2272 - 2026 Boston Red Sox Top 10 Prospects

The following players are discussed:
1. Franklin Arias (SS)
2. Payton Tolle (LHP)
3. Connelly Early (RHP)
4. Jhostnxon Garcia (OF)
5. Kyson Witherspoon (RHP)
6. Brandon Clarke (LHP)
7. Dorian Soto (SS)
8. Juan Valera (RHP)
9. Yordanny Monegro (RHP)
10. Luis Perales (RHP)

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning. It is December fourth, Wow, already in two December,
about ten o'clock in the morning. Today we are discussing
the twenty twenty six Boston Red Sox top prospects. There
are twenty prospects in total, and for the general public,
I'll be doing ten, as is the normal course. I'll

(00:22):
take a break and then present the other ten to
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Forward slash Prospect three sixty one. You get all six
hundred and forty or so prospects. You'll get all the
write ups, you'll get access to myself and to ten.
You'll get extended draft coverage from mister McLeod I believe

(00:48):
this coming week and he releases his catchers. I'm also
doing my draft targets, so there's lots of good stuff.
If you come at Patreon, remember, plus you get a
chance to support us on to the Boston Red Sox
continues to be a really strong system. Obviously with the
promotion of Roman Anthony, I guess Christian Campbell is no

(01:09):
longer a prospect elipent, so they've they've matriculated a number
of players through the system. It's still really strong and
even with the loss of Brandon Clark as he was
traded to the Saint Louis Cardinals for Sonny Gray, it's
still a really, really strong system. So my top prospect

(01:29):
is Franklin Arise. He's been slowly climbing up or I
guess quickly climbing up the list, sitting just behind Roman
Anthony last season and now he's at the top player
he has. He didn't have a great season, but given
his age and everything that he did, let's take a

(01:50):
look at his uh, let's take a look at what
exactly what he did so I can talk from Let's
see Franklin Arise, that's exactly what he did. So most
of the time was spent in Higa, where he only
hit two sixty five with six sum runs and seven

(02:10):
sole basis. But it's great contact. I mean, look at
that as many walks of Straighthauts, the long struck out
nine percent of the time, held his own in ten
games in double A. So I mean it's just the
high floor player. I think there's going to be more
power as he physically matures. He's just a small guy.
At the moment, but again, only nineteen years old. And

(02:33):
I think once he starts to add some bulk to
his bat speed, there's plenty of batspeed. I think he's
going to hit fifteen twenty home runs, maybe a little
bit more. I know that seems crazy because he's never
really done that. If we go back and take a
look twenty twenty four, he hit nine home runs across
the complex in low A and then last season he

(02:55):
hit eight home runs, so you can say, well, Wilson,
he's he is a twelve twelve guy. He did still
thirty five bases in twenty twenty four, was only limited
to twelve. And I mean he is a plus runner,
so I'm not exactly sure where the speed went. He's
not a burner, but I still think it's the power
is going to come. I think you just got to

(03:15):
be patient here, and I think he's still one of
the elite prospects. And look when the stat line does
not match, and Tim is huge on looking at stat lines.
He doesn't really care about scouting reports. It's fairly obvious, right,
he doesn't care about the underlying stats. He cares about
home runs, stolen bases, strikeouts, walks, that's what he cares about.

(03:38):
He's old school guy. So if you've got players like
that in your dynasty league, you can make a deal
with them. I think for guys like Franklin Rice, because
you can sit there and go if one of those
players owns him, you can go, well, look, you know
the powers is not developing and he maybe you can
get him for a discount. I just think I think
he's going to be a really good baseball player. And again,

(04:02):
it's a high flirt guy. I think he's going to hit.
It's all the makings of a high two hundreds hit
or maybe even a three hundred hitter, particularly as he
the exit velocities go up as he adds more bulk
to his body and the power starts to merge. It
could very easily be a two eighty two ninety batting
average with eighteen home runs and fifteen stolen bases. And yeah,

(04:25):
I think that's the kind of player he could be.
So I have not given up on the guy, even
though the stat lines do not yet match. I think
the underlying scouting report. Could I be wrong, absolutely, but
that's that's my suggestion as to where the player will land.
Next two guys who saw him in the major leagues,
Peyton totally and Connony Early. Connelly Early is going ahead

(04:49):
of Peyton totally. I'm not sure why. Well, I guess
I am sure why because Connley Early pitch better than
Totally and Tim and I talked about this last Sunday,
and I mean Early has got good stuff, it's not
great stuff. Totally is the six foot six, two hundred
and fifty guy that can touch ninety nine miles an hour,

(05:12):
and those are the guys from the left side. Those
are rare, rare breeds. So I just think the upside
on Peyton totally is a whole lot higher than it
is on Connelly Early. Doesn't mean that Early can have
some early success and maybe even better success than Peyton totally,
just because of his size. It might take Totally a

