Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2025 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. OF Roman Anthony | 20 | AAA | 2025
A left-handed hitter at 6’2” 200 lbs, Anthony slashed .291/.396/.498 with 18 home runs and 21 stolen bases in 119 games across the top two minor league levels in 2024, setting himself up to fight for a spot in spring training. He got just 35 games at Triple-A but slashed .344/.463/.519 there and doesn’t have anything left to prove in the minor leagues. Here’s a bit of what I wrote when I ranked him atop this list last season:
“I’m just trying to say he’s a player in flux and reminds me a little of Ronald Acuña at this stage in the sense that he’s got more than one path ahead of him as a hitter and could become a total-package type who slashes .300/.400/.500 on the regular.”
So far so good on this one.
2. 2B Kristian Campbell | 22 | AAA | 2025
Thanks in part to Campbell’s cooking in 2024, Boston has baseball’s best collection of position-player prospects right now. A fourth-round pick in 2023, he’s not exactly found money, but it’s not common to see a college hitter go from the 132nd pick to a consensus top five prospect in a calendar year, and a glow-up like that can alter a whole organization’s outlook. A right-handed hitter at 6’3” 191 lbs, Campbell worked with Boston’s coaches to alter his swing and unlock bat speed and generate a little more loft, and Soup responded by slashing .330/.439/.558 with 20 home runs and 24 steals in 115 games across three levels. He closed the season with 19 games at Triple-A, where he posted a .412 on base percentage with four homers and four steals. He’s listed here at all the positions he’s been playing in the minors, and while it seems likely he’ll settle in at second base or left field, it’s hard to put a ceiling on someone we just saw make a developmental leap on the other side of the ball. And for what it’s Werth, I wouldn’t quibble if anyone flipped Campbell and Anthony on any list. I swapped them back and forth a few times.
3. SS Marcelo Mayer | 22 | AA | 2025
Mayer bounced back from an injury-plagued 2023 and slashed .307/.370/.480 with eight home runs and 13 steals in 77 Double-A games before a lumbar strain ended his season in July. The 4th overall pick in 2021, he’s a smooth left-handed hitter at 6’3” 188 lbs. The kind of guy scouts only have to watch for a moment or two before deciding they like him. Health has been fleeting, but perhaps that calms down a bit when he gets into a major league rhythm with a big league training staff.
4. OF Braden Montgomery | 21 | NCAA | 2027
A dynamic 6’2” switch-hitter out of Texas A&M, Montgomery has a chance to play center field at 220 lbs, and his defensive floor is still a solid corner outfielder. He hit 27 homers and slashed .322/.454/.733 against (mostly) SEC pitching staffs in his junior season but hasn’t played in a pro game since being the 12th overall selection, which could create a little buying opportunity for anyone so inclined this off-season. Betting on Boston to identify and develop good prospects makes a lot of sense to me right now.
5. SS Franklin Arias | 19 | A | 2028
Arias signed for $525,000 as the second highest paid player in Boston’s 2023 international class, coming up on two years later, that looks like money well invested. A right-handed hitter at 5’11” 170 lbs, Arias slashed .309/.409/.487 with nine home runs and 35 stolen bases in 87 games across two levels. He slugged just .378 in his 36 Low-A games, but he was playing against guys who were 2.5 years his senior on average. I suspect he’ll be much better than that if he returns to Low-A Salem to open the 2025 season.
6. SS Yoelin Cespedes | 19 | CPX | 2028
Cespedes signed for $1.4 million in 2023, the highest bonus Boston gave out that year. A powderkeg of an athlete at 5’8” 181 lbs, Cespedes generates plus power and has an aptitude for finding the ball with the barrel, as he demonstrated in slashing .319/.400/.615 with five home runs and three stolen bases across 25 games on the complex. He and Arias form the current of another wave of position-player talent cresting just a cycle behind the group that’ll be ready in 2025.
