Kristian Campbell was one of the most exciting players in the sport at this time a year ago. Baseball America had ranked him the #4 prospect in MLB on the heels of a .330/.439/.558 showing in the minors. Campbell was generally viewed alongside or even slightly above Marcelo Mayer as the Red Sox’s second-best prospect behind Roman Anthony. The organization seemed to share that assessment, as they built their trade package for Garrett Crochet around Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery rather than including anyone in their top three.
Campbell broke camp despite a mediocre Spring Training performance. He started at second base on Opening Day and got out to a roaring start, hitting .301/.407/.495 through the end of April. Boston quickly locked him up on an eight-year extension that guaranteed $60MM and extended their club control window by as many as four seasons.
Nine months later, it’s not clear if he has a path to playing time in the short term. Campbell’s bat cratered after the scorching start. He hit .159/.243/.222 over 140 plate appearances between the start of May and the middle of June. The Sox optioned him to Triple-A on June 20 and kept him in the minors for the rest of the season.
Campbell posted good numbers in the minors, at least on the surface. He hit .273/.382/.417 across 319 Triple-A plate appearances. It certainly wasn’t on par with his breakout 2024 season, but that’s above-average production at age 23. Yet it came with an elevated 26.3% strikeout rate that was more than six points higher than his mark from the previous season. Campbell also averaged a paltry 84 MPH off the bat with a 30% hard contact rate, and he put more than half his batted balls on the ground. He took a lot of walks and the results were good overall, yet the batted ball data wasn’t all that encouraging.
The track record is strong enough that Campbell remains a promising offensive player, albeit with less confidence that he’ll be an impact bat than they probably had a year ago. The biggest concern is on the other side of the ball.
Campbell’s second base defense was a disaster. Defensive Runs Saved graded him 16 runs below average in 471 2/3 innings. Only Luis García Jr. had a worse DRS mark at the position, and that came in twice as many innings. Campbell was tied for third from the bottom in Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric (again behind players who got more time at the position). He committed seven errors and had a .968 fielding percentage that was last among the 38 second basemen to play 400+ innings.
It was bad enough that it seems the Red Sox have essentially given up on Campbell as a viable second baseman. He only started 11 games there in the minors, none of which came after August 8. Campbell closed the season bouncing between left field, center field and first base.
The Red Sox have a question at second base but don’t appear to be seriously considering Campbell there. They’re reportedly focused on defense as they look outside the organization for help at the keystone. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow acknowledged last week that the Sox are “going to give (Campbell) a look in the outfield” (link via Christopher Smith of MassLive). David Hamilton, Romy Gonzalez and Nick Sogard lead an uninspiring internal group of second base options. They’ve traded for Willson Contreras and still have Triston Casas — who is ironically in a somewhat similar spot as Campbell — ahead of him on the first base depth chart.
Campbell is a good enough athlete that it’s not out of the question that he’ll be a solid outfielder. The Red Sox don’t have many at-bats to offer him there, though. They’re already loaded across the outfield with Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Anthony. Breslow has consistently downplayed their desire to trade Duran or Abreu. That seems less likely now that they’ve addressed the rotation in other ways. They’re not going to move an established above-average regular merely to open playing time for Campbell.
The Sox did lose lefty masher Rob Refsnyder in free agency, but they’re planning to give Abreu more at-bats against southpaws. Relegating the righty-hitting Campbell to a short side platoon role isn’t ideal for his development. Breslow pointed to 29-year-old Nate Eaton as a possibility to pick up some of the at-bats that Refsnyder had taken.
It leaves Campbell without a clear role as Spring Training approaches. If the Red Sox don’t feel he’s a viable infielder, he’s not going to have much utility off the bench. He still has two minor league options and could go back to Triple-A. That’s the likeliest outcome to begin the season and would at least give him continued work in the outfield. They can bide their time that way, but it’s clearly not an ideal setup for a player who very recently looked like a franchise player.
There hasn’t been anything to suggest the Red Sox are considering trade possibilities this offseason. Although Campbell’s extension doesn’t preclude them from trading him, it’d be essentially without precedent for a team to sell low on a top prospect who is one season into an eight-year deal. The Sox could probably shed the entire contract if that were their only goal, but they’d need to accept pennies on the dollar in terms of the trade return.
Maybe the situation will sort itself out early in the season. An outfield injury or two could get Campbell into the lineup. No one is writing off his career before he turns 24. It’s nevertheless rare for opportunities to dry up as quickly as they have for a player who was held in this regard as a prospect. If Campbell spends the first half of the season in the minors and the Sox are contending, he may become a more realistic trade candidate around the deadline.