(05:33):
little bit of time to learn how to throw consistent strikes,
but I think that is the guy you want in
a dynasty league. Is totally over Early, and I actually
don't think it's close. I do think both are really
good prospects, but I do like Totally, still like Early,
but it's Early is more kind of in that sunny

(05:53):
Gray kind of well, Sunny Gray threw harder when he
was younger and from the right side. But it's more
in that guy that I think is going to be
a really solid mid rotation guy, high number four, low
number three kind of start. I got him as a
top fifty starting pitcher. It could be a little bit more,
but totally I think is just a chance to pitch

(06:14):
at the top of the rotation, just because it's bigger,
louder stuff. He's more physical than early your Tenson Garcia
the password. We saw him make the major leagues very briefly.
I think it was an injury replacement and they still
need to shed some outfielders for Garcia to get a

(06:34):
shot now. He is a flawed prospect, right, I mean,
there is some swing and miss in his game. It's
not the best approach. So this is a guy that
doesn't have a level of power that room On Anthony has.
But I think it's definitely got twenty plus home run
pop a little bit of speed thrown in, but I
think he is going to struggle to make contacts. So

(06:56):
is it a guy that the the Red Sox might
move for a piece later down, Sure, but I mean
I love the power again. Twenty plus arm run pop
we'll bit of speed, It just might come with a
two forty two to fifty batting average and a low
three hundreds on base percentage. That makes him kind of
a marginal fantasy prospect because they're not fantasy. I'm a

(07:20):
marginal baseball player because anybody with that low three hundreds
on base percentage, teams start to look at that with like, hey,
we're looking for guys that can get on base a
lot more So I think that's ultimately going to kind
of limit his upside. I do have Garcia a couple
of Dynasty leagues. I'm holding on to them because I

(07:41):
do think there's a chance we see him this season.
But I mean that outfield's pretty good, William Breyers, will
Brew is more of a platoon guy. I think Roman
Anthony's stud, and Sadan Rafaela is just a great defender,
and I think an under rated offensive player to a
kid that's still learning how to play. And I just

(08:04):
I don't think Garcia pushes in there unless there's an injury,
which obviously there could be, so potentially he gets moved.
So that's a really strong top four. You got Franklin Arise,
who is still a scouting Darling, not a stat Darling.
You got Peyton Tolly who's got top of the rotation upside.
You've got Connelly early that's just behind him, two lefties

(08:27):
that have already seen, particularly in earliest case, some success
in the major leagues. And then you've got Garcia who's
got good power, some speed and has also already seen
some time up in the major leagues. That's really strong
from a proximity standpoint, and even arisees and already in

(08:47):
Double A. So I mean there's a chance we see
him next season, more likely twenty twenty seven. So it's
really four strong prospects. Now you get into one of
the better pitching prospects that was taken from the draft
lad July, and that is Keisan Weatherspoon. He has a
brother that went I think in the third or fourth round,
really pitched well in college at two sixty five earring

(09:11):
and sixteen starts, twelve strikeouts per nine, a great walk
rate of two point two per nine. Got the big
fastball sitting mid nineties, can touch ninety eight ninety nine
miles an hour, great plus slider, decent change up. So
I mean it's three quality pitches. So I kind of
liked the guy. I think it's a I got him

(09:32):
as a top thirty starting pitcher, you know, so you're
talking a top of the rotation, maybe a little bit
more depending on if that strikeout rate is real. But
this is a this is a dude that should be
targeted early in first year player drafts. Again, he went
fifteenth overall, and I mean it would be a great
because there's going to be a lot of international guys

(09:52):
that are in this particularly Japanese and probably mostly Japanese players,
that are going to push a lot of these guys
that were drafted last July down. I will be doing
my preferless as we get closer to February. In terms
of first year player draft rankings, I have them all done.

(10:13):
With the guys. I think I've got the top seventy five,
maybe seventy four, but let's call it top seventy five
guys that I'll give to everyone. And then there's probably
going to be another five to ten international guys that
are going to skew at the top. So that could
push Kaison Weatherspoon down to a kind of a high

(10:36):
pick in the second round. I think that's real value there,
particularly if you take a look at his you take
a look at his pedigree and kind of what he
did in college, I think, and just the overall stuff.
I think that's really good to get somebody with that
proximity to the major leagues because I don't know what

(10:57):
I've got a twenty twenty seven ETA that you can
get early in the second round. I kind of like
that Brandon Clark got moved. As I mentioned at the top,
I like Brandon Clark really got off the snide well
last season in low Way that he got promoted and
he struggled a little bit, but again, another lefty touching

(11:17):
ninety eight miles an hour, really good stuff. I thought
it was a great snag by the Saint Louis Cardinals,
particularly for one year of Sonny Gray. From remembering my
right up to our patrioon members, I think that was
what it was. I just think he's, uh, he's the
big piece in that trade for the Cardinals and could

(11:39):
could be the guy that goes back and haunts the
Red Sox. But the Red Sox have got a great team.
Sonny Gray still a very good picture. I mean, I
love the trade on both sides, but Brandon Clark was
probably tough for them to give up, particularly a left
handed pitcher that throws in the upper nineties. And if
you take a look at him, then you take a
look at Brandon Totley, both lefties that upper nineties. It's

