Podcast Ep. #299: The Breslow-down

The Red Sox found themselves a new Chief Baseball Officer, and it's a familiar face in former Boston reliever Craig Breslow. Since retiring in 2018, Breslow has worked in the Cubs front office - with some familiar faces - and become known as a rising star in front office circles. So what to make of the hire? Too soon? Was it surprising? The guys gave their thoughts on the hire and what it means for the team going forward. Plus some fall/winter ball talk and of course, your emails!

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Fall/Winter Roundup: Strong start for Penrod, McDonough keeps hitting

The Arizona Fall League is reaching its end, particularly for the Glendale Desert Dogs, which is at the bottom of the standings, but baseball in the Dominican Republic completed its first full week. Venezuela is also in its first full week of competition, but no SoxProspects are in the league. Roberto Clemente Professional Baseball League will also get underway on Friday. This recap covers games from October 23-29.

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Arizona Fall League

Glendale is just 9-14 in the Arizona Fall League, which puts the Desert Dogs in a tie for last place with Mesa. Their elimination number is three. There haven't been many bright spots among Red Sox farmhands, but Tyler McDonough (pictured) has been hitting well, as he has an OPS of .940 over 33 at-bats. He was 4 for 9 on the week over two games. One was at shortstop and one was at second base. Even after coming late to the Arizona Fall League, he's adjusted well in a part-time role.

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Fall/Winter Roundup: Rosier stays hot in AFL; Valdez returns to Dominican for winter ball

While the Arizona Fall League season continues to roll on out west, winter ball has just begun to start back up in the Caribbean. Corey Rosier (pictured) and Enmanuel Valdez, who both joined the Red Sox organization around the same time last August via separate trades with the Padres and Astros, headline this week's edition of the Notes covering all the action from from October 16-22.

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Arizona Fall League

It was a perfect week for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League. After winning just two of their first 12 games, the Desert Dogs rattled off six straight wins and are now 8-10 on the season. They now trail the 11-6 Scottsdale Scorpions by 3 1/2 games for first place in the standings heading into Week 4 of AFL play.

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Podcast Ep. #298: The Search Is On

That's for the Head of Baseball Operations, of course. The search is on and the guys ran down all of the latest as the Red Sox try to find the next person to run the front office. Plus, the latest from the Arizona Fall League, transactions, and a look at the players for whom the offseason will be most important.

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Fall/Winter Roundup: McDonough debuts in the AFL; Dominican and Venezuelan leagues set to begin

Last week, the team announced that Tyler McDonough (pictured) was joining the Glendale Desert Dogs roster while Brainer Bonaci would be leaving. On Wednesday, it came out that Bonaci was sent home and placed on the restricted list for violating the Minor League Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, and Child Abuse Policy. Bonaci was put on the restricted list on August 30 when he was with Portland as well. There is no word yet on his status for next season, but it will be something to monitor in the coming weeks. 

With the Dominican and Venezuelan leagues starting this week, our 2023-24 Fall and Winter Leagues page will have updated rosters once available. This week's edition of the Notes runs from October 11-15.

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Arizona Fall League

It was a rough stretch for the Desert Dogs, as they went 0-4 over the four games since our last update. They are now 2-10 and sitting in last place. Corey Rosier continues to see the most playing time, as he started in three of the four games. He went 2 for 11 with an RBI while playing center field. Nathan Hickey appeared in just one game as a designated hitter and went 1 for 4 with two strikeouts. Tyler McDonough made his debut on Saturday and went 0 for 3 while getting the start in left field. 

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Fall/Winter Roundup: Rosier on roll as AFL kicks off

With the 2023 minor league regular season in the books, we move on to the winter and fall leagues. The Arizona Fall League kicked off on October 2 with eight players in the Red Sox organization participating on the Glendale Desert Dogs. SoxProspects.com will run our weekly Fall/Winter Notes series, and you can follow along daily on our 2023-24 Fall and Winter Leagues page. This week's edition of the Notes runs from that AFL opener through Tuesday October 10.

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Arizona Fall League

The highlight of the first week-plus of the AFL season has been the play of outfielder Corey Rosier. The 24-year-old, acquired in the deal with San Diego that included Jay Groome and Eric Hosmer, has hit safely in each of his six starts for the Desert Dogs. He is 9 for 24 (.360) with a double, triple, and three stolen bases. He has seen time at all three outfield positions, getting three starts in center field, two in left field, and one in right. 

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2023 SoxProspects.com Awards: Player of the Year

We have reached the final day of our awards week here at SoxProspects.com. The Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year will be posted today, with this edition being the Player of the Year. Throughout the week, we have announced All-Star position players and pitchers, Graduate of the Year, Homegrown Player of the Year, Ex-Prospects of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Breakout Player of the Year. Today, we discuss the top player of 2023. 

Player of the Year

Ceddanne Rafaela is a repeat Player of the Year, as he won this award last year as well after a breakout season. Rafaela took another huge leap in 2023, and it ended with him getting some time in Boston. He showed off his wide skill set, playing multiple positions well, running the bases at a high level, and taking his offense to new heights. After being named the Red Sox Minor League Defensive Player of the Year in 2022, Rafaela earned the Sox' Minor League Baserunner of the Year honor in 2023. 

