Kristian Campbell will break camp with the Red Sox, as KPRC 2’s Ari Alexander reports that the star prospect has been told he will be part of Boston’s Opening Day roster. A corresponding move will be made in the coming days to create room for Campbell on the 40-man roster.
Though Campbell’s Grapefruit League performance hasn’t been stellar, it was becoming increasingly obvious in recent days that the Sox were eager to see what the 22-year-old can do at the big league level. Vaughn Grissom was optioned to Triple-A a few days ago, leaving Campbell and David Hamilton as the remaining contenders for the second base job. While the left-handed hitting Hamilton will get some action against right-handed pitching, the Red Sox surely aim for Campbell to get regular playing time in his first run of action in the Show.
It has been quite a rise for Campbell, who was a fourth-round pick out of Georgia Tech in the 2023 draft and flew somewhat under the radar in prospect rankings. He started to attract attention with some big numbers in his first year of pro ball, and then gained even greater notice by being promoted all the way up the ladder to Triple-A Worcester by the end of 2024. Campbell hit .330/.439/.558 with 20 homers and 24 steals (in 32 attempts) over 517 combined plate appearances at the high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels, including a .898 OPS over his 85 PA with Worcester.
This spring, Campbell was ranked by Baseball America as the fourth-best prospect in the sport, and MLB Pipeline (7th) and The Athletic’s Keith Law (9th) had similarly high praise. After his college days, Campbell made some changes to his approach at the plate that transformed his hitting ability, so this make-up and maturity has impressed evaluators along with his obvious physical skills. Campbell has something of an unusual swing that still generate lots of hard contact to all fields, plus more power could still be unlocked. Campbell is a plus runner and he can play all over the diamond, as he has seen time at second base, third base, shortstop, and all three outfield positions over his minor league career.
He’ll check in as Boston’s second baseman in his first trip to the majors, thus perhaps filling a position that has been a revolving door at Fenway Park for the last few seasons. Alex Bregman was initially tapped as the next second baseman when he signed his three-year, $120MM deal with the Sox this winter, but it now looks like Bregman will play in his usual third base spot now that Rafael Devers (at least publicly) has okayed the idea of becoming a designated hitter. As MassLive’s Chris Cotillo put it, “ the Red Sox weren’t moving Rafael Devers to DH for no reason,” so the writing was on the wall that the team viewed Campbell as part of its optimal lineup.
With Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer also knocking on the door to the majors, the Red Sox have an enviable group of star prospects on the way up. It remains to be seen if Campbell will stick at second base over the long time, or if the Sox might take advantage of his versatility by trying him out at a few different positions.
Because Campbell made at least two of the top-100 prospect lists compiled by Baseball America, ESPN, and MLB Pipeline, he qualifies as a candidate for the Prospect Promotion Incentive. By starting on the Opening Day roster and spending the entire season in Boston, Campbell would earn the Sox a bonus draft pick if he wins the Rookie of the Year Award, or if he finishes in the top three in MVP voting in his first three seasons.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Lets Go!!!
Campbell’s stats will be mmm, mmm, good.
He’s souper!
red sox are taking a bisque with this promotion
They’re lucky Campbell’s the consommé professional.
you win!
Just added him to my fantasy team
On my way to the wire. I got McClain at 2b in one league he’s a perfect fit to get another option in there
Had to cut Matt Shaw an hour after drafting him.
Time to cut Luis Garcia of the nats for me
20/20+ for Garcia???
Is this not a tad bit premature? I feel this could be slightly aggressive for the young chap. I can’t help but to have mixed-feelings about this. It’s like…whoah whoah whoah what’s the big rush ???
I was itching to get someone with defensive versatility anyways. Matt Shaw had to go
Fantasy is all about upside.
Uhhh. The rush is they need a 2nd Baseman. Why put someone there that is just filling a spot.. when the guy he’s filling the spot for is already here?
I claimed him in 5 of my 6 leagues, but there is bidding involved and they won’t go thru until tomorrow. Usually I hesitate to even draft RS rookies, since a good year is a win for me anyway.
Good luck.
Just goes to show that spring training performance in games means nothing.
Spring training performance is one of a variety factors that goes into roster decisions. Roster construction, service time, other players spring performances, marketing, etc all goes into it as well
Yup. I liked Hamilton better, for now, but the righty bat is useful. And Hammy will still get some time.
Huge mistake
With the rule changes around promoting prospects, I like this move. Pirates lost with skenes. Red sox getting aggressive. Which is what they should be doing.
I agree with you but those rules are stupid. The Pirates should have got the incentive pick for Skenes. If a guy wins rookie of the year he is going to be in the majors for 90% of the season. I know why they have to be on the roster on opening day but it’s stupid to not give them the pick because he came up a couple weeks later. This is coming from a Reds fan and not a Pirates fan either.
@joe there needs to be a cutoff to eligibility. Pirates just messed up, plain and simple. Plus that leaves fewer prospects at the mercy of the Pittsburgh franchise.
Not a huge mistake now confirmed.
Nice…it begins…next up countdown to the ROMAN EMPIRE
He started at 2B in the final 3 ST games, that was a dead giveaway.
So now it’s down to Anthony or Thompson and 2 of Mayer/Romy/Hamilton.
They already have to drop someone from the 40-man roster to make a spot for Campbell. They’d need to open up another spot for either Anthony or Thompson so it’s not likely either makes the opening day roster. Same with Mayer.
Ken – So you’re saying the OD roster will have just FOUR outfielders, Abreu/Duran/Rafaela/Ref?
Hahaha ….. don’t think so!!! They will need at least ONE of Thompson or Anthony. They ain’t gonna be calling up Garcia, that’s for sure.
I would say it’s highly likely Romy gets cut, and maybe Sogard too unless they take someone from the bloated list of 23 pitchers on the 40-man. I think Anthony is the one who gets sent down so they can take a good look at Thompson.
So they remove Romy and Sogard, and Thompson/Mayer get added.
That would make the most sense, let’s see what they actually do.
And oh yeah, Crawford gets transferred to the 60.
Dammit ….. add Chris Murphy & Penrod to the 60 as well.
BTW – I’m aware Campbell could be an emergency outfield backup, but I don’t think they want him bouncing around the field already.
They also announced that Thompson is not making the roster.
Fever – I’m in no way advocating for an everyday presence. However, it’s not absurd to open with Romy & Hamilton, going with exactly the four regular OFs of Abreu/Rafaela/Duran and Ref.
You know why? Yoshida is already on the roster and will be looking for time upon his return, Romy has played OF a handful to double digit games a season, and, Hamilton has the briefest cup of coffee in the OF in the minors as well.
Point is, you could hide one of them in the corner OF if there’s an injury and then make a corresponding move.
GaSox – We are talking about the first three weeks of the season, when Yoshida will definitely be in Woosta. Lots can change during those first three weeks.
I like Romy too, but he dropped a lot on the depth chart from last year to this year. They don’t need his “versatility” anymore because they’ve now added Campbell and likely Mayer. Not to mention Bregman can play SS and Story can play 2B.
Romy was brutal in the OF last year, and Hamilton was really bad in his limited minor league time as an OF’er.
There’s also been lots of hints that Rafaela will be on a short leash. If he continues where he left off last year, he will likely be demoted.
Fever – Like I said, if you had multiple OFers go down in a game, then corresponding moves could be possible the next day.
I think Mayer just really needs some AAA time, and, I’m reluctant to bring Anthony up until there’s a clear opening to everyday playing time.
The rafaela problem is his extension. He needs to spend time in one position to see what he can make of things. That’s too much money and years to kick to AAA. He needs to sink or swim at the MLB level. I’m reluctant to think they demote him off a short leash.
