SoxProspects.com Red Sox Podcast

It's December, and despite the lack of major league player movement Chris and Ian had plenty to discuss. We finally know what the realignment of the minor leagues looks like and which teams that will remain a part of the Red Sox system. There have been some moves to look at as we welcome Hunter Renfroe and Garrett Whitlock to Boston. Chris and Ian take a quick trip through the winter leagues. We r...

Making his seventh appearance on the podcast, Alex Speier joins Chris and Ian for an enjoyable conversation. The guys discuss his prospect rankings, the challenges of ranking players who have missed a full year of development, and how much weight to put on performance at alternate training sites. And as always, the discussion crosses into so much more. Prior to talking with Alex, Chris and Ian go...

It's mid-November, and finally... some minor league scouting updates to discuss! Ian and Chris have the goods from the Fall Instructional League in Fort Myers, where 62 of the Red Sox' top farmhands spent 5.5 weeks. We've got who impressed and who disappointed with their showings. Plus, the guys preview who might be protected on Friday from selection in the Rule 5 draft (and how that list has chan...

The winter meetings are still off in the future, but baseball's offseason is in full swing. The Sox brought back several minor league free agents. Oh, and Alex Cora is back with the club to manage. In addition, we have a run down on important upcoming dates for the offseason. The guys talk through the players who will need to be protected on the 40-man before the rule 5 draft. Ian and Chris discus...

The 2020 season has successfully drawn to a close, bringing us to an offseason that promises great change for the Red Sox. With nine players already gone from the roster, Chris and Ian went player-by-player through the remaining members of the 40-man roster in an attempt to predict who will stay, who will go, and what those who are still around will be doing next season. Plus, some questions about...

The sprint that was the 2020 season has drawn to a close, and while it may not seem like it, Chris and Ian had plenty to look back on. There were plenty of debuts to digest, so the guys looked back on the first taste of MLB for Bobby Dalbec, Tanner Houck, and others, plus examine what the team's (probable) positioning at number 4 in next year's draft really means. Meanwhile, what did we learn from...

Well, the season is over. The Sox finished strong and still nabbed the fourth pick in the 2021 draft. Chris and Ian wind down the campaign with an eye to the future. Tanner Houck is looking good, and Nick Pivetta made the most of his starts with the big club. Ian shares several thoughts from the Alternate Training Site, and both Ian and Chris call out that the roster reflects Chaim Bloom's craftsm...

With the possibility of a top-five pick riding on the last few weeks of the season, we have a reason to pay attention to games as the season winds down. Ian breaks down how much of a difference a high draft pick means towards overall bonus pool. And speaking of reasons to pay attention, Tanner Houck is expected to make his big-league debut on September 15. Ian gives us a full scouting report for t...

The Red Sox wheeled and dealed at the deadline. In total, they struck four deals, including the Workman-Hembree deal talked about last episode. We don't know who the club got for Kevin Pillar and Josh Osich, but can break down the two players the Sox got for Mitch Moreland. And both Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario are intriguing young players with some upside who debuted in the top 20 on our rece...

With the trade deadline coming up, Chris and Ian get back on the line to talk trades. They address the deal that sent Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree to the Phillies and brought back Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold. The guys then revisited the trade talks with the Padres, and while they don't see Wil Myers coming to Boston, they do see the Red Sox as being in a good spot to take on salary and ge...

Two weeks in, and we still have MLB games! And thanks to the PawSox streaming simulated games from McCoy Stadium, we even get to see the prospects. We have a lot to talk about for both the big league club as well as the action down in Pawtucket. Chris and Ian leadoff with pitching talk. In particular, they go in depth on what happens when a club loses half of its top eight pitchers. Following that...

Baseball games are starting at last. Chris and Ian drop in to set the stage for this most unusual of seasons. They lead off with the latest additions for the club. Welcome to Boston, Dylan Covey and Zack Godley. Then the guys go deep on the difficult decisions in staffing the big league club. The last draft signings were officially announced. And finally, news out of Los Angeles, Mookie Betts has...