Image courtesy of John Jones, Imagn Images.
Trade him to the Angels or the Padres.
You’re joking right? I’m not saying the kid is finished but who in their right mind trades for a prospect that is floundering and owed 60 million dollars?
Danger – I agree the logical thing to do is trade Rafaela or move him to 2B if necessary, and let KC play his best position which is CF.
Fever- I would want to see what Campbell can do in the outfield over a full season in the minors before considering him as a replacement for Rafaela in the outfield. Based on the limited major league experience he had last year it would seem he would be a major defensive and offensive downgrade to Rafaela.
I hope he can pull it together and show he belongs on the major league club, but at this point that seems questionable. I think he has the talent he just needs to build confidence and discipline at the plate as well as master his defensive skills. Still plenty young enough to get straightened out.
Uncle – I totally agree him playing one position only for one full season in the minors would be beneficial for both him and the team’s evaluation of him. However based on what the team has said and done up to now, that’s unlikely to happen. They want versatility, they want to be able to plug guys like Rafaela and KC just about anywhere. It allows Cora to continue with his obsessive offensive matchups, and it allows him to cover his managerial mistakes with a short bench.
Here’s a couple things worth pointing out:
masslive.com/redsox/2025/11/a-red-sox-goal-for-kri…
“They know, deep down, that he’s best as an outfielder”
“just giving him some stability and certainty to where he’s going to play and maybe easing some of the kind of mental demands on trying to play multiple positions at the same time.”
So there you have it. KC belongs in the outfield, and he’s most comfortable in CF.
And Breslow finally admitted they grossly abused and mismanaged him by moving him all over the place and having him learn new positions. This is something I and Red Sox Nation have been saying all along, all last season.
Message to Breslow and Cora: Stop messing around with Campbell, stop taking advantage of the kid, stop ruining him. Just because he doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to say no like Raffy, Roman and Mayer have done doesn’t mean you should abuse the heck out of him. He’s not a damn transformer like what you’ve no doubt played with as an adult. He’s a human being with emotions, feelings.
The poor kid is so timid he was afraid to say what his favorite position is when he was asked recently. Good grief.
Now tell me again why they traded Teel instead of KC when they already had a crap-ton of outfielders and they had a desperate need for catching.
Fever pitch- no. The logical thing is trade Duran and have Campbell be the right handed compliment to the lefties Anthony and Abreu while keeping the 25 year old budding star in Ceddanne in center
123 – There is zero chance Roman is platooned, and supposedly Abreu will be platooned less …. although he has a hard time staying healthy.
BTW – Roman’s .770 OPS vs LHP isn’t that bad.
No comment on the “budding star” ….. first he has to learn how to hit, which he did not do after the AS break (2nd-worst in MLB).
Fever- I definitely would have preferred that they keep Teel, no doubt he could have a major impact on the team. I would assume they were adamant that he be one of the pieces because it would have made no sense not to move one of the areas where we have an abundance. If it took Teel to get Crochet I am ok with that, but it was certainly far from ideal.
I would not want to see Campbell traded unless it is for someone valuable in return, on the other hand I would not be ready to let Raffy go as he is one of the best defensive players in the game and I think his offense will be less inconsistent in time. With Campbell he showed he had some offensive ability that I hope will continue to develop but to my knowledge he has never shown the ability to be an excellent defender. He may be an adequate defender in the outfield but unless he proves he has a higher upside both offensively and defensively than Raffy at the major league level, I will stick with Raffy.
Uncle – Well he’s not gonna have a higher upside defensively, but why would he need to have both? KC has plenty of offensive upside, if they just leave him alone and let him do what he’s comfortable with at the plate.
They could always stick KC in LF if necessary, all three of the others (Roman, Duran, Abreu) have plenty of experience in CF.
RD
Any player can be traded. Maybe not Ohtani, but any other player.
Yes but why would you want to trade him when his value is so low, you have so much sunk cost and you have options on him? Sure he could be traded, but for so little (and you might have to eat some of his contract) that it’s clearly better to hold on to him and see how he develops. Yes, the downside is that after a year he hasn’t progressed and you’re stuck with the remaining six years of the deal. But are you really going to do a salary dump for a guy who has barely lost his rookie status?