Fenway – Thanks, I hadn’t heard that. Seems to increase Anthony’s chances of sticking, at least until Yoshida returns.
GaSox – It’s not just the injuries, it’s the L/R matchups and defensive replacements.
If they are protecting a slim late inning lead with Ref in the field and Abreu on the bench, I would hope they’d bring in Abreu for defense.
Conversely if they are facing a tough LHR late in a critical situation, Ref will pinch hit and replace Abreu in the field.
So in each of those situations, you’re gonna go with absolutely nobody left on the bench to play OF? Not a good position to be in.
Anthony’s chances of sticking are bleak. His last week has been dreadful. Since 3/15 he’s hit .071 with .371 OPS and striking out 8 times (40%) in 20 PAs.
This is a shame. Sox can turn this in their favor though. With Anthony in AAA, they don’t have to worry about the logjam yet.
Cleveland – Roman had some type of illness, possibly what Abreu had or maybe the flu, which no doubt affected his numbers when he returned.
Fever – of course not. That’s where the imperfect fits of Romy and Hamilton come in.
Both could play in an emergency for a handful of innings until you make a move after the game if someone is hurt.
What’s worse is what, you want anthony not to get regular at bats every day? Or are you sitting abreu? Sitting Duran?
Rafaela *needs* to play every day, not just because of promise this spring, but, there’s the whole 8yr $50m thing he signed and they need to see what he can do.
Fever – Anthony was *very* sick and dropped 12 pounds.
Crawford isn’t going on the 60-day IL when he’s only supposed to miss the first month of the season. Murphy is a “kick the can down the road” move since he’s expected back for the second half. And they need another 40-man spot already for Newcomb in addition to Campbell so again, we’re not likely to see Anthony, Mayer or Thompson on the opening day roster.
GaSox – When will that situation change though? It will be Duran/Abreu/Rafaela unless/until there’s a trade, a longterm injury or Rafaela sucks ….. so what is your plan, have Anthony sit in Woosta all year despite him dominating AAA last season?
Nah, Roman needs to get his feet wet against MLB pitching. He has nothing to gain by going down to Woosta.
As for Rafaela, absolutely he deserves to start every day unless/until he plays himself off the roster. He’s a big reason why I predicted Yoshida would be sent down under the premise he needs to get his arm healed for LF.
The negative ripple effect of signing Bregman and not making room for Anthony in the Outfield is really off the charts. Basically 2 of Yoshida/Abreu/Rafaela have to go at some point this season.
What a mess by a team that has no real plan.
GaSox – I guess it’s all a matter of perspective.
To me, Abreu being hospitalized was “very” sick.
To me, Mookie losing 18 pounds (and he’s much smaller than Anthony) is “very” sick.
Anthony likely just had the flu, 12 pounds off a 20-year-old 6’3″ 200 pound frame isn’t nearly as bad as 18 pounds off a 32-year-old 5’10” 180 pound frame.
Ken – The official Red Sox website injury status, updated 3 days ago, has Crawford returning “sometime in May at the earliest”.. The Red Sox have the pitching depth to be cautious with Crawford, keeping him on the IL through May. It would also give Priester, Newcomb, Fitts and Giolito (due back in April) opportunities to show what they’ve got.
That’s a lot of pitchers they want to get a good look at, extending IL stints is the best way to do it.
Plenty of 60-day IL candidates to open up 40-man spots.
Fever – in some ways it’s a nice problem to have, too many good prospects vs roster needs.
The OF I have a feeling wound up stuck something like this:
Ref was a cheap proven 4th of, at his price they had to bring him back, not knowing how spring or anything else would go – and you dont want a kid riding pine, it’d be a waste.
Yoshida was hurt. I’d wager had he not been hurt they’d have eaten a smaller amount of cash to see him gone, but, teams asked for too much cash with too little return to pull a trigger.
Rafaela would be selling very low, on a long extension that he hasn’t yet proven his worth on. If his fixes since last year are real, he could become a bargain.
Abreu/Duran – other teams may not be ready to buy into them keeping producing at a 2024 level yet. So offers they probably got, didn’t seem to match the potential worth, and felt again like sell-low.
Anthony of course was considered untouchable.
My guess is they see at least what is produced in the first half. Either an extended injury sees Anthony come up and later a trade or a 4 man of rotation to keep guys fresh. You’ve got 486 games of OF to fill.
I don’t go as far as to say the team has no real plan. Bloom stacked the roster with 1b/DH types, and, it takes a little work to clear that logjam.
There’s a big move coming
GaSox – The problem is being forced to trade players in which you have to eat a huge amount of money (Yoshida), and being forced to trade players that have a lot of talent with a high ceiling (Abreu).
With Rafaela I understand he has little value now with that contract, what I meant by go is to demote him so he can work on his game in a fulltime capacity.
Best thing they could do now is trade Yoshida, make Rafaela a backup CF if they can’t trade him, and go with Duran/Abreu/Anthony as starting OF’ers.
If the front office messes this up, it would not only cost the team big dollars but also could screw up the development of the kids.
BTW – Not only are the Sox giving away 4-packs of tickets for FSG Fest attendees and NESN360 subscribers, they are now giving $10 ticket discounts to everyone who celebrates a birthday or has celebrated a birthday. I guess they’ve succeeded in becoming the Rays!!!!! Hahahahaha!!!
I’m not sure what ceddane would work on in AAA.
This spring: .316/.409/.526
As a AAA hitter: .312/.370/.618
What those two numbers mean is he’s probably got minor league and AAAA-type opposition pitching pretty well figured out.
We know the defensive potential, he needs to play every day in a single role – not Cora bouncing him around the field- and work on facing true MLB-level stuff.
He needs to stay in MLB and figure out what he can do, or, not. There’s even less point in having him in AAA as there is for Anthony given the contract and money involved.
I’ve still got enough faith in the potential for ceddane that I don’t think he should be relegated to 4th OF.
There’s no need to be impatient with Anthony. His time will come. It’s a time to be deliberate and look long term with this roster, not just make moves and derail a guy just because of impatience of waiting to get to see the next shiny toy at the highest level.
Closest I’d concede would be if you went to a 4 man rotation in the OF giving each of ceddane/duran/abreu/Anthony 121 starts, plus reapportioning the time missed for injuries between them.
Players who will be back at some point later this year are simply a “kick the can down the road” moves. Doing that to add someone like Anthony or Mayer to the 40-man makes no sense. You’re still facing a situation later in the year where you’ll have to DFA someone once those 60-day IL players are ready to return. I highly doubt Breslow is that stupid as to put himself in that situation just because fans like you want to see some of these prospects sooner than later.
Ken – How does taking the opportunity to get a 60-day MLB look at kids like Mayer, Anthony and Campbell without having to DFA anyone make no sense? That’s a really odd take.
If they don’t perform well during the 60 days, you demote them …. therefore no need to DFA others.
Why would Breslow care about fans? Why would you even mention fans?
So now you’re calling Breslow “stupid” because Campbell made the OD roster? You think he made that decision because of fans? Wow ….. have a coffee or something bro, you’re not making any sense whatsoever today.
I don’t know how big the move is, but there almost has to be a move of some sort coming.
My money would be on an Abreu trade; he probably has more value to a different team at this point with all of the quality OF options the Sox have. He’s a decent player, and showed that he can be a valuable one if played correctly, but he still has massive platoon splits (which was an issue that followed him up through the minor leagues).
On a team that is short on quality outfield options he’d be a good guy to have, but when you have 5 legitimate outfielders and 4 of them don’t have the same platoon issues, there’s really no point in keeping the one with large splits.
I would look to move Abreu when Yoshida comes back, then stick Yoshida in LF and give him a shot to prove himself until about mid-season, then move him and bring Anthony up if Anthony is showing he’s ready in AAA.