(12:01):
a really good stable of pitchers. And then you got
your Danny Manegro and Louis parrale Is down you know,
nine and ten, and both those guys are Lewis prolyss
Is coming back from Tommy John surgery. Bigger arm was
touched one to one in the Fall League this season,
so I mean he's a big, big arm. So the
good news is paralysis back pitching should have a bit

(12:24):
of a normal season next year, and there's a chance
we see him up and you know, see him this
coming season. He's a number three starter, maybe a reliever.
It's not a great delivery. Manegar had a great twenty
twenty five season before he got hurt in a great
twenty twenty four season. I think that guy's got potentially
top of the rotation stuff. Now obviously he gets pushed

(12:46):
way down because Tommy John surgery adds a lot to
the risk profile. Probably he could follow what Lewis Parrales did,
where you see him in the Fall League come back,
and then maybe you see Manegro coming up in twenty
twenty seven, twenty eight, so he's going to be behind Paralys.

(13:08):
I think Manegro is the better pitcher. Paralysis has a
guy going from number ten to shoot way up on
this list because he could come out dominant to start
the season and look like what Peyton totally looked like
at the beginning of last season, meaning the twenty twenty
five season. So those are really four Let's see, it's

(13:31):
at five great arms, so five of their top ten
prospects are really exciting arms. And then coming also in
at number seven, well, now Brandon Clark is not there,
so coming number seven and eight are young kids. Well,
Dorian Soto Wiok really impressive. Is a one and a
half million dollars signing by its one point four million

(13:53):
dollars signing bonus last January, only seventeen years old, at
fifteen percent strike at rate, nine percent walk rate, so
probably is going to have to move to third base.
It's a guy that looks like he can hit. I
think as he fills out there could be some power there.
Still really early, we just don't know a lot till
we get him stateside and we could really start to

(14:14):
take a look at his analytic profile. But there could
be some pop there. It could be kind of a
you know, a fifteen eighteen home run guy potential who
can hit. I don't know how much speed he's going
to have him there, but he really really played well.
It opened my eyes at least in the DSL, and
from talking with people who saw some games over there

(14:35):
and sal Soto, he was one of the better performers
in the DSL. Just looked like the maturity was there,
really good back control. And then coming in number eight
as Juan Valaro, I mean, another arm that's just fantastic,
fastballs up to one hundred miles. Now he's only nineteen
years old. I have him as a top forty starting pitcher.

(14:57):
Started the season in High A touching one hundred miles
an hour. So he did miss a good chunk of
the season with elbow soreness. He opted for rest and rehab.
You know, is he going to fall into He's gonna
have to have Tommy John surgery. You get out in
spring training and blow his elbow. It could very well happen,

(15:19):
but it's another big time arm that has better control
than you think at nineteen years old throwing one hundred
miles an hour. Just me, great stuff with these guys.
I mean, it's just it's you know, it's just amazing
that it wasn't five guys at six guys. Right, So
it's Peyton totally throwing upper nineties connily through a mid

(15:40):
nineties with really good control. It's Kissan Weatherspoon, their number
one draft pick, throwing upper nineties fastball from the right side.
It's Brandon Clark, who's now gone, but again another guy
touching ninety eight from the left side. Jan Volara touching
one hundred miles an hour from the right, sig Man

(16:00):
Negro more like a Connelly early from the right side,
but just look dominant before he got hurt. And Lewis
farrellis in one on one in the fall leagues. That's
is that six guys in their top one pictures one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,

(16:20):
seven of their top ten guys or pictures. I did
not realize that. Wow. And then the top guy obviously
is Franklin Rice. It's a really strong top ten that's
focused a lot more on hitting because if you think
about it, they move Kyle teal Brum and Anthony big
hitter that came up, and Christian Anderson. Christian Campbell lost

(16:44):
his prospect eligibility because he's been up. Tristan Cass's is
another recent bat that's been brought up. Say On Rafaelo
is only a couple of years. So they have promoted
a lot of these young bats and now the Arms
are going back from it. So I can't I continue
to say the Red Sox are set up, man this

(17:06):
this could really work out well for them. The window
started to open last season as they brought up Anthony
because he is the gunder Henderson of that class, of
that organization. He's going to be their big start. But
it is stacked at the major league level, and they've
got a couple more pieces that could come up and help,
including Franklin Rise. But now the Arms are going to

(17:27):
start to arrive with totally in early in twenty twenty six,
and maybe Lewis Parles later on in the season, and
then you got Manegro next year and blah blah blah.
So it's you've got to love what they're set up
to do. Plus their aggressive team, they've got money, et cetera.
Et cetera, et cetera. It's a really really good, good

(17:48):
situation that is our top ten. We're going to take
a break and when I come back, I will finish
up the top ten where their Patreon members, and again
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