Nick John

Today, the Boston Red Sox made their first signing of this free agency period, looking to improve their options of left-handed relievers. Many hope this offseason will lead to multiple signings. The Red Sox have signed a one-year contract with left-handed reliever Justin Wilson. While details about the contract haven’t been fully revealed yet, it is believed to be similar to his previous contract with the Cincinnati Reds: a one-year deal worth $1.5M with up to $1M in incentives. Wilson is a 37-year-old reliever who has played for six different teams. Making his debut for the Pittsburg Pirates at 24, the former 5th-round draft pick spent parts of three seasons with the Pirates before being traded to the New York Yankees in November of 2014. Wilson would only spend a single season in the Bronx before being shipped to Detroit. Following a year and a half with the Tigers, Wilson was on the move again as part of a deal that sent Isaac Paredes and Jeimer Candelario from the Chicago Cubs back to the Tigers. After a year and a half pitching for the Cubs, Wilson became a free agent following the 2018 season and signed with the New York Mets. He pitched for the Mets until 2021 he signed with the Yankees. He returned to the team for half a season before being shipped to Cincinnati. Since that trade, Wilson has pitched on and off for the Reds. He dealt with injuries in 2022 and 2023, which forced him to miss the entire 2023 season. This past season, Wilson pitched the most innings in a season for him since his 2018 season, throwing a total of 46 2/3 innings across 60 games. The lefty won one game and lost 5 for the Reds while striking out 51 batters and walking 13 in those 46 2/3 innings. Though his ERA was 5.59 for the season, it was bloated by allowing eight earned runs in just six innings pitched during September. Last season, Wilson also had a walk percentage of only 6.2% while striking out batters at 24.4% and chase percentage of 33.8%. Wilson throws four pitches, mainly relying on his four-seam fastball, slider, and cutter for 99% of his pitches last year. Rarely would Wilson throw a splitter that made up the remaining 1%. His fastball averaged 95.5mph last season and could be an interesting weapon for the veteran lefty when paired with his slider and cutter. Wilson will look to earn a spot in Alex Cora’s bullpen during Spring Training with competition from last year’s team consisting of Cam Booser, Bailey Horn, and Brennan Bernardino, along with Chris Murphy, who looks to bounce back from missing all of last season. View full article

Welcome back to Talk Sox’s 2024 top 20 prospect rundown! We continue to break down the top prospects in the system as voted on by the Talk Sox community. Today, we continue with the #7 entry on the list, Luis Perales, a hard-throwing righty who has dealt with injuries in his young career. #7 P Luis Perales (Greenville Drive, Portland Sea Dogs) Luis Perales has been in the Red Sox system for quite some time now, signing for $75,000 in the summer of 2019, and yet the right-handed pitcher will only be in his age 22 season in 2025. What was once a not highly-touted prospect out of Venezuela has quickly become the Red Sox’s top pitching prospect despite a series of injuries. Since debuting in the Sox system in 2021 Perales has thrown 161 innings across 44 games, 42 of them starts. Yet despite all the injuries and setbacks, Perales reached Double A in 2024, where in two games, he surrendered only a single run in 7 1/3 innings and struck out ten before the need for Tommy John surgery cut his season short. In November of 2023, Perales was added to the 40-man roster to be protected in the Rule 5 draft. In 2024, Perales made nine starts, throwing 33 2/3 innings with a 2.94 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. More impressively, however, was the young right-hander’s strikeouts per nine innings, where he had a career-high of 15 and tied his career-low for his walks per nine at 3.2. Despite the strong start to the season, Perales suffered an elbow injury in June and Tommy John surgery near the end of the month, which will likely keep him out of pitching until late 2025. Statistics courtesy of FanGraphs What to Like: Perales has an incredible fastball; FanGraphs has it sitting between 96-98 mph and topping out at 100 before his surgery. The velocity of his fastball had already improved since 2023. Along with the speed, the pitch has around 20 inches of induced vertical break, allowing it to play up in the zone to induce swinging strikes. Along with the fastball, he has a variety of other pitches as he throws a cutter, slider, and changeup. While none are as good as his fastball, his cutter and slider are interesting pitches. His cutter has shown flashes of potential but will need a more consistent arm speed to make it more deceptive. Perales gets an 11-to-5 shape with the slider, and it’s viewed as advanced for his age. With a good feel for the spin, he can locate either in or out of the zone for swinging strikes. What to Work On: Right away, he needs consistency with his delivery and the ability to repeat it better within outings. If he can’t become consistent with his delivery, his potential role would likely be out of the bullpen. Another aspect that Perales must improve is his ability to handle a full season’s workload. While he can’t control Tommy John surgery, Perales has only pitched in 10 or more games twice in his career, in 2022 and 2023, the latter being when he pitched in a career-high 21 games. Finally, his changeup and cutter need improvement. These two pitches have shown to be his most inconsistent when pitching. While the changeup has a chance of being an average offering for Perales, it seems his cutter will be below average even if he improves it. What’s Next: Coming off of Tommy John surgery, it is likely that Perales will miss most of the 2025 season. Depending on the Red Sox's position in the playoff race, there is a chance they could have him rehab as a reliever in hopes that he could boost the bullpen for the last few weeks of the season. It would likely be a 2026 pro debut, so long as he doesn’t suffer another injury. As for Perales’ future, it could vary. In some projects, he will have the potential to become a middle-of-the-rotation arm if he can find consistent delivery and hone his secondary pitches. At the same time, he will likely become a backend-of-the-rotation option or even a multi-inning reliever with the possibility of being a setup man. Overall, Perales has a lot of talent. Whether he can harness it all will be determined on how well his body can hold up over a full season and possibly a shift to the bullpen. Regardless, it seems like the Red Sox have an interesting pitcher to continue developing. With his recent injury he will have time to rehab and grow stronger and despite being in the system for quite some time now, he's still young as Perales won't turn 22 until April. He has time on his side to develop, but hopefully there won't be too many more setbacks. View full article