GaSox – ST is meaningless for him, I’m suggesting he may be sent down if he performs poorly for the first 30 or so regular season games, if anything for him to regain his confidence and get back to what made him productive a couple years ago. And yes, playing just one position every day in the minors would benefit him instead of being a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none utility guy with the Red Sox.
On your 4-man rotation, I can see that with Roman/Abreu/Rafaela but no way Duran. It would drive him crazy not playing that much, and the Sox can’t afford to bench for 25% of the season a 9-WAR player who is an elite leadoff guy, fielder and runner.
They are “trying” to win this year, aren’t they?
GaSox – Mayer is being sent down.
Once again, Cora lied about him getting an OD spot if he performed well in ST.
Mayer was phenomenal in ST, including playing 2B flawlessly.
But I’m sure some obscure metric somewhere was the reason he was sent down ;o)
Fever – Mayer and Anthony aren’t on the 40 man.
Who will you DFA to give them slots? Because you *will* need to eventually as guys come back off the IL at some point this season.
Curious who you get rid of? #9 prospect and 2024 class A award winner Garcia? Maybe your utility depth in Sogard? Dump grissom for nothing? Maybe you want to cut romy/hamilton from the team?
I advocate for leaving anthony in AAA to start the year and wait for things to sort themselves out some.
Under your theory, you now only have 324 games to split 3 ways. Meaning… abreu/rafaela/Roman only play 108 games each? Now your getting to where even injuries don’t level out ABs and playing time enough to keep bats hot and allow consistency.
GaSox – I mentioned this upthread already …. Penrod, Murphy, Crawford are all 60-day IL candidates and only Newcomb needs to be added.
Then you’ve got Romy and Sogard, one of them could be DFA’d or possibly traded with Mayer replacing them.
A lot could happen in 60 days ….. Story or someone else could get hurt, Mayer could be awful (doubtful though), Campbell could be awful …. who knows. The point is, see how Mayer and Anthony do in the majors.
I fully expect Anthony to be sent down too, service time manipulation for both of them.
GaSox – It was YOUR theory, not mine! LOL!! I was simply expanding on your theory by pointing out Duran can’t be benched for 25% of the season ;O)
And I understand the reason for the service time manipulation, I get it ….. but they shouldn’t say they want the best team on the field trying to win if Romy is playing and Mayer is not.
GA: Hope you are well. Something occurred to me. I think Campbell is the only one of the big three that is reportedly open to signing an extension, but hasn’t so far. So, maybe the Red Sox:
1) let him experience MLB and he struggles a bit
2) they send him down to AAA and he sees that nothing is guaranteed
3) he is now more open to taking a team-friendly extension
What do you think? Just guessing at a possibility.
Fever Pitch Guy — Right after returning he looked great and crushed two home runs and everyone got hyped. But if what you are saying is true and the illness is why he’s struggled so mightily, it still means he’s not ready. Big leaguers are rarely at 100% and they still have to be productive when there’s less in the tank. I still prefer to think there is more stuff to work on. The kid is 21 years old and there is more refining he can do.
I think we’ve got a difference in philosophy to start the year, which, that’s all well and fine.
I’m not a fan of losing pitching depth just to get an earlier look at mayer/Anthony. And here’s why I think it would, indeed, cost you depth. Those soft IL spots you could make into 60 day stints, those are the same slots you could use during the season to bring up/down relievers. There’s a lot of injury risk in the pitching staff. It wouldn’t surprise me to see guys need to go down for less than 60 days and someone take the place, including arms not currently on the ballclub or just not on the 40man. I’d like to save 2 slots for issues of that sort. Otherwise, to make such a move, you’ve got to DFA someone.
It’s also a demanding early schedule. I could see needing to churn a BP arm or two in the first 30 days.
The best teams are usually the deepest. And I try to balance upgrade vs dropoff.
Romy/sogard are bench pieces. Mayer should not be used as a bench piece. And I don’t think you’re advocating to move story or bregman to the bench. I get you disagree on Campbell over Mayer and maybe rather see him try at 2B.
But Campbell has shown good adjustments and process. He’s had hard hit deep balls for outs that were expected to be hits over 80% of balls hit that speed and location this spring. Most importantly, Mayer had the arm to be a 3b/ss. Campbell does not. For Campbell to have value in the organization he needs to be your 2B. No sense in blocking him with Mayer.
There’s 162 games this season to see Mayer or Anthony at some point. Right now they constitute amazing depth to call up if another major/long duration injury happens.
You don’t call them up to see how they do, have them perform, and send them back down. But you also don’t kick one of abreu/duran/rafaela or bregman/devers/story off the team either. And you definitely don’t kick your utility depth players off the team just for an early look at 2 prospects.
There’s a word for those two guys: BLOCKED. Using either as a bench piece is a waste of service time and hurts development. I’m a big fan of bringing guys up when they can play every day, extended, constant, whether struggling or not. It’s how they adjust and learn.
It’s not so much a question of service manipulation as it is being blocked by other mlb pieces.
Just my way of seeing things. I value the next-man-up depth above early gratification of seeing how a guy does. The most successful teams have deep benches and guys in the minors standing ready to step up and in through the year. I don’t see sacrificing that for a preview.
Fever, my theory was a 4-man of rotation… not 3. By the time injuries and some DL time could be mixed in where Devers spells bregman, maybe even casas… well, it wouldn’t be sitting 25% of the season. It’d be maybe sitting 10-15%. Which I’m not a fan of, but, would do in a heartbeat over demoting or benching ceddane.
But again. Romy is a bench piece. A utility guy. Mayer is *not*… one of the worst bad habits the sox have done under Cora is *exactly* what you advocate for. Promote a good prospect, and, have him not starting games, getting inconsistent ABs, and bouncing positions. That’s how you damage a potentially solid ballplayer.
Hi Suit, still surviving. Hope all well in your neck of the woods and you’re ready for a good season.
What you say is possible, but, I’m thinking it’s even more likely that Breslow wants to see what campbell can do before committing to an extension. It’s possible Campbell is already at a number they like, but, they want to see how his stuff, especially defense, plays before they jump?
To me there’s a lot more to like about Campbell than his batting line in ST. I like seeing his adjustment making ability. Watching some of his ABs, he got robbed on some deep hard hit balls that most of the time land for hits. So I’m not reading much into the slash line.
I really think his coming up first of the big three is more about positional fits and who is blocked where.
GaSox – I never said I wanted to take your 4-man outfield rotation theory and condense it to 3 …… all I said was Duran wouldn’t be a good fit for a 4-man outfield rotation.
Now if it was Yoshida instead of Duran, then you could convince me a 4-man outfield rptation would work.
When was the last top prospect or prospects the Sox called up who were treated like utility players as you’ve described? They didn’t do it with Casas, Duran, Rafaela or Abreu. All of them got steady playing time when they were called up.
I would bet you Devers doesn’t play 1B or 3B unless it’s an emergency situation and there’s absolutely nobody else to play the position. That’s how Cora rolls.
He didn’t want Story playing SS at all his first year, and Story never did …. not even when Xander had the day off.
He didn’t want Yoshida playing outfield last year, and Yoshida played all of one inning. Cora used a bunch of other guys in the OF instead.
The last thing Cora wants is to have Devers fill in at 3B, make a couple nice plays, and then all the comments start all over again. As for first base …. how many times does Cora have to say “hell no”? He never let Raffy try 1B, not even in the WBC, not even last year with Casas out for so long. And Devers had zero reps at 3B or 1B this ST.
Mark my words, when Bregman or Casas need a rare day off it WON’T be Devers replacing them.
GaSox – So other than Newcomb, what other pitchers do you propose should be added to the 40-man? I mean geez, they’ve got 24 pitchers on the 40-man already with Newcomb ….. that leaves just 16 for all other positions combined!