7. C Kyle Teel | 23 | AAA | 2025
What he doesn’t offer in topside for the dynasty game, Teel makes up for in proximity and predictability. A lefty who takes a controlled approach at the plate, he really knows himself as a hitter and will probably look like a major league option in spring training. In 112 games across two levels last year, he slashed .288/.386/.433 with 13 home runs and 12 stolen bases.
8. 2B Chase Meidroth | 23 | AAA | 2025
Meidroth is a little meh-droth for fantasy purposes, but dude can hit. In 122 Triple-A games, he slashed .293/.437/.400 with seven home runs and 13 steals. Oh, he also managed 105 walks against 71 strikeouts (12.7%). It’s a simple swing from the right side at 5’10” 170 lbs, and he’s a bit stretched athletically at second base, but the hardest part of the game (making contact) comes easily enough to Meidroth that he should be able to piece together a pesky career.
9. RHP Luis Perales | 22 | AA | 2026
A lot of Sawx bats enjoyed breakout seasons in 2024, and 2025 looks like it could bring more of the same from the pitching side. Luis Perales pitched in just nine games last season but made them count, recording 56 punchouts in 33.2 innings across two levels. A double-plus fastball that sits mid 90’s with ride is his calling card, giving him something of a Luis Gil look when he’s pumping it up near 100. And a little like Gil, Perales has some risk given how hard he throws at 6’1” 160 lbs. To be fair, he looks a bit bigger than that to the eyeball test, and he’s a good athlete who has been improving balance throughout his delivery, so he might eventually be able to sustain that velocity despite a starter’s workload.
10. OF Jhostynxon Garcia | 22 | AA | 2026
Here’s what I wrote about Garcia this summer in Prospect News: Jhostynxon Garcia Cracks The Code:
“We’ve gotta carve out some space for Red Sox OF Jhostynxon Garcia (21, A+), who has benefited from the hitter friendly home ballpark at Greenville, but he’s hit four homers on the road and three homers at home durings his 20 games in High-A. A smooth right-handed swinger at 6’0” 163 lbs, Garcia graduated Low-A after posting a 154 wRC+ in 24 Low-A games and might get a quick bump to Double-A if he keeps slashing something close to the .312/.384/.636 he’s posting so far. Spell check wants me to change his name to Jhostyn Xon. Which, okay, but that’s not actually changing any of the letters? He popped up in the Razzball chat a while back because his nickname on baseball reference is “The Password.” Just fun stuff all around. But don’t make this guy your password if you intend to log in again.”
A right-handed hitter listed at 6’0” 163 lbs, Garcia looks a little bigger than that to the eye as he adds power across time. He covered three levels on the season and finished with 30 games at Double-A, where he’ll probably open up 2025.
Thanks for reading!
Great post Itch.
I’ve got Anthony on my dynasty team so I’m hoping you’re right about him at #1. My question has to do with my keeper league team where I have Campbell.
We keep 12. How sold are you on Campbell for me to make him my last keeper at #12? My choices come down to Campbell or someone like Manny Machado, Marcus Semien, Heston Kjerstad Pablo Lopez, Bailey Ober or Eury Perez.
I know Machado is great, but he’s 34 and this is a keep 12 league. I’ve already got Austin Riley for third base. I’ve also got Ohtani at utility so keeping Machado is a luxury and not a necessity since he creates a roster crunch at his position. I don’t want to own Machado when he’s 35 and up, either. Would you keep Campbell if you were me?
Ive been trying to get Anthony and he seems like such a stud, I want.
Where would (if) Yorke and Priester have been on the list?
Is it me or do the Red Sox never have top pitching prospects?
Yorke would be in the five spot, I think.
Priester would be in consideration for the ten spot.
Speaking of the Sawx….do you think Ceddanne is able to make adjustments at the plate or is now the time to sell in dynasty? Thx
I’d give him another season or so. He could add a little strength over the winter and get to 20/20 pretty much on playing time alone.
Great stuff Itch! 13 team dynasty 5×5…can only hold one Drake Baldwin or Dalton Rushing? Thank you!
Thanks, Hutch!
I’d holding Rushing at the moment.