This is really a front office failure. You sign a 23 year old kid who has never played in the majors to a $60 million deal, hand him the second base job, throw him into the pressure cooker of an AL East pennant race while the team is in something of an uproar (remember Bregman/Devers?) and then decide, after 59 games at the position, that he’ll never be a second basemen? What were you thinking about his defense when you signed him? I could understand if they wanted to move him temporarily away from 2B in last season’s second half so he could solve his offensive issues without also struggling with defense. But now they should send him to Worcester, hand him that 2B job and see if he can play his way into it. His disastrous defense at 2B for the Sox largely coincided with his surprisingly disastrous performance with the bat, so one shouldn’t reach a final conclusion about either, especially because they need a long term answer at 2B and have little use for Campbell as an OF.
Bl
“Yes but why would you want to trade him when his value is so low”
Because you think it’s going to go even lower. Would be one reason.
“you have so much sunk cost and you have options on him?”
You understand “sunk cost”, right? The money, time, whatever you’ve spent is spent. You can’t get it back.
“that it’s clearly better to hold on to him and see how he develops. Yes, the downside is that after a year he hasn’t progressed”
So, clearly better unless it’s worse.
“This is really a front office failure”
You win some and you lose some. 🤷♂️
Ah yes, I can still remember the goons buying high on this kid last April. Followed by a fantasy baseball collapse of epic proportions. By August, he was playing 1st at Pawtucket. It really is incredible how fast player perception and value changes.
Flipped him for Dylan Crews. Hope I got the better end of the deal there.
And change back. This kid is crazy gifted. Just a fluky bad year.
Seam – Nonsense… he was abused and totally mismanaged. He is too nice a kid to tell coaches and management “no”.
In reality FPG the problem was showing itself at the end of 2024. Kristian Campbell since he was drafted was a Jack of All trades defensively and if you don’t believe me look at how many different positions he played since he was drafted. I’m saying this because there is a common misconception among the Red Sox fanbase that he was ruined because they moved him around the field and different positions and that’s hogwash he’s always been a guy that moves all over the field. It wasn’t a problem when he was raking during the 2024 season he wasn’t particularly good defensively anywhere but it didn’t matter because he was absolutely raking. Everything looked great for this kid as he went from High A to AAA ball and on his way to being the minor league player of the year.
The problem was presenting itself if anyone watched it when he arrived at AAA. For the first week after he came up he hammered AAA pitching but something happened after that first week. The more savvy AAA pitchers realized he kind of dove out over the plate and they were able to take advantage of that and he struggled the last couple of weeks in the season. I distinctly remembered watching him, after he’d been buzzed up and in and struck out on three pitches, shaking his head going back to the dugout. In that last week before his season ended you could see the issue.
When we fast forward to 2025 it’s like no one paid attention to those couple of weeks at the end of the season. He actually struggled in spring training but was still was given second base. He simply wasn’t ready and the worst thing that could happen to him was the red hot start. Big league pitchers were pitching him away and that was his and is his strength because he kind of dives out and extends his arms. Well it didn’t take long for big league pitchers to figure that out and they started tying him up inside and he struggled. Soon he was also struggling on breaking stuff away as well because of being tied up inside. He was lost at the plate because the AAA red flag was ignored. He should have been at AAA to start last year but he was brought up and the guy who was ready and could have made a difference Roman Anthony was sent down.
My belief is KC will adjust and I think he will hit this year and if he hits they will find a place for him. I fully expect a different KC this year physically he lost a ton of weight last year he went through a lot mentally. I’m confident he learned from this experience and he will be a different player this season. The information was there but it seemed to of just been ignored last year during spring training. I’m willing to bet to we see a different player this year by mid season.
Bruin – Great post, I hope you’re right. The last report I saw out of Winter Ball was not good at all.
He had never played first base until he was demoted last year. They tried to teach him, they even said he would make his 1B debut in Atlanta, and then last minute they scratched that idea and he never did play 1B with the Red Sox even with the huge need after the Casas injury.
Sometimes you get a Devers. A guy that never really improved, and sometimes you get a Boggs, who dramatically improved after a few years defensively. The key is to let them play their position or give them another position to get their reps in but pick one.
This kid was dealing with three position changes in a single year while trying to figure out the league, pitching, etc.
I am not writing him off. Give him a position and let him either work his tail off to improve at it or prove he can’t cut it. Nearly anyone with his athletic ability could get manageably good enough if they have all their focus on improving at defense at their position. That may be in the minors, but they have to quit making the kid play out of position constantly on a day-to-day basis.
I think most baseball coaches would agree that a guy has a better chance to improve defensively if he gets to work defensively at one position. Reps matter. The way it comes off the bats, anticipating hops, etc.