Sorry my friend, having 60% of the 40-man roster dedicated to pitchers is insanity. Since the active roster is 50/50, the 40-man should be about the same.
I respect your desire to promote prospects only when they can play one position fulltime. So then you must be against Cora using Campbell as a second backup outfielder …. right? So when Anthony is demoted, who becomes the 2nd backup outfielder? Or do you advocate Hamilton, Romy and Sogard all playing outfield as well?
Yeah definitely Story and Bregman are not going to the bench, obviously. Haha!
It’s not that I favor Mayer over Campbell, I’ve been saying for a while that Campbell’s willingness to sign an extension has made management want to fast track his career by seeing what he can do in the majors … which was exactly the same situation last year with Rafaela and his extension.
Whereas Anthony has indicated he wants to go year to year until free agency, which further motivates the Sox to hold off on starting his clock.
What I favor is Mayer over Romy or Sogard, two older guys who likely don’t have much of a longterm future as above average players.
As for blockages, once again that goes back to the Red Sox failure to have a plan. What they’ve essentially done is grown and also bought a refrigerator full of fruit and haven’t consumed any of it … which means they will basically have to give away some good fruit because there’s no room for it.
I mean they KNEW the #1 prospect (I don’t count Roki) in MLB would be knocking on the door, yet they did nothing to make room for him. And they KNEW signing Bregman would force Devers to fulltime DH, yet they did nothing to make room for Yoshida in LF. The Red Sox created blockages that could have easily been avoided, and now both Mayer and Anthony must pay the price for it?
Nothing helps a player develop and learn more than playing at the top level …..ask Pedroia, ask Casas, ask Duran ….. all went through a VERY difficult learning curve at the MLB level, and all benefited from it.
Again I respect and appreciate your different way of seeing things. We can only hope the Red Sox make better decisions from here on out.
Cleveland – I think it was more a case of him missing so much time in camp during the illness than anything.
Same thing happened with Casas last year, he came back from the rib injury and did really well at first …. then he was awful for a long stretch.
I guess I’ll have to hear what Cora says about it …. not that I’ll believe him, but at least I’ll hear some kind of explanation. which will hopefully be less vague than “he’s not ready yet”.
Fever, I’m certain I’m missing and forgetting to reply to some posts today… so if I miss something, chalk it up to that! Lol….
I actually think, in this circumstance, you do need a better than 60/40 split in the 40-man for one simple reason – the state of SP vs Position players as far as health.
In an ideal world, you wouldn’t have so many reclamation and end-of-career type pitching. But even the young guys are returning from long layoffs and injury issues.
Absent story, the position players are (knock on wood) relatively healthy and durable for professional athletes. The pitching? Not as much.
I think the odds given their personal histories should state that you’ll see more IL stints for pitching than position players, unfortunately. But, not every such issue would be a long enough stint that you open up a temporary 40 man spot through an IL placement, and, you need more available pool to call-up/send down from pitching than position players. What you don’t want to be doing is DFA’ing decent pitchers cause you need an arm and clogged half your 40-man with position players. Fielders don’t need the frequency of off days hurler do, and, like it or hate it, modern mlb mentality results in needing to use a phantom IL for pitching, as much as MLB tried to crack down on it.
Now, as for campbell being used as an OFer? Absolutely against campbell getting the rafaela treatment. Now, if say Abreu were to get hurt in a game, and refsnyder gets ejected arguing strikes… sure, I’d be OK with him playing out 2.1 innings to finish a game then making a corresponding move. But no, I dont want to see campbell spent 20 let alone 60 games in the outfield.
I am, however, *fine* with Hamilton or Gonzalez trying OF here and there till Yoshida is back as a 5th OFer. Why? I view them as utility bench pieces. Guys you use while you have them, and, likely by the times they’re FAs you replace them with someone else new and cheap off the farm. I don’t see either as a permanent starter, as much as I like hamiltons speed.
But thats why I *dont* want Mayer called up yet. Until bregman/story is done, I want Mayer to get regular playing time. I *do* want a fungible player like sogard or romy for that role, plays maybe 2 partial games in a given week unless there’s an injury and he gets a squeak more.
At the same time, I recall you being pretty vocal against the idea of shipping off Yoshida eating a ton of money in threads over the offseason. But, that’s what it would take to do it. I won’t advocate making a trade for the sake of a trade. There were conversations involving Casas and involving OFers this winter. Obviously those deals didn’t happen. And I think the ways other teams valued the red sox OFers prevent such trades from being reasonable, as I’d said elsewhere.
Ceddane’s contract and misuse complicated things, but, if he makes adjustments while playing everyday OF, it could become a bargain. Duran came out of nowhere, and, other teams don’t value him as a 9-win player yet… so the offers would be far less than what he’s worth if he can prove not to be a flash in the pan. Abreu, similarly, lacks track record, has a bit of a platoon split reducing his value, and, given the youth may be a preferred candidate to see develop. Yoshida was hurt and untradeable without eating a ton of money. Something the front office apparently was unwilling to do much like your opinion.
I know you disagree strongly how Devers was handled. And it colors to some extent your view on how blockages are being handled. But what I see this offseason is Breslow making DEFENSE a priority. For all we know, they connect the previous porous defense with struggles in recruiting top flight pitching.
For all the things you usually catch and point out that Cora says, but, doesn’t so much *do* afterwards, I’m curious why them talking up Yoshida as a rotating Ofer could be more about posturing and trying to gain a sliver back in trade leverage talk than being a 100% serious plan. It may be to build just enough value to ship him out, but, Yoshida being injured deep-sixes a real ability to move him this offseason. That’s not a front office created problem, the injury leaving him in the bench as teams want to see what a mid-30s weak armed slow running challenged fielding OFers comes back as.
I just dontnsee how you’d think the blockages could’ve been avoided. Story was there. Yoshida was hurt. Devers was left in a role he never deserved for far too long that a bumbling bloom let fester.
I don’t think Mayer is paying any price. He hasn’t taken his AAA at bats yet, he sat there injred. There’s no right to demand to jump from AA to MLB prematurely.
Anthony is a victim of Duran’s success. If I said you full-time DH anthony you’d say it’s a waste and tell us not every player is cut out for DH duty. Ditto for Duran, ditto for Abreu. Rafaela’s value is in CF defense and his legs, not as a power bat. Anthony needs a corner OF spot, likely LF, not CF anyways. And I think the defensive potential of Ceddane is higher than the other 3 with proper playing time.
I think what it comes down to is Campbell needs to sink or swim at 2B. Mayer would be a waste there, he needs to 3B/SS. You aren’t moving story in trade, and, you don’t DFA/eat his big contract for a guy who never played above AA. Same reason you didn’t move Devers off 3B last summer and call Mayer from AA to MLB then, you wouldn’t move Devers now and have Mayer jump from AA to 3B MLB had bregman not been around. But Devers *did* need to go. It’s 6 years overdue IMO. If anything, they should’ve signed a certain 3B in breslow’s first offseason that went to SF…
I just dont see the urgency, given how incomplete the team was and how unbalanced Bloom left the roster.
There will be injuries. Bregman probably ops out. Yoshida will either return to healthy performance and be easier to move with 2 yrs left, eating less money, or, he won’t. Either way, they’d probably do what it takes to move him in the next 9 months. Meanwhile, we see, is duran for real, does abreu’s platoon split rear it’s head, and, what value ceddane gives playing every day only in CF. Then other teams also see a bit better what they’re getting and a deal that makes sense may present itself.
But, I think moving Devers off 3B is one of the best decisions made since 2019 for this ballclub. So better decisions have already started.
