be higher, but it's been over 3 years of disappointment. Castro is only 9 months older than Bleis FWIW.
Oh, you have this chump ahead of him:
23 G, 124 IP, 3.03 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 8.7 k/9, 1.45 bb/9
Nice try!
Yophery: 5 HR, 221 AVG, 316 OBP, 657 OPS
TBF, if Yophery added strength, he'd be a top 20 guy. He's just not there.