3 Red Sox prospects who should not be traded and 3 who should

The Red Sox should keep Ceddane Rafaela

Oh look, another up the middle position player. How many of these guys does Boston really need? Well, they need Ceddane Rafaela, but for slightly different reasons than some of these other guys. Rafaela is certainly not a physically imposing figure and his approach at the plate is too aggressive, but he has hit for average the last two seasons in full season ball, more power than you would think from a 5’9 guy, and he can steal bases and take extra bases with his plus speed.

However, the biggest selling point for keeping Rafaela around is his defense. This guy can play pretty much anywhere on the field except catcher and play it well. You don’t find guys that have this sort of defensive ability from guys very often and true utility belt plus defenders have a lot of value in the big leagues. Ones that have actual upside at the plate are basically impossible to find. His offensive game has some warts to be sure, but Rafaela is unique enough to keep around. 

The Red Sox should trade Blaze Jordan

This one is likely to get some Red Sox fans clutching their pearls, but again…you have to give up something to get something. Blaze Jordan can hit and hit for power and that isn’t just a scouting report from his draft year…he has hit every single year he has been in the minor leagues since he joined the organization as a third round pick in the 2020 draft. The power hasn’t quite shown up in games like Boston likely thought it would, but it is definitely in there.

The issue with Jordan long-term for the Red Sox is that he is pretty much just a bat. While he is listed as a third baseman, he isn’t a particularly strong defender over there and has already seen a lot of time over at first base in the minor leagues which puts even more pressure on his bat. Moreover, Boston doesn’t have a shortage of guys that can hit who also have some defensive ability and several of them are closer to the big leagues than Blaze is. Find a team that needs some offensive talent that they can wait a little while for and use Jordan to help get a deal done. He may end up being a fine big league hitter, but it isn’t likely he will be missed too much in the grand scheme of things.

More Red Sox news and views