We’re just cracking open the door on a window of contention. No need to rushed knee jerk moves IMO. It’s a time to be deliberate and make the last 5 years of suffering worth it!
And, as always, love hearing other views and ways of seeing what they’re trying to do through your eyes and all our other regulars.
Fever Pitch Guy — Either way he’s not gonna be on the opening day. Illness or just not ready, explanation or not, Roman Anthony will be in AAA. This is what the industry expected. For Red Sox fans, at least there is more to look forward too and expectations for this summer!
Cleveland – Of course, I’ve already said that Anthony will be sent down. This time of year I always give them the benefit of the doubt, knowing full well how often they lie. Service time manipulation is a priority to them, they’ve made that very clear.
So when do you think Anthony will come up this year, if at all? Who would he replace this season? How can they trade Abreu if they don’t know how Anthony will perform in the majors? How can they trade Yoshida if he doesn’t get a chance to rebuild his value by the trade deadline?
And no, the industry doesn’t want the top prospects wasting away in the minors.
The industry wants more stories like Jackson Chourio and Jackson Merrill, guys who made their MLB debut in the season opener and never played another game in the minors.
I don’t particularly care about service manipulation for young hitters. It’s only manipulation in name, and I’d manage it too if there was the benefit of getting Anthony beyond his 28th birthday. 28yo Anthony > 21yo Anthony.
Anthony will be called up when injuries to any of three starting OFs. Maybe Rafaela is slumping, they could platoon with him. Yoshida playing in the field might initially conflict with that platoon, but by May’s end will we know if Yoshida’s figured things out.
I’ve read rumors that the Marlins could ship Alacantara mid-season, and one of the mock trade ideas surrounding this buzz was related to Abreu. This would certainly help solve a bunch of issues.
GaSox – I appreciate the response!
I hear ya about missing posts, it seems to be getting harder and harder to keep track of posts these days. Even when I click on a notification, it doesn’t take me to the post.
I think you’re underestimating the injuries and illnesses that non-pitchers experience regardless of age.
I don’t have the time to do an injury & illness comparison of pitchers vs non-pitchers, but here’s the list of some non-position players that missed a good number of games last season because of injuries & illness::
Refsnyder
Romy Gonzalez
Abreu
Devers
Yoshida
Story
Grissom
Casas
Relatively healthy and durable? Most of those guys are quite young, so I definitely disagree that depth is needed only for pitching. And remember the number of innings a pitcher plays vs the number of innings a position player plays over the course of a season.
I agree, I wouldn’t want to see Campbell play much if any OF this season …. but if Sogard, Romy and Hamilton all make the team then Campbell probably would be a backup outfielder candidate with Hamilton moving to 2B when Campbell plays OF.
Remember, one of the reasons Campbell was the only of the three to make the team is because he’s righthanded. So I can totally see Campbell replacing Abreu when a tough LHP is scheduled for an opponent. Cora loves his L/R matchups almost as much as he loves himself.
So you greatly value defense, but you’re fine with Hamilton and Romy in the outfield? That’s a major contradiction there my friend! We will have to agree to disagree on the “anyone can play anywhere” theory.
And Yoshida back as a 5th outfielder? In case you haven’t heard, Devers is the fulltime DH now ;O)
No, when Yoshida returns with a healthy arm he will be playing a lot. They are not gonna turn him into a $19M/yr pinch hitter. He needs to play so he can rebuild his value for a trade this summer.
So you want Mayer to stay in the minors all year, unless Bregman and/or Story get injured. Even if Sogard and/or Romy totally bomb this year. Okay … let’s see how that plays out. You realize not only would that delay his development, but any longterm contract he eventually signs with the Sox would cover one fewer prime year of his.
Yes, that is correct about my Yoshida stance … his value is at an all-time low right now because of the surgery and because he wasn’t allowed to play LF last year. I don’t want the Sox to cry poverty in 2026 or 2027 because they are paying Yoshida $15M/yr to play for some other team.
Sorry but I don’t buy management’s defense priority claim. Other than Bregman, how did they improve the defense? Casas is still rated as one of the worst fielders. The catcher tandem is still rated as one of the worst defense-wise. Yoshida is gonna drastically bring down OF defense when he plays LF. But yes you are correct, my issue was the handling of the Devers transition …. not the fact he was moved off 3B.
And for all the talk about defense being so bad last season, guess where the Sox ranked in DRS? 6th in MLB!!! My God, the way the NESN announcers talked about defense you’d think they ranked bottom 5 or something!
I’m not in a position to speculate as to whether Yoshida can play LF when he returns, I can only go by the reports which state he’s already throwing around 100 feet. Yes of course Cora’s plan for Yoshida to play LF is to build up his trade value.
How could the blockages have been avoided? Based on hundreds of sources, they made no effort to trade Story or Grissom or any of the OF’ers. As you know I’m a big fan of Abreu, but if trading him was the way to get a solid young pitcher or solid young catcher and open a spot for Anthony then I would have reluctantly supported it.
And signing Bregman was like buying chrome mags for a 1972 Ford Pinto, totally unnecessary and created more problems than it solved.
Why do you think Mayer would be a waste at 2B? SS and 2B is somewhat interchangeable. If it doesn’t work out with Campbell at 2B, I would hope Mayer (who just hit another mammoth homerun and has looked awesome tonight) would get first crack at 2B assuming they don’t want to move Story.
Most everything else I agree with, including your belief that they aren’t trying to win until 2026 which is what ownership originally said (and what Wait’s handle says LOL).
Do I absolutely love the three highly talented kids and don’t want them held down in the minors? Yes!
Do I want the Sox to finally TRY and win with the AL being wide open this year? Yes!
Do I believe both can be accomplished this year? Yes!
I mean, if Crochet and Buehler and Casas and Duran and all the other guys perform as great as you expect, why would you want to waste that?
BTW – Two thoughts while watching the Mexico Series ….
1) Those Sultanes uniforms with all the advertising are ridiculously obnoxious and an absolute embarrassment, I greatly hope MLB doesn’t go beyond the current one patch on the sleeves.
2) Duran must have signed literally at least 20 balls during the game while his teammates were at bat. There’s always been a no-autographs policy during regular season and ST games, to see him break that policy only in Mexico is disappointing.
GaSox – Can’t believe I failed to include in the below list, of all people ……. Tyler O’Neill
“Here’s the list of some non-position players that missed a good number of games last season because of injuries & illness::
Refsnyder
Romy Gonzalez
Abreu
Devers
Yoshida
Story
Grissom
Casas”
Cleveland – Look at it this way ….. the most common prime years is Age 24-30.
Average players typically break in around Age 22 and develop their skills for 2 years.
Star players typically break in earlier at Age 21 and hit their prime at Age 23.
If Mayer and/or Anthony stay in the minors most or all of this season, they are losing one of their prime years.
Sure a number of things could happen during the season, whether it be trades or injuries. But until either happens, you’ve got two of the top prospects in the game wasting away in AAA. That’s not good for them or for the Red Sox.
Fever Pitch Guy — Players develop on their own time, they don’t need to follow what is typical. A half season in AAA isn’t going to delay them reaching prime in your scenario.
Mayer needs more time to learn how to get low enough on his front side to make contact on offspeed pitches, right now he’s stiff on his lead side and swings over the top. It’ll be a lot easier to work on in AAA than against the best. Anthony needs to address his passive approach. He doesn’t swing enough at strikes or middle-middle. His zone swing rates aren’t good enough, he needs to bump them to above 60% at a minimum.
Addressing weaknesses like these should be done in AAA reps. So it won’t be wasting. If they got promoted before addressing these things, it’s just another monkey on their backs and make their development slower.
The Red Sox clearly aren’t rushing decisions and are letting the players play it out. Just be patient and realize if they are truly this good, they will force the team’s hand.
