MLB Pipeline 2026 top 100 update proves flaw in Red Sox offseason

One year ago, the Boston Red Sox had a top farm system in all of baseball. They had two top ten prospects, with three others in the top 100. They had the fourth-highest ranking system by prospect points.

In MLB Pipeline’s newest update, things aren’t quite the same, and that drop-off highlights a growing issue with how the Red Sox have chosen to build this roster.

The Red Sox only have four top 100 prospects to start 2026, according to MLB Pipeline, and two have already made their big league debuts. Payton Tolle (No. 19), Franklin Arias (No. 31), Connelly Early (No. 56), and Kyson Witherspoon (No. 84) are the Sox's top-100 prospects. Red Sox Nation was introduced to Tolle and Early at the end of last season, they just didn't graduate from prospect status.

Heading into 2025, the fanbase was expecting the debuts of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell. This season, there isn't a high-ranking prospect expected to make their debut. The Sox have fallen to ninth in the team rankings, tied with the White Sox.

Graduations have certainly played a part in the decline, but it is also a byproduct of how Craig Breslow has operated this winter. Boston made a few major trades this offseason that sent out multiple players at the top of the farm system. Jhostnyxon Garcia, Brandon Clarke, and Yhoiker Fajardo were all inside or near Boston's top 10 prospects at the end of last season only to be dealt this winter. While none of those players currently sit inside Pipeline's top 100 prospects, they likely aren't far outside.

Red Sox's offseason trade strategy has depleted the top of their farm system

This doesn't include players traded last offseason, either. The White Sox Braden Montgomery (part of the Crochet trade) and Yankees Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz (traded for Carlos Narváez) are both Top 100 prospects.

This isn't to say that the Red Sox or Red Sox fans should regret making any of these trades — each of which addressed a clear need — just that this is what happens when the front office decides trading is the way to upgrade the team and not free agency.

The Sox could have easily addressed first base and the rotation via free agency either of the last two offseasons. Instead, they opted to make a multitude of trades and drained the farm. Luckily for Red Sox Nation, they didn't include Anthony, Mayer, Campbell, Tolle, or Early in any of those trades despite interest. But that could change as long as the Sox still need an infielder before Opening Day.

While Anthony and Campbell aren't going anywhere due to the long-term money committed to them — and it seems less likely that Mayer is going anywhere because the Sox are signaling that he will be the Opening Day third baseman — there is still a trade to be made. The Red Sox still have a hole to fill at second base, and at this point in the offseason, it's either going to be a minor free agent or another trade.

Being a successful organization means always having highly rated prospects. Some will be long-term staples of a franchise, and others will be dealt. The Dodgers are the prime example of this, with their back-to-back World Series wins and five top 100 prospects.

Trading prospects is inevitable for contenders, but draining the farm without supplementing it through free agency is a choice. MLB Pipeline’s latest update shows the cost of that choice clearly.