Think of all the wasted reps at 2 or 3 different positions when you are dealing with a kid with already questionable fielding that needs those constant reps to try to play at an MLB level. A 1000 fly balls are 1000 less ground balls fielded. 1000 throws from third base are 1000 less throws or turns at second base at different distances, and so on.
If he had a great and accurate arm, and already possessed great hands, sure, you try to fit team needs with confidence he could slide right into those roles. BTW, we have had a team need at second……..for many years now. I cannot believe this kid is incapable, if handed second base, third, left, or first of not showing the kind of improvement needed to be adequate.
I would simply prefer for a top prospect to be focused on a job he is struggling with rather than split his time struggling in three places with 1/3 of the work being done to help him at each.
So Fever KC was sent to Winter Ball to work on his approach at the plate and a swing change that the hope is he will open up the inside of the plate. I can’t say how it looks in person because I wasn’t down there but he played in 14 games and slashed .245/.403/.367. The thing is in the last 7 games he slashed .308/.455/.500. Now these are small sample sizes but let’s see how he looks in spring training oh and by the way he’s spent most of the off-season in Fort Myers at the complex he’s a hard worker. You know what other rising star spent the entire last off season in Fort Myers and rocketed up, Connelly Early. It will be interesting to see what KC looks like at spring training. By the way you know who else is going to look different Connelly Early has put on at least 15 pounds is going to be sitting 95+ I’m betting and is going to look like a true tor starter. Just watch him this spring he’s going to be great.
Bruin – Thanks! There’s a lot to be excited about. I did hear that KC is looking jacked, but I hadn’t heard about Early.
KC is a great kid, I’m rooting hard for him.
Good stuff here. The connection there seems obvious and id love to know if the organization saw the same or completely missed it. Then if they did see it what was the reasoning for still giving him the job last season. He should have started at AAA with specific work to correct flaws before MLB. Almost every single MLB pitcher can exploit every weakness
Rice was another who learned his craft in the field. Campbell should start in Worcester and then you let things play out. I’m glad his agent suggested he lock in that deal. Now he just needs to play for the fun of playing and not worry about “living up to the contract”.
Bruin- Great analysis. Thanks for the information.
william – Part of Raffy’s lack of improvement was the injuries, he often played hurt …. but let’s not get into that.
You’re absolutely correct, the more you practice the better you get. It’s just common sense, how is KC gonna be a better outfielder if he’s playing infield?
KC’s complete failure trying to learn first base indicates he probably shouldn’t play 3B anymore. I wouldn’t give up on him as a 2B though.
I don’t think anyone with at least half a brain is writing him off now, but he needs good managing and coaching …. not sure he will be able to get that from the Red Sox. No matter how good he might become, he’s not a good fit for this team unless some injuries or trades happen. His development would have been helped with a non-contender that could stick with him for a full season in the majors at one position. Confidence is contagious, once he masters a position the hitting would likely follow.
william – I agree on 2B, he had 511 innings there in the minors and he definitely was at least adequate.
But really he should be playing CF, if he had the stones to admit it he’d say CF is his favorite position.
Campbell played 59 of 66 games at 2B last year for the Red Sox. He was not constantly moved all over the place.
I don’t see any evidence that a player playing multiple positions is a problem for development. Unless players start saying it is a problem, I don’t think we will know one way or the other.
He’s learning to play these positions in games, not practice. That’s challenging and could have an impact. It’s also about stability for some guys- routines build consistency. I don’t claim to know if being a multi-position player impacted KC’s performance. There are, however, players who flounder in that role and some who succeed. Very rarely do you see a utility-type excel, with the exception of players like Mookie Betts, who can play anywhere, on any day.
bing – He actually did play 19 games in AAA, but your point is still valid.
it’s not just the number of positions, he was forced to learn positions he never even played before.
Even when he was mired in his deep slump, they had him batting cleanup …. I mean seriously?
Bottom line, he was promoted to the majors and stayed there for a while only because he signed the team-friendly extension. And in the minors he never stayed at any level long enough for opponents to get a book on him.
I had him all the way for that first magical month and I was so close to trading him but no one in my league wanted him so Campbell then proceeded to crater
I made up for that loss by trading Jacob Wilson when he was batting .350
Why do the Red Sox seem to have such an issue with mis-allocating and bungling their position player mix in regards to finding the proper position/role for everyone?