The money on Yoshida has been spent. You only compound the problem by carrying him on the roster.
I don’t see a problem with a four-man outfield. Even if Abreu isn’t a “starter”, he would still see significant PT.
This seems like Mata doesn’t it?
I think the bench is Narvaez, Hamilton, and Romy? No room for Anthony unless Abreu needs more time, right?
Wait – So you’re saying no Ref.
Sorry I disagree, zero chance Ref gets cut by OD.
ROY. Won’t even be close.
Mets – He may not even be the Rookie of the Red Sox this year.
Yes he will. He’s the best you have.Not taking anything away from Anthony but Campbell will put up huge offensive numbers.
Mets – Mayer has hit well and has been solid at multiple positions.
With Anthony it’s a matter of opening up an OF spot for him, which means Rafaela fails and Yoshida leaves.
Mayer isn’t as good as Campbell. Campbell should be the number 1 prospect in baseball. Mayer will not even see half the abs as Campbell if he makes the team. Rafaela isn’t going anywhere. He’s a very good young player too that just needs a little plate discipline. He will have a much better year. Anthony is a stud too but he won’t get nearly the opportunities as Campbell this year.
lol. I hope Mets’ is right but it’s a very small sample size.
Mets – I agree Campbell has the higher ceiling.
The thing is, he has played by far the fewest professional games of the Big Three. He’s going to experience growing pains this year.
Anthony played in 245 minor league games.
Mayer played in 272 minor league games.
Campbell played in only 137 minor league games.
And oh yeah ….. Mayer has a .956 OPS this spring while Campbell has just a .586 OPS.
The announcers and analysts all agreed Mayer has looked very comfortable in ST …. and Campbell has not. Give him time though, he will be a good one.
dewey – Mets is just going by rankings, which is not a good path to go down.
The Red Sox really wanted Campbell to be the OD starter because they needed someone at 2B.
But we all know the injury history of the starting shortstop, which means Mayer will be needed even if it’s just to give Story adequate rest.
And to see how much time Mayer got at 2B this spring? He will get his playing time, whether it be SS, 2B or 3B.
Rafaela isn’t going anywhere. He’s a very good young player too that just needs a little plate discipline.
==========================
Surprising, to me at least, is that Rafaela is owned in 75% of the Yahoo leagues. He has a 4/6 K/W is ST after having a 151/15 last year. Not expecting miracles, but anything close to 2/1 would be huge.
Mayer has his own injury history to deal with. He is no where near the quality hitting or fielding of Campbell. Mayer hasn’t even played a AAA game yet.
Fever Mayer is what I’ve said he was all along he’s silky smooth in the field defensively and he can hit but he has to show he can stay on the field. He just hasn’t been able to stay healthy. If he can he will probably be the one called up to play short when Story has the yearly injury. Plus Story’s arm is really worrying me it might just be cooked I really hope not but I think we saw enough this spring to know Mayer can take over defensively if Story’s arm is cooked.
I’m a little surprised that Campbell made the team he must of looked a lot better on the backfields. He’s not really great defensively at second as well and he’s certainly not a shortstop long term. Hamilton has looked really good defensively at second and has played really to go along with an elite base stealing ability he looked like did enough to make it as the starting 2nd baseman based on Spring Training.
The guy that may be the odd man out is Sogard and that’s a shame he looked really solid in spring training and defensively he can play almost any position, he’s a switch hitter, and could be the backup for Casas as well as any other position. Maybe he will still make it but it shouldn’t even be a question he should make the 26 man imo.
Roman Anthony is still the highest upside prospect the Red Sox have but he’s going to get a little time in AAA before the Roman Empire begins.
Rafaela has more walks than strikeouts and has lowered his hands to catch up to fastballs if he can keep up the new found patience sky is truly the limit. I was down him the way he finished last year but if he is truly not going to chase pitches in the other batters box he could be special with his centerfield defense. This has been the biggest surprise in camp to me dude had 15 walks all of last year, he’s had 6 in camp with only 4 strikeouts. I’m very optimistic about Rafaela.
Mets — Campbell’s launch angle is below average. I can see him being an effective hitter though, just not huge numbers. His rates are likely to be fantastic if he really settles in. This is because his walk rates are strong, and his contact rates are typically better than league average.
Bruin – Are you saying Mayer needs to be in AAA in order to prove he can stay healthy? That ….. doesn’t make sense.
I totally agree Rafaela looked much improved at the plate this spring. But as the analysts and announcers said, it’s very different during the regular season when pitchers will be trying to get him to chase a lot more than in ST. Time will tell, but I’ve always maintained he could improve …. and maybe he will this year.
I think both Romy and Sogard could end up in Woosta after getting DFA’d. We knew tough decisions would need to be made, it’s better to stick with the kids than hold onto the older guys.
Fever Pitch Guy — Mayer’s really good at hitting fastballs. And his defense is good. There are still things to work on.
Reviewing spring stats requires a delicate touch. First, they don’t mean very much as a whole because there are lot of things to discount. So in defense of Campbell, those numbers are hugely misleading.
It also shouldn’t be a good measure of Mayer’s readiness. Just because he can crush minor league fastballs doesn’t mean he’s got the stuff to hang with the bigs.
What is slightly useful is to look at their numbers verse the last week. This is when major starters and relievers have started ramping up. So compare the 3/15-today and you’ll get an idea how it is.
Fever – the lack of AAA at bats for Meyer should also in theory mean his AAA numbers were suspect for the same reasoning you apply to rafaela…. no?
I guess after so many years it’s exciting to have a season to look forward to for once, but, I’m trying to exercise restraint/patience with the kids
Cleveland – I get what you’re saying and agree to an extent, but it’s not that cut and dry with opposing pitchers.
I mean, yesterday Houck gave up 12 hits, 2 walks and 10 ER in less than 4 innings ….. is that his idea of ramping up?
No question Campbell has the higher ceiling like I said, he tore up the minors the past few years. But I wouldn’t be surprised if his lack of experience causes some growing pains, and Cora moving him around the field earlier in ST certainly didn’t help.
GaSox – I don’t follow you …. Mayer didn’t play in AAA, so there’s no numbers to be suspect. LOL!
Yes the excitement this season is great!
On the flip side, it means higher expectations …. which could also lead to greater disappointment.
I just read an article where the writer believes the Sox can beat the Dodgers in the WS …… talk about lofty expectations!
Let’s hope the next few days Cora and Company are actually cautious for once about catching viruses. They damn well better not drink any of the water in Mexico!!
Fever Pitch Guy — It’s definitely not cut or dry. But it removes all of the noise from minor league pitchers below AAA. If I could, I would remove all the noise from AAA or bad relievers too, but I wouldn’t anything left.
Campbell’s struggles offensively have been his lower contact rate, and it will be interesting to see how he responds in season.
This bouncing around in the field is indicative that he doesn’t really have a good home, or the Sox are trying to hide him in LF. His arm is just leaves a lot to be desired.
Cleveland – The weak arm makes 2B the best position for him then, no?
Fever – yeah, that was an absolute brain fog typo!
The second half referenced your comment where you were talking about *spring training* numbers being suspect in the comment immediately before.
Don’t ask me why my brain was thinking spring, and it typed AAA twice… change the second reference to AAA to be spring training, bring it in line with your comment that way, and, it all makes more sense!
Mets: Mayer is a significantly better fielder than Campbell and it’s not really debatable.
Fever: the reason why that doesn’t make sense is because that’s not what Bruin is saying.
