Red Sox Fail to Land Any Top-20 Prospects in MLB International Signing Period

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

The Boston Red Sox have had quite the offseason. The team failed to re-sign both Xander Bogaerts and JD Martinez, leaving fans wondering what the 2023 regular season will bring.

To make matters worse, Boston did not sign a single top-20 prospect during the MLB international signing period.

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The Red Sox entered the signing period with over $4.6 million in their bonus pool, but came away with just one notable player in Yoeilin Cespedes. The 17-year-old shortstop out of the Dominican Republic was given a bonus of $1.4 million and is ranked No. 25 on MLB.com's international amateur rankings.

Cespedes has a chance to be an exceptional prospect provided he can take advantage of the power that comes with his compact swing at the plate. He has the positional versatility to play anywhere in the infield, too. However, it's hard to justify why the Red Sox failed to go all-in with multiple signings.

The Red Sox are stuck in a crowded AL East Division and don't have the minor league depth to rely on that other teams do. Boston currently features three prospects ranked among the top 100 in Marcelo Mayer, Tristin Casas and Ceddane Rafaela. Mayer may not make his MLB debut until 2024, though.

Keep in mind the Orioles boast three top-15 prospects and the Yankees tally four in the top 100. Baltimore, New York, Toronto and Tampa Bay each signed a top-20 prosect in the international signing period as well. The Red Sox are going to have to make up ground in one way or another.

Boston has odds set at +8000 to win the 2023 World Series, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

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