Campbell’s value wouldn’t be so low if it wasn’t for the contract. His bat will play in the majors. Just nobody wants to pay $60 mill for an unproven commodity
Last season was puzzling – how could the Red Sox not know before the regular season that Campbell was a terrible fielding 2b?
And I mean really terrible, not just marginal…
I think part of it was mental spiraling caused by how bad he was cratering at the plate. If he was actually THAT bad at second there’s no way it would’ve taken until last spring for it to become so obvious. But I do think whether it’s second base or an outfield spot or whatever, for his sake pick one spot and stick to it. They jerked him around with all the position changes last year and I think that very obviously played a role in his struggles. They didn’t do anything to slow the game down for him and make it easy.
Dirty- Signing the contract and having to handle the pressure of living up to it certainly didn’t help. I think they were a little hasty with that and needed to let him get his feet wet for a good chunk of the year before giving him that size contract. He certainly didn’t seem like he was ready for the big show yet and if his defense was lacking in the minors putting him at second did not help his chances of finding success.
You make a good point, that didn’t really help and also put some pressure on the front office to need to see something out of their investment.
I do think it contributes to the moral of the story that we all need to be more patient sometimes.
He never was before last year. It was a strange year for him. Have to think something going on personally, or he just spiraled. He was never a great defender but words like “adequate,” “fine,” and “solid” described him all the way through the minors. You don’t play shortstop in the ACC with as bad a glove as he showed in 2025.
Maybe the Sox thought Campbell looked decent w/the glove in comparison to Vaughn Grissom.
He had no track record of being terrible..so impossible to kkow he hadn’t ever failed or played poorly
No mention of Campbell’s rib injury. Things seemed to go bad quickly last season after the rib injury.
The whole thing screams of an injury.
2025 mental spiral or injury; Campbell is not in the mix for 2026 2b. And the BoSox FO knows more about this topic than fans…
All- Did he spend time on the DL last year? I did not even remember the injury. Did it impact him in the minors when he was sent down? Certainly could have been a factor. If they injury was holding him back, seems like they should have managed the situation better to allow for him to recover.
Uncle: I don’t know how to look up how much time he missed, but I don’t think he went on the IL. Campbell may have tried to play through something he shouldn’t have as young players do sometimes. Not sure of all the details, but part of managing injuries falls on the player.
Scott Kingery vibes.
Unfortunately I agree. Hopefully this plays out a bit better.
Rob Refsnyder vibes.
Vaughn Grissom vibes.
Dustin Ackley Vibes
Further, remember when Jim Bowden compared Kingery to Barry Larkin? I can’t resist the opportunity to shine a light on Bowden’s idiocy.
He’ll be fine. Injury explains a lot of his struggles. His defense does suck though, so outfield is the likely spot. Injuries and or trades will eventually get him in the lineup. He may start in AAA though.
Red Sox currently have a big opening at 2B, they sure could use him there. But no, add to the already massive log jam in the OF.
His defense was horrible at 2b
So they should coach him up? They clearly saw something in him to put him there last year.
Joe – They saw a vacant 2B position and a player who just signed a very team-friendly contract.
If Mayer had signed an extension, he would have been the 2B …. he was fantastic at the position in ST.
They would have to completely redo his throwing to stick in the infield. His arm was a known issue when he was in the minors. So even if he was to stay at 2nd, he would need significant time in AAA.
As an outfielder he can rely on his athleticism to make up for his shortcomings.
More fake news from Fever. The contract had nothing to do with Campbell taking the 2B spot. The fact that he was coming off being named minor league player of the year and batted right handed in a lefty heavy lineup is why he got the call.
I wonder if Campbell shows promise in the outfield throughout the year, would the Red Sox be more interested after this season in exploring Duran or Abreu trades.
They should be interested now
Unless breslow wants to collect solid outfield options like the infinity stones
Theoretically no one would be squeezed off the roster if Rafaela and Campbell were infielders even though that’s worse defense (the lineup would be stacked though)
That’s just not a good option and they have said they see both as outfielders.
Rafaela was the best defensive outfielder in baseball last season, but as of right now, it makes the most sense for him to start at 2b or SS against RHPs, which opens spots for Duran in CF (where he is quite good defensively) and Yoshida at DH. Against LHPs he moves back to CF with Romy at 2b. Both are pretty good lineups offensively and defensively, but they would need more. They could go for Andujar (offense), IKF (defense) or Urias (balanced) any of whom could platoon with Mayer if necessary (Eaton could as well, but his 3rd base defense is bad and offense isn’t good enough to compensate).