Kristian Campbell dives into the pitch making him vulnerable to fastballs in this has always been the thought based on his hitting style. Minor league pitchers were unable to take advantage or had the stuff to take advantage of this his hands are fast he as able to hammer the non perfect pitches that missed just a little. When he made his meteoric rise last year after he was promoted to AAA the first few games he had a torrid start then AAA pitchers adjusted and started pounding him inside with fastballs and he struggled to end the season. Big league pitchers are going to be even better at taking advantage of this flaw he’s going to have to adjust. He’s going to have to lay off those up and in fastballs he’s going to see in the bigs won’t be surprised if he gets hit a lot in the bigs.
One of Romy or Sogard are going to make the 26 man and I hope it’s Sogard. He’s you quintessential utility guy. He’s at least average or better at defensive position he plays on the infield or in the outfield except maybe short. Neither of those guys are getting dfa at least not right away both have options in Sogard case he has three one will make the team at least until Masa is back and Sogard is the better defender and more versatile so hopefully he is the one kept.
GaSox – It happens to all of us. I’ve been making more than usual typos the past couple weeks, let’s just blame it on multi-tasking ;O)
What are you talking about not debatable. Mayers career fielding percentage is only .875. Do you know how bad that is?
Bruin – I agree with you, Sogard over Romy.
Sogard doesn’t have much of a difference in splits and is better against RHP. Romy was really, really bad overall from 2021-2023 and 2024 is likely an outlier.
Ummm ….. if neither of them gets DFA’d then they will continue to occupy a valuable 40-man roster spot. Sorry I don’t see that happening, too many 40-man roster spots are still needed.
Mets: Another person (perhaps the same) hanging their hat on antiquated stat to make a point. Clearly you don’t know how good he is if that’s the only way you measure fielding ability.
Fever Pitch Guy — This is what Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs scouted, “Campbell is at his best when he is moving from right to left while making the play. He doesn’t have the pure arm strength to play shortstop, but the Red Sox were positioning him deep in the hole so that he could make most of his throws with his whole body’s momentum moving toward first base. If Campbell is asked to make throws from any kind of odd platform, his strength and accuracy waiver, and this includes when he’s playing second base. His arm accuracy issues might always mean he’s a bit of a sketchy option on defense even though other aspects of his game (range, hands) are fine.”
This is why he’s been moved around between LF and 2B.
I’m rooting for Rafaela to succeed, not fail.
He had a remarkable number of walks in Spring Training. Hope he doesn’t figure he is done for the year?
He may be splitting Red Sox votes depending on how soon Roman Anthony gets promoted. Marcelo Mayer could factor in as well if he earns a promotion before June with declining 32-year old Trevor Story another injury waiting to happen at SS.
A June call up is too late. Mayer doesn’t even stay healthy enough to get enough playing time.
Unlike many of baseball’s other awards, there are no minimum qualification for R.O.Y winners. Rookies who make a huge impact in a short time can still win it.
The most extreme example was back in 1959 when Willie McCovey won the NL award with just 219 PA’s.
More recent winners with late callups/minimal PA’s include 2005 NL winner Ryan Howard (Phillies, 348 PA’s), 2013 AL winner Wil Myers (Rays, 373 PA’s) and 2019 AL winner Yordan Alvarez (Astros, 369 PA’s).
Those are just examples of position players. Many pitchers have also won R.O.Y with sensational debuts well beyond opening day. That list includes Pirates phenom Paul Skenes who won last year’s NL award but “failed” to earn the league’s ERA title at 1.96 because his 133 IP’s were nearly 30 below the minimal qualifying number. 🙂
That only happens when the other Rookie candidates aren’t that good.
To maintain rookie status you have to have less than 150 at bats or 50 innings pitched. I’m pretty sure that is still the benchmark unless they have changed it in recent years.
I think Mayer is still penciled in at 3rd to replace Bregman, and Arias targeted for SS. but that’s far away.
If Campbell hits like he did in the spring, he’ll been nowhere close to ROY. He’ll be back in Worcester
Spring training stats do not matter for hitters.
They do when they’re rookies trying to break into the league. Campbell has to prove he can hit big league pitching. It is different for an established major leaguer. You worry less about Rafael Devers because he has a track record. Campbell hasn’t established himself yet. If he’s hitting .150 in April, he’ll be back in AAA
If they are committing to bringing him up as a starter, I would imagine (hope?) they are also committing to giving him more than a month to prove himself. At some point, yes, they would likely send him back to AAA if he continues to struggle, but I don’t think they make that move in April.
I hope they give him at least 2 months to work on adjustments if needed.Look what Duran did when the didn’t keep sending him down.Rookies will have bad times.Just ride them out.
Pediev batted under .200 his first month. They will be patient.
dewey – Who is this Russian player you speak of? I don’t recognize the name.
Fever: I believe for his nickname they called him muddy yerlov.
surprised and impressed by the aggressive move
could see a pedroia-like arc early struggles then… laser show
I’m a casual Red Sox fan and noticed this kid in a couple Grapefruit League games. I’d never heard of him. He jumped off the tv screen. He definitely met the eye test. Good for him.
Campbell and Hamilton continue the position battle for a couple weeks while Yoshida is “rehabbing”. One of them goes to AAA mid April. Gonzalez is Super UTL/Brock Holt role and key R bat.
Mo – Haha!!! Romy is most likely the odd man out, dude can’t hit RHP.
Fever – I don’t want a bench R bat to hit RHP.
Who is the back up 1B?
Might be lefty Dom Smith.
I don’t see Dom Smith fitting this team. He doesn’t aid versatility.
He’s a L bat, primary 1B, borderline corner OF. He can’t run. He’d be a wasted roster spot.
Mo – Ref has first base experience.
Cora has already stated he wants Casas to play every day, and nobody will be pinch-hitting for him against LHP.
If Sogard stays, he can play first base …. in fact he did today. They will likely have Toro stashed in AAA as well.
I like Sogard, I could see a case for him over Gonzalez based on last year and him being a S hitter.
However, I still think Gonzalez makes the team over him as Sogard has 3 remaining options vs Gonzalez’s 2. Hamilton has 2 as well. The lower option guys will make the roster to preserve flexibility while the team navigates the first month.
This is cool. I know two of his teammates at Georgia Tech. One of those teammates is in the Braves camp this year. Very exciting times.
Looking forward to his year and wish the kid success!
Way too soon
75 gms above A ball
.170 in ST
Still so much he has to learn, experience
Why is boston in such a hurry? O’s brough up holliday too early & he was terrible. Sometimes bringing a prospect up too soon has a negative effect on their development
Nothing proves there has been any negative impact on Holliday’s development.
With that type of argument you can convince only yourself of anything.
Holliday has suffered from being called up too early. Whether there has been a negative long-term impact isn’t clear. However, what we do know is that his contact is below expectations. At his current power levels, the levels of contact he’s exhibiting, or rather the lack of contract, is not a good combination. Plus, he’s struggling making contact inside and outside the zone leading him to run a high swinging strike rate.
What matters is how those areas unfold. A correction towards the levels we saw in the minors would be a win for no negative impact. The persistence of those issues would be an indication there were harmful developments from rushing him. The jury is out; however, the issues don’t seem to be resolved. This spring success is being driven by a high BABIP.
Holliday didn’t meet fan’s expectations because he wasn’t ready. He’s facing MLB pitching after fewer than 200 minor league games and at only 20 years old. Have players done that and still succeeded later? Yes. Has the opposite happened? Yes. So my original statement is true: there is no proof that the O’s bringing him up has had a negative impact on his development. The organization knows the player better than we do, and it’s a testament to Holliday’s character that they believed he was mentally ready; I saw no impact on the mental aspect of the game.
It’s like when you do something wrong as a parent one time. Obviously it doesn’t cause apparent issues right away. But accumulated experiences over time, these small things manifest when they’re older. Lived experiences, for good or worse, make an impression.
Your original statement is truthful in part. Only the lack of concrete evidence is true. Therefore it is only truthful in ignorance.