Welcome back to Talk Sox’s 2024 top 20 prospect rundown! After breaking down spots 20 through 16 and spots 15 through 11, we’re officially into the top 10. Leading off is none other than Jhostynxon Garcia, aka The Password, as voted on and compiled by the Talk Sox community. #10 OF Jhostynxon Garcia (Salem Red Sox, Greenville Drive, Portland Sea Dogs) Garcia signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2019 for a bonus of $350,000. Over four seasons, he has played in 256 games across four levels, compiling a .259/.356/.462 slash line. He didn't make his full-season debut until 2023, and it wasn't until the 2024 season when The Password finally unlocked the potential the Red Sox development and scouting teams saw in him. Splitting the season between Salem, Greenville, and Portland, Garcia played in a career-high 107 games, slashing .286/.356/.536 over 459 plate appearances. Garcia set career-highs in nearly every offensive category and looks primed to start the season in Portland, though his stay there could be short if his performance stays consistent. Below are his 2024 stats. Level G PA HR SB BB% K% AVG OBP SLG wRC+ A 24 104 5 14 14.4 24.0 .258 .365 .517 155 A+ 53 229 16 1 5.2 21.8 .311 .371 .627 176 AA 30 126 2 2 5.8 19 .263 .320 .386 103 Total 107 459 23 17 7.2 21.6 .286 .356 .536 151 What to Like: Garcia is officially listed at 6'0" and 163 pounds, but he's already added plenty of muscle to his sturdy frame. FanGraphs has him listed at 6'2" and 220. He's known for his plus bat speed and he has improved against secondary pitches. His natural ability to backspin the ball results in plus raw power that should translate to games. He's already demonstrated high-end exit velocities, which helped him lead the Red Sox minor league system with 23 home runs in 2024. What to Work On: Garcia’s great power is accompanied by an extremely aggressive approach. His plus bat speed comes with a long swing, and his game involves a lot of swing-and-miss. In an encouraging sign, he ran a 24% strikeout rate in Salem, which dropped to 22% in Greenville and 19% in Portland. His walk rate also plummeted at each stop, so it remains to be seen whether he has fixed something or simply managed to put some more balls in play. He’ll be tested by the faster velocity of the upper minors. Despite the improvements that Garcia made during the 2024 season, it’s clear that the 21-year-old still has more room to grow. Originally a shortstop as an amateur, Garcia moved to the outfield, and although he's primarily played center, he seems destined for a corner outfield spot, so his bat will need to shine. What’s next: Garcia ended the season with a 30-game stint in Portland, where he put up a .263/.320/.386 slash line and a 103 wRC+ over 126 plate appearances. There’s a chance he could end up as a non-roster invitee during spring training, but he'll likely begin the 2025 season back in Portland. A promotion to Worcester should not be out of the question for Garcia next year, and it will be interesting to see whether the Red Sox view him as a piece of the future or a key addition to a trade either over the offseason or during the 2025 season. View full article

Roman AnthonyMarcelo MayerKristian CampbellKyle TeelBraden MontgomeryFranklin AriasLuis PeralesChase MeidrothMiguel BleisYoeilin CespedesDavid SandlinRichard FittsJhostynxon GarciaPayton TolleMikey RomeroElmer Rodriguez-CruzHunter DobbinsJohanfran GarciaWikelman GonzalezYordanny Monegro