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2023 SoxProspects.com Awards: Pitcher of the Year

This concludes the fifth and final day of Awards Week here at SoxProspects.com. Throughout the week, we have recognized our All-Star position players and pitchers, our Graduate, Homegrown, and Ex-Prospect of the Year, our Rookie, Comeback, and Breakout Player of the Year, and our Player of the Year. To wrap things up, we will name our Pitcher of the Year for 2023.

Pitcher of the Year

Yordanny Monegro (pictured, right) earns the honors after bursting onto the scene this season and emerging as one of the more intriguing pitching prospects in the organization.

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Podcast Ep. #297: 2023 Season in Review

After 20 years in review, we narrowed our focus to just this one, looking back at the season's best on the farm. We highlighted the SoxProspects.com award winners and all-stars as part of our position-by-position look back at 2023. Plus, we discussed the final month in Boston, the start of the Arizona Fall League, and remembered Tim Wakefield. Plus, your emails!

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2023 SoxProspects.com Awards: Rookie, Comeback, and Breakout players of the year

Award season continues, as we introduce our Rookie, Comeback and Breakout players of the year, one of which is a first in nearly 10 years.

Rookie of the Year: Yoeilin Cespedes

In most years, the Rookie of the Year has been from a player that spends the year at full-season affiliates, as they have the sample size to better prove that they're the best first-year player in the system than those in Rookie ball. This is particularly true of players in the Dominican Summer League, where statistics are even less valuable than those from higher up on the minor league ladder.

Prior to this year, the only DSL players to win the award in site history are Rafael Devers (2014) and Xander Bogaerts (2010), making impressive company for Yoeilin Cespedes, who has become the third award winner to spend their rookie season in the Dominican Republic.

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2023 SoxProspects.com Awards: Graduate, Homegrown and Ex-Prospect

We continue our SoxProspects.com Awards coverage with the 2023 Graduate, Homegrown Player, and Ex-Prospect of the Year. The Graduate and Homegrown honorees both made significant contributions to the big-league club this year, while the Ex-Prospect Award recipient is someone who made his highly-anticipated return to Boston over the summer. 

Graduate of the Year: Triston Casas

Casas' (pictured, left) first full season in the majors did not get off to the best of starts. After debuting and showing signs of promise last September, the 23-year-old broke camp this spring as Boston's Opening Day first baseman. He then struggled out of the gate, batting just .133/.283/.293 with three home runs and eight RBIs in his first 25 games (92 plate appearances) of the year.

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Minor Notes: Drive win SAL title; Arizona Fall League begins

The season has officially come to an end in the minor leagues. The WooSox were the last team to finish up, missing the playoffs. The Greenville Drive ended their season on a very high note, capturing the South Atlantic League championship. The offseason is underway and the fall leagues are already starting up. 

Drive Sweep the Postseason 

Greenville went 4-0 in the 2023 playoffs, winning each of their series in two games. Kristian Campbell (pictured), Ronald Rosario, and Allan Castro each played in all four games and posted an OPS north of 1.000. Rosario and Campbell each homered in the clinching game. Zach Penrod and Felix Cepeda were standouts on the mound in the playoffs for Greenville. Cepeda tossed three shutout innings with five strikeouts, and we'll have more on Penrod in a bit. It was the Drive's second SAL championship. 

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2023 SoxProspects.com All-Stars: Pitchers

Following up on Monday's position player All-Stars, today brings the SoxProspects.com 2023 All-Star pitchers. While several of the hitters had previously achieved All-Star status, the pitching selections represent a changing of the guard in the system - none of the eight selections had previously been chosen. Greenville was your best bet for catching one of the system's stars in 2023: six of the eight spent time with the Drive. 

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Starting Pitcher: Wikelman Gonzalez

The 21-year-old righthander from Venezuela pushed his way into the system's top ten on the strength of a 2023 season in which he was nearly unhittable. In 25 outings between Greenville and Portland, Gonzalez led the organization with 168 strikeouts, and his .190 opponents' batting average was the lowest among pitchers with at least 60 innings. He gave up just seven home runs in 111 1/3 innings, and his 3.96 ERA on the year is even more impressive when considering his slow start. In four April appearances, Gonzalez surrendered 15 earned runs in just 8 2/3 innings, entering May with an unsightly 15.58 mark. He had a 3.48 ERA in his next 11 outings, forcing the promotion to Portland where he gave up just 13 runs in 48 1/3 (2.42). He is currently ranked eighth in the system.

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2023 SoxProspects.com All-Stars: Position Players

Welcome to the 2023 SoxProspects.com Awards week! Over the next five days, we will present our annual awards on the news page, recognizing the standout performers from the season. The schedule will be as follows:

Monday: All-Star position players

Tuesday: All-Star pitchers

Wednesday: Graduate of the Year; Homegrown Player of the Year; Ex-Prospect of the Year

Thursday: Rookie of the Year; Breakout Player of the Year; Comeback Player of the Year

Friday: Player of the Year; Pitcher of the Year

We kick things off with the position players selected by the SoxProspects.com staff for their All-Star performances. While we consider factors such as age advancement and opponent quality, these awards recognize the players' in-game performances rather than a commentary on any status as a prospect. While injuries kept players like Marcelo Mayer and Miguel Bleis from reaching All-Star status, several other top players had excellent seasons. Eight of the system's top 22 prospects are highlighted below, with the ninth player being a former top-5 prospect who graduated in May of 2021. 

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