The ‘O’s know the player better’ argument is just an appeal to authority. Just like how parents know their children, they make mistakes and people end up with baggage.
Your analogies have several faults, the most glaring being the maturity difference between a child and 20-year-old adult. If Holliday’s accumulated experiences are ones of overcoming obstacles and learning from adversity, he’ll be just fine.
The basis of my argument is that the original statement has no evidence, because no evidence can exist. You cannot predict his future from his results as a 20-year-old, nor can you say that his experience was positive or negative.
I will appeal to the authority of the best run organizations when it comes to developing young talent. It’s hubris to think otherwise.
.
Maturity differences? What a strawman. The analogy is about how events change us before we know it. Not some maturity differences. Holliday might be the most mature kid ever, but he’ll still experienced it. He had new experiences and had to sort them out. He’s still human, not some robot.
Also, it’s quite ridiculous to say there isn’t evidence. Considering how you believe in the O’s, if there is no evidence how did they make decisions? If something happens just because you are ignorant of it happening doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. Parading that there is no evidence when it could is your own hubris.
For the love of all things good, do not teach debate. Your use of its terminology is just awful.
Boy, no kidding. Holliday was terrible. Right with the collapse of Adley was the injury to Mateo that forced Holliday into the infield. Those explained The Collapse.
Still don’t get Boston… I mean, Worcester =
Wooster, how?
up there with duke coach mike shuhshefsky
The funny thing is as wild as the spelling is I can spell it without having to look it up.. Krzyzewski
(Manhattan) Houston St. = Howston St?
Arkansas = Arkansaw???
YBC – Let’s first try to figure out why it’s Josh Lowe as in “low” and Brandon Lowe as in “now”.
Wooster sheer saws.
No one wants to live Worse-ter, so they gave it some pep Woo-ster
Went to game at ol hump dome in Minnesota in 07.. some “jockey “ batting below a hundred started at 2b while his back up hitting well over 300 rode the bench… said to Mrs and young Redsox fan in making that Tito has lost his mind!!!! Reason number 207 why the closest I’ll ever get to the field is my lazy boy….( Won’t insult true Redsox fans on the two players I speak of!!!)
SOUPER news about CAMPBELL !!
The Red Sox are errrr, actually looking at trying hard this year? Sure, the players give their all, but the org seems to have been lacking in.well….commitment that last couple of years. This is a really good sign. The last really good 2B prospect turned out to be a pretty solid player who, unfortunately, has been displaying his extraordinary still set on the other side of the country….
casual – They’ve said they won’t try to win until 2026, but this is the windup year that’s needed first. Gotta see what the kids can do first, since they didn’t even let them have a cup of coffee last year.
Revenue has dropped substantially the past few years, that was another motivating factor in their increased spending this offseason.
No, the Red Sox never said they won’t try to win until 2026. That would be big news. More trolling from Fever Pitch Guy. He also has no idea about the Red Sox revenue as that is not released to the public.
This is what the entire organization was hoping for, but its like they’re forcing their wish. They gave him every opportunity to succeed and I’m not sure he actually earned it. He’s had some good moments this past week so they see him on the up.
The defense plays for sure and that is a huge plus overall. It’s definitely a gamble, but they’re covered if Campbell starts slow.
I’m a little disappointed by this… Hamilton won the job, by statsc alone… And if the Sox were determined to promote a prospect, then Mayer had the much better spring training. This move doesn’t make sense… Unless he’s got compromising pics of Cora… That would actually make sense. Campbell has one great session in the minors… Hit under . 200 in spring training… Head scratcher.
Agreed. I thought Hamilton won the 2B job.
Compare the last week 3/15 on. This is when the competition started to heat up closer to MLB levels. Prior was just a bunch of minor leaguers showcasing while the major leaguers were easing into game speed.
Hamilton struggled while Campbell was heading in the right direction.
Mayer had no position to play. He never played 2nd. I’d have gone with Hamilton/Gonzalez, but there is an argument for the RH bat and the high prospect.
Chris – Cora has repeatedly lied about “competitions” (ie: Bregman/Devers) so why would you expect anything less for 2B?
If what Ive heard about this kid are true, they have another Mookie Betts on their hands. I just hope they give him the time to deal with failure and adjust at the big league level. Remember, Pedroia got off to a rough start his rookie year and the rest is history.
dirt – Agreed! Campbell seems a lot more like Mookie than Rafaela does.
In Mookie’s first 18 games, he had 1 HR, 1 SB, and a .228 average.
I think it’s really exciting how home grown this Sox team will be. We’re close to having a starting nine that all came up through our system:
Casas
Hamilton
Campbell
Meyer
Devers
Durran
Rafaela
Abreu
Houck
Crawford
Bello
+ Fitts
Bcjd – I absolutely love seeing prospects drafted, IFA, and other players acquired and brought through the farm system. They are like ‘part of the family’ by the time they make it to the MLB Red Sox. It is way easier to follow them now through countless web sites than when I was young in the 1970s and 1980s looking at Sporting News minor league baseball section of their paper. The prospects in the farm system tend to be with the Red Sox longer also as they generally have 7 years of controllability. I root for the home grown guys a little more than the players acquired in free agency, because of the familiarity and the fact that they will be on the team longer than a year or two.
All the players you listed are either drafted or IFA except:
Abreu was acquired from Houston in the Christian Vazquez trade.
Hamilton was acquired from Milwaukee for Hunter Renfroe.
Fitts and several other acquisitions from Breslow may be making contributions this year also.
I also feel more loyalty to the guys whose stories I follow from the beginning. A free agent can win my undying loyalty—Pedro and Papi—but the guys we watch take their first MLB at bats get a leg up in winning my fandom. Lester over Price. Bogaerts over Story. If I ever meet Daniel Nava in a bar, I’ll buy him a beer.
If I were Vaughn Grissom, I’d be pretty upset right now.
Grissom had a chance like the other players. If anything regular AB’s at AAA will probably do him good.
Interesting side note on Grissom’s spring numbers; he had the exact same amount of hits, walks, strikeouts, and runs scored (6) in 40 PA’s this spring
Kristian Campbell was the 2024 Minor League Player of the Year (for the entire 30 organizations not just the Red Sox) and Grissom was not. Spring training is SSS (small sample size). Grissom had an opportunity to win the job last year and did not win it when it was handed to him. Campbell has more upside.
Campbell has been flashing the leather all spring, it’s nice that the bat is coming around but better defense at 3B with Bregman, 2B with Campbell, and Gold Glove caliber defense in CF with Rafaela and an actual Gold Glove winner in Abreu in RF will save some games and take pressure off both the pitching and the offense this season
Rsox – Why no Leather Love for Duran?
He had the 2nd-most DRS of all MLB outfielders.
The only reason he didn’t get a GG is because the best defensive OF, Varsho, played the same position as Duran.
You’re right, i should have included Duran. The Sox defense is trending in the right direction after years of being mediocre/bad. A lot to be excited for heading into this season
Rsox – Agreed! The talent is definitely there this year.
The only thing that can bring this team down is injuries, inner conflict, or mismanagement.
Let’s hope we don’t see a repeat of 2014 and 2019 when all three brought down those two teams.
Campbell seems quite versatile.
The amount of good positional prospects that BOS has is crazy. But that’s why when they signed Bregman it blew my mind a bit. It won’t be 3 years before Anthony, Mayer and obviously Campbell are ready, and you’re going to have to find room for these 3 in that lineup. That’s why I’m kinda hoping that a pouting Devers will get traded to DET at some point! Lol, we’ll take that shaky defense at 3B all day long if we get those offensive numbers!
Decent chance that Bregman opts out, but one our OFs might have to be traded.
Happy to see this. Let the kids play.