We have real news. Lots of it. News from camp. Juice Pigs news (yes, that's a thing). And new rankings news. We start off with Nick Yorke signing, and the guys speculate about how soon the rest of the draftees will sign. They go over news from summer camp, including the players diagnosed with COVID-19. Get well soon, guys. Before getting to our new rankings, they go over MLB Pipeline's Position Gr...

Major League Baseball has announced plans for a return to the field. Meanwhile, Minor League Baseball cancelled its 2020 season. That gets Chris and Ian back behind their mics. Leading off, Noah Song finally has direction for the next 12-18 months of his military career. Then on to the big news of the week. MLB imposed a 60-games-in-66-days framework. They discuss how the 60-man player pool will w...

Having gone outside the pod for opinions last episode, Chris and Ian got their chance to talk through the draft. The guys talk through each draft selection, and all the undrafted free agents who had signed as of the time we recorded. They go in depth on both Nick Yorke and Blaze Jordan, the two high schoolers whose bats will need to carry them. Then it's time to talk about the two college pitchers...

Chris and Ian welcome Jim Callis to the pod (his fifth appearance on the podcast!) to talk all things MLB Draft. And as always, he's got plenty of knowledge to bring to the table! Jim shared his thoughts on Boston's draft strategy, his thorough thoughts on the players the Sox picked in the draft, and the abbreviated draft in general. And of course, we got to your emails! Follow Jim on Twitter @ ji...

With the 17th selection of the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft, the Boston Red Sox threw us all a curveball when they selected California high school infielder Nick Yorke. Wondering what happened? Want the dish on the newest Red Sox draftee? Chris and Ian have the answers. Ian shares the consensus on Yorke's hit tool and makeup, both of which are highly regarded. The guys talk through the draft s...

A sense of normalcy returns Wednesday as Major League Baseball holds its annual Rule 4 Draft. This year's draft is a truncated affair: 5 rounds instead of 40. But as Chris and Ian discuss with Carlos, the class has remarkable depth. The guys ask Carlos about draft strategies, especially in light of the Sox' lack of a second-round pick. Carlos previews some players that might be in play for the Sox...

At a time when there are more important things to focus on in all of our lives, we felt that recording a 97-minute distraction might not be the worst thing for a temporary respite. Will we have to wait much longer before baseball returns? Chris and Ian have some thoughts and updates as we enter June. First up, they look at the state of negotiations between players and owners. Some hurdles have bee...

Baseball's long winter continues. And while we wait for games, Chris and Ian have updates. First up, an interview with Deputy editor and Pentagon Correspondent at Defense News (and more importantly, longtime podcast listener) Aaron Mehta, who gives some insight into the Noah Song situation. MLB set the terms of the 2020 Draft, and the guys have opinions on how badly MLB has handled the situation,...

We all miss baseball, but the podcast marches on! Even without games, Chris and Ian had plenty to talk about. In the news, MLB finally released its report on the Red Sox sign-stealing investigation. Was the punishment as lax as most seemed to think? The guys disagree with the consensus there. Plus, with this week's report that the minor league season is in jeopardy, we discuss the implications on...

Baseball extended winter continues. All of us at SoxProspects want to send you our sincere wishes for health and safety. And with time on our hands, we can turn our attention to a little series we just launched: State of the System. If you haven't seen it yet, please take a look . Ian and Chris take a look at the series and share their thoughts. They start by breaking down drafts and J2 signings t...

Before we get started, to all our listeners, colleagues, supporters and friends of the site, we all want to send our sincere wishes for health, safety and security. We're planning to keep episodes of the podcast coming, so you have things to listen to while you're sheltering in place, working from home and taking breaks from MLB Vault marathons. We're releasing this podcast on what would have been...

A lot can change in a couple days. In this episode, Chris and Ian engaged in an in-depth preview of their then-upcoming trip to minor league spring training, running through the players they were looking forward to seeing in camp and taking your listener questions. Days later, as Chris explains in the new intro, the trip was unfortunately canceled due to concerns related to the coronavirus, but we...

Here we go again. The siren is blaring. Mookie Betts is once again on his way to LA, along with David Price and cash to cover half of what Price is owed over the next three years. Coming back to Boston are Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong. Chris and Ian break down the new deal and answer your questions. Got something to say? We love talking about what you want to hear about. Make sure to...