Red Sox Prospects: What do they have in Johan Mieses?

What do the Boston Red Sox have in outfield prospect Johan Mieses?

Outfielder Johan Mieses is one of the more interesting prospects the Boston Red Sox have in their system, but not because he’s considered one of the top names in the system.

His intrigue is a combination of a few different factors. First, Mieses is already 27, an advanced age for a prospect, which will immediately turn fans off. But I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: don’t put all the stock into age. Adolis Garcia was fourth in AL ROY voting in 2021 at the age of 28. Jacob deGrom was 26 in his rookie season. Mike Yastrzemski was 28 in his rookie year, then finished eighth in NL MVP voting the following season. Patrick Wisdom was 29 when he made the big splash for the Chicago Cubs last year (yes he had 78 MLB at-bats before that but that’s not a big number). He has two straight seasons of 25-plus home runs.

Then there’s the fact that Mieses appeared in just 142 games combined over the last two seasons. This wasn’t just because of injuries though. 2021 saw Mieses miss extended time due to playing for the Dominican Republic baseball team in the Olympics (where he was impressing everyone with some absolute moonshots). Then in 2022, Mieses did have an injury but also missed time due to personal reasons.

Over those 142 games in the Red Sox system, Mieses has mashed, however. The right-handed hitter has a .248 average with 27 doubles, one triple, and 31 home runs in 475 at-bats (not even technically a full season). He’s driven in 83 runs, scored 79 more, and stolen eight bases in nine attempts.

More importantly, he posted a .271/.387/.536 slash line in 60 games (192 at-bats) this season (all in Triple-A).

Okay at this point, something needs to be made clear. I’m not saying Johan Mieses is the next Manny Ramirez. For some reason, everyone seems to believe that every single prospect or called up to the Majors needs to be a superstar (or projected as one). That’s just not true. There are a lot of roles players can fill.

With that in mind, hear me out.

The Boston Red Sox need to make a lot of moves this offseason. Bringing back Xander Bogaerts and signing Rafael Devers to an extension should be at the top of the list. Getting a high-end starter could be in the cards too, as well as getting some bullpen help (especially a closer).

That all adds up to a pretty hefty bill. But that’s not all. J.D. Martinez is gone, so there needs to be a replacement there. And Boston could use some outfield help as well.

If you’re already paying for all that other stuff, you can’t just keep piling on though. Somewhere in there, you need some “cheap” options.

Enter Johan Mieses. He’s probably not going to hit .300, but he’ll get on base at a solid clip. Meanwhile, he could potentially get you 25-plus home runs. Mieses is a sneaky good base runner too with decent speed. The defense isn’t great but could be okay, and he has a strong arm. Overall, there’s a lot to like when considering giving him a chance.

The Boston Red Sox could go a lot of different ways when it comes to their designated hitter position (or fourth outfielder) to start the 2023 season. With all the potential roster moves, they’ll need to cut costs somewhere though. So I legitimately wouldn’t be upset with Johan Mieses starting the season on the Opening Day roster.