Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2026 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. SS Franklin Arias | 20 | AA | 2027
Arias signed for $525,000 as the second highest paid player in Boston’s 2023 international class. Today, that looks like money well invested. A right-handed hitter listed at 5’11” 170 lbs, Arias wasn’t as good in 2025 as he had been the year before, but he was facing much older competition and still managed a 108 wRC+ in 87 High-A games despite slashing .265/.329/.380. The plate skills were still elite: 8.2% walk rate against an 8.9% strikeout rate, so the organization waved him along to Double-A for a ten-game stretch at season’s end. He hits the ball hard enough. Just needs to add some loft and grow into some man-strength.
2. LHP Payton Tolle | 23 | MLB | 2025
The 50th overall pick in the 2024 draft, Tolle didn’t pitch for Boston that year but made a smooth transition from TCU to pro ball in 2025, opening the year in High-A and pitching his way through three levels and debuting on August 29 with eight strikeouts in 5.1 solid innings. He wasn’t so good in his next two starts and wound up in the bullpen, but he should be back among the starters in spring training. At 6’6” 250 pounds with high-nineties velocity from a three-quarter release, Tolle makes for an intimidating at bat. He’ll be even tougher to hit if he can deepen his arsenal a bit, but for now the fastball is enough to make him a big leaguer.
3. OF Jhostynxon Garcia | 23 | MLB | 2025
A right-handed hitter listed at 6’0” 163 lbs, Garcia looks bigger than that to the eye. In 114 games across Double and Triple-A, the Password slashed .267/.340/.470 with 21 home runs and seven stolen bases, earning a five-game cup of coffee in August. He struck out 55.6 percent of the time and quickly wound up back in Pawtucket, and he’s still mostly blocked in that outfield, but life finds a way, as the dinosaurs say. His chance may not come in Boston, but they’re reportedly shopping Jarren Duran this winter, so who knows?
4. RHP Kyson Witherspoon | 21 | NCAA | 2026
The 15th overall pick out of Oklahoma this year, Witherspoon dominated during his season at Oklahoma, striking out 124 batters against 23 walks in 95 innings while recording a 1.01 WHIP and 2.65 ERA against mostly SEC opponents. He features truly incredible stuff for a college arm: four easy plus pitches in a high-90’s fastball, a low-90’s slider, a high-80’s cutter, and a low-80’s curveball. He even mixes in a developing changeup, and all the pitches come from the same quick release point and an athletic delivery he repeats well. The command and arsenal led to the best K/BB rate in the conference. I think he could follow the Tolle path and wind up in Boston by September.
5. LHP Connelly Early | 23 | MLB | 2025
A 5th-round pick in 2023, Early recorded a 2.60 ERA and 1.11 WHIP in 100.1 innings pitched across two levels of minor league play this year to earn his big league debut, which was a thing of beauty: five shutout innings with 11 strikeouts. His 31.9 percent strikeout rate and 22.2 strikeout-minus-walk rates this year were right in line with career norms for the 2023 fifth round pick out of Virginia. In four starts with Boston, he pitched 19.1 innings and recorded a whopping 29 strikeouts with a 2.33 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. Despite what the numbers suggest, he’s not overpowering, relying on sequencing and command of his six-pitch arsenal to keep hitters off balance. Lefties with off-speed control tend to come out of the gates hot. It’ll be interesting to see if Early can hold onto a spot for the long run.
6. RHP Luis Perales | 23 | AAA | 2026
Luis Perales pitched just nine games in 2024 but made them count, recording 56 punchouts in 33.2 innings across two levels before his season ended with Tommy John surgery. He rehabbed and returned throwing 100 mph four-seamers in September. Some scouts project a bullpen future because of his size (6’1” 160 lb), arm speed and arsenal, but their stated plan is to build him up to three or four innings in the Arizona Fall League and send him to spring training as a starter.
7. LHP Brandon Clarke | 22 | A+ | 2028
Boston snagged Clarke in the fifth-round of the 2024 draft out of the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota. At 6’4” 220 pounds with 100 mph heat from the left side, he’s already a big win for the scouting and development group there. In 2025, he leaned into a wipeout slider that helped him devour Low-A hitters. He struck out 17 of them in 9.2 innings, recording a 0.41 WHIP and 0.93 ERA to put him on dynasty radars early in the season. Things didn’t go as well in High-A, but it was just 28.1 innings with a 5.08 ERA, and he still recorded 43 strikeouts against 25 walks. The upside and downside are pretty easy to see in those outcomes. After battling some injury troubles in 2025, Clarke could have a huge breakout season if he’s healthy all year in 2026.
8. OF Justin Gonzales | 19 | A+ | 2029
An off-the-bus All-Star, Gonzales is listed at 6’4” 210 pounds, but like a lot of international signings, that’s just how big he was when he signed for $250,000 in January of 2024. He was excellent (.320/.391/.517) in 47 DSL games last year and kept that train rolling this year even after skipping the complex league. In 81 Low-A games, he slashed .298/.381/.423 with four home runs, 11 stolen bases, 52 (14.6%) strikeouts and 35 walks (9.8%). The org rewarded him for the impressive plate skills with an 11-game stretch in High-A to close out the season. Guys with his size and strength who control the strike zone like he does don’t come along very often, so even though he’ll be limited defensively, the bat should have him climbing prospect lists this season.
9. 2B Mikey Romero | 22 | AAA | 2026
A left-handed hitter with just enough power to be a problem, Romero doesn’t jump off the page in any particular area, but he’s mostly held his own against much older players so has more upside than his outcomes indicate. He managed a mere .276 on base percentage in 45 Triple-A games this year but still did plenty of damage, slugging .469 with nine home runs and 15 doubles. He could work his way into the second base picture this year with a hot start.
10. SS Dorian Soto | 18 | DSL | 2030
Soto signed for $1.4 million in January, the biggest bonus Boston gave an international amateur this season. A switch-hitter with advanced skill from both sides of the plate, he found little resistance in the Dominican Summer League, slashing .307/.362/.428 with 28 strikeouts and 16 walks in 47 games. At 6’2” 180 pounds, he’s got room to add strength and could move quickly when he does.
NOTE: Marcelo Mayer would’ve been first if I’d included him. He graduated on service days but had 127 at bats, so he’s still prospect-eligible in the majority of dynasty leagues.
Thanks for reading!
The Password! What a nickname, hope it sticks!