On the 40-man and under contract for next season
Connor Wong (R) 82 wRC+, .682 OPS, 0.7 fWAR, 1.7 bWAR - 3 more pre-arb years (27)
Reese McGuire (L) 79 wRC+, .672 OPS, 0.3 fWAR, -0.5 bWAR - Arb 2 (29)
Out of Minor League Options
Ronaldo Hernández (R) AAA (SoxProspects Not ranked/my #69 prospect) - 105 wRC+, .840 OPS (26) - I think this is the correct way to classify him? Not 100% sure, though.
Eligible for Rule 5 Draft
Stephen Scott (L) AAA (#41/#28) - 133 wRC+, .969 OPS (26) - Probably needs protecting if they want to keep him. Defense is still a work in progress, but he's been mashing.
They have some other guys eligible, but they are all quite far away from needing to be held onto, so I'll just put the Rule 5 dates as part of the next section.
The Catcher Pipeline
The Red Sox suddenly have a good amount of solid catching throughout the organization. Let's talk about that (ages as always for next season):
Kyle Teel (L) A+ (#5/#7) - 240 wRC+, 1.1413 OPS - 1 game (22) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2026 - He'll be 5 or 6 when I updated my rankings. Yesterday was a really fun A+ debut.
Johanfran Garcia (R) FCL (#14/#13) - 140 wRC+, .921 OPS (19) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2026
Nathan Hickey (L) AA (#18/#26) - 130 wRC+, .834 OPS (24) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2024
Brooks Brannon (R) A (#36/#24) - 170 wRC+, .987 OPS (19) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2026
Enderso Lira (R) A (#53/#56) - 60 wRC+, .565 OPS (20) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2025 - Will move down in my next rankings.
Andruw Musett (R) DSL (NR/#60) - 130 wRC+, .827 OPS (18) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2027
Ronald Rosario (R) A+ (NR/#73) - 97 wRC+, .714 OPS (20) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2023
Gerardo Rodriguez (R) DSL (NR/#94) 137 wRC+, .933 OPS (18) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2027
Alex Erro (R) A+ (NR/#99) 105 wRC+, .740 OPS (25) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2023
Kleyver Salazar (R) DSL (NR/#106) 103 wRC+, .717 OPS (17) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2027
Yorberto Mejicano (R) A+ (NR/#110) 123 wRC+, .786 OPS (22) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2023
Upcoming free agents
Elias Díaz (R) - 90 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR, 1.4 bWAR (33)
Danny Jansen (R) - 105 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR, 1.1 bWAR (28)
Travis d'Arnaud (R) - 113 wRC+, 1.0 fWAR, 0.6 bWAR (35)
Yan Gomes (R) - 99 wRC+, 0.9 fWAR, 1.3 bWAR (36)
Francisco Mejía (B) - 81 wRC+, -0.3 fWAR, 0.2 bWAR (28)
Carson Kelly (R) - 43 wRC+, -0.2 fWAR, 0.0 bWAR (29)
James McCann (R) - 68 wRC+, 0.2 fWAR, 0.4 bWAR (33)
Tomás Nido (R) - -22 wRC+, -0.6 fWAR,-0.7 bWAR (29)
Jacob Stallings (R) - 58 wRC+, -0.3 fWAR, -0.2 bWAR (34)
Austin Barnes (R) - 5 wRC+, -1.1 fWAR, -1.5 bWAR (34) - $3.5m team option, no buyout
My bottom line
The free agent options seem uninspiring. Wouldn't be surprised if they went into next season with Wong/McGuire again. I think they should probably add one of Scott/Hernandez to the 40-man if they can, though, & trade the other if that's a possibility.
Would probably prefer to keep Scott, but Hernandez has made a lot of progress on k/bb stuff this season & is the better defensive catcher. Last year, Hernandez walked 4.8% of the time & struck out 21% of the time. This season he has walked 11% of the time & struck out 15.8% of the time.
Technically, if there was a market for McGuire, they could trade him & go with both Hernandez & Scott. That would be a bit tricky with both Wong/Hernandez being righties & Hernandez being out of options, though.
Connor Wong (R) 82 wRC+, .682 OPS, 0.7 fWAR, 1.7 bWAR - 3 more pre-arb years (27)
Reese McGuire (L) 79 wRC+, .672 OPS, 0.3 fWAR, -0.5 bWAR - Arb 2 (29)
Out of Minor League Options
Ronaldo Hernández (R) AAA (SoxProspects Not ranked/my #69 prospect) - 105 wRC+, .840 OPS (26) - I think this is the correct way to classify him? Not 100% sure, though.
Eligible for Rule 5 Draft
Stephen Scott (L) AAA (#41/#28) - 133 wRC+, .969 OPS (26) - Probably needs protecting if they want to keep him. Defense is still a work in progress, but he's been mashing.
They have some other guys eligible, but they are all quite far away from needing to be held onto, so I'll just put the Rule 5 dates as part of the next section.
The Catcher Pipeline
The Red Sox suddenly have a good amount of solid catching throughout the organization. Let's talk about that (ages as always for next season):
Kyle Teel (L) A+ (#5/#7) - 240 wRC+, 1.1413 OPS - 1 game (22) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2026 - He'll be 5 or 6 when I updated my rankings. Yesterday was a really fun A+ debut.
Johanfran Garcia (R) FCL (#14/#13) - 140 wRC+, .921 OPS (19) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2026
Nathan Hickey (L) AA (#18/#26) - 130 wRC+, .834 OPS (24) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2024
Brooks Brannon (R) A (#36/#24) - 170 wRC+, .987 OPS (19) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2026
Enderso Lira (R) A (#53/#56) - 60 wRC+, .565 OPS (20) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2025 - Will move down in my next rankings.
Andruw Musett (R) DSL (NR/#60) - 130 wRC+, .827 OPS (18) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2027
Ronald Rosario (R) A+ (NR/#73) - 97 wRC+, .714 OPS (20) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2023
Gerardo Rodriguez (R) DSL (NR/#94) 137 wRC+, .933 OPS (18) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2027
Alex Erro (R) A+ (NR/#99) 105 wRC+, .740 OPS (25) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2023
Kleyver Salazar (R) DSL (NR/#106) 103 wRC+, .717 OPS (17) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2027
Yorberto Mejicano (R) A+ (NR/#110) 123 wRC+, .786 OPS (22) - Rule 5 eligible 12/2023
Upcoming free agents
Elias Díaz (R) - 90 wRC+, 0.4 fWAR, 1.4 bWAR (33)
Danny Jansen (R) - 105 wRC+, 1.4 fWAR, 1.1 bWAR (28)
Travis d'Arnaud (R) - 113 wRC+, 1.0 fWAR, 0.6 bWAR (35)
Yan Gomes (R) - 99 wRC+, 0.9 fWAR, 1.3 bWAR (36)
Francisco Mejía (B) - 81 wRC+, -0.3 fWAR, 0.2 bWAR (28)
Carson Kelly (R) - 43 wRC+, -0.2 fWAR, 0.0 bWAR (29)
James McCann (R) - 68 wRC+, 0.2 fWAR, 0.4 bWAR (33)
Tomás Nido (R) - -22 wRC+, -0.6 fWAR,-0.7 bWAR (29)
Jacob Stallings (R) - 58 wRC+, -0.3 fWAR, -0.2 bWAR (34)
Austin Barnes (R) - 5 wRC+, -1.1 fWAR, -1.5 bWAR (34) - $3.5m team option, no buyout
My bottom line
The free agent options seem uninspiring. Wouldn't be surprised if they went into next season with Wong/McGuire again. I think they should probably add one of Scott/Hernandez to the 40-man if they can, though, & trade the other if that's a possibility.
Would probably prefer to keep Scott, but Hernandez has made a lot of progress on k/bb stuff this season & is the better defensive catcher. Last year, Hernandez walked 4.8% of the time & struck out 21% of the time. This season he has walked 11% of the time & struck out 15.8% of the time.
Technically, if there was a market for McGuire, they could trade him & go with both Hernandez & Scott. That would be a bit tricky with both Wong/Hernandez being righties & Hernandez being out of options, though.