Unfortunately Campbell doesn’t look like he’s moving back to the infield and if Rafaela is in the infield vs RHPs then there’s no place for him to play anyway. He could DH vs LHPs, but that’s not enough playing time for him to develop and Eaton can fill that role just fine.
Rafaela is significantly worse on the dirt
Rafaela is quite a good defender in the infield – he was projected to become a plus defensive shortstop before he was moved to CF (nearly) full time. He struggled in early 2024 after Story went down, as he hadn’t been playing much infield and still needed development time, but was solid by June and I’m sure would reach his plus-level projection if given a few more months.
It’s not ideal to move the best defensive OFer in baseball out of the outfield, but we aren’t dealing with ideal scenarios.
He needs to stay in the OF. He is also a worse hitter when he’s playing infield.
Rafaela is the best center fielder in baseball. He should only be playing in the infield on an emergency basis.
The issue clearly was that he was rushed to the majors. He doesn’t need to have a defined role on the major league roster going into the 2026 season. Take some pressure off the kid and let him progress naturally instead of making him feel like he has to deliver on all the hype on day one. Roster crunches tend to have a way of working themselves out on their own anyway. Let him just focus on his game and he’ll regain his confidence and we’ll see where the chips fall.
It could still be true that he was rushed, but bringing a top prospect up in his age 23 season is not an unusually aggressive move.
Depends on the person and player.
100% true. I guess my point is that he followed a pretty normal development timeline for a college draftee.
It’s easy to blame their FO in hindsight for rushing him but I don’t think their evaluators were smoking anything to think he was ready. That seemed to be the league consensus as well, hence why he was a top 5-10 prospect.
Guys just flop out of the gate sometimes…or flop period.
He played a season at GA Tech before being drafted. Then he hit the cover off the ball: 2023 and 2024 Minor League Player of the Year, and the coaches loved the kid, similiar character to a young Mookie Betts…so the Red Sox did rush him, but the scouts were always very divided on whether his unorthodox stance wouldwould be exposed by inside heat…once MLB went after this issue…..he cheated and flew open and was crushed by sliders and off speed away. So the old-school scouts were right… and the driveline bat-speed is king people were wrong… and now he is going back to some basics to get him more balanced, stronger, and better connected to his elite contact skills.
Yeah, people like to say players lack character etc but the reality is that teams have whole staffs of people trying to find the hole in players’ swings. Lots of young guys make it to the majors just to have their weakness exposed – then every team copies them.
The question is whether he can adjust to deal with whatever the issue is.
He was drafted in 23 and starting 2B by sprint training 25. That’s an aggressive promotion schedule for teams not in Anaheim or Denver. One of the benefits of minor league reps is learning to adjust to failure and the league. It looks like he didn’t have the experience necessary to adjust to those at the ML level.
Just in his draft class, college draftees Skenes, WIlson, Crews, Langford, Schanuel, Waldrep, and Lowder all debuted before him. Shaw debuted at the same time. That’s 8 of 9 of the first college picks. Some of them were lower-ranked prospects than Campbell.
Yes I know he was 4th round, but since he eclipsed a lot of the first-rounders in stature….most of the 1st round college draftees who haven’t debuted by now are either lower-tier prospects (Troy, Bradfield) or look more like roleplayers or busts than starters (Gonzalez, Wilken, Taylor).
In a vacuum, no you’re right it isn’t extremely aggressive to call up a 23 year old. But 2024 was his first full year of professional baseball and he rocketed up the system out of nowhere to go from 4th round pick to top 5 prospect in the game. He looked fantastic at every level, but they had to know that the lack of professional experience was bound to catch up with him, and it did.
I honestly do not know.
GB88
Best answer in this thread
Another good example of why, when someone offers you tens of millions of dollars to play a sport when you don’t even yet have a clear profile or track record, you should always as a player take that money.
Matt Harvey and Jared Kelenic and others are nodding their heads from their nice but not sensational homes…..
Did Matt turn down a big deal?
There was “discussion” and “interest” but no terms were ever made public. It appears he turned down a big deal but thats just a “rumor’…
So the Mets approached him with the idea post surgery and Boras told him to bet on himself.
Thats what it looked like!
“Did Matt turn down”..I read on the NY Post years ago that the Mets were willing to “back up a full Brinks truck” to sign Matt Harvey, but that Scott Borass told him to decline, because he was worth TWO full Brinks trucks.
As I remember, this was around the time Harvey took that weird “selfie” picture at 25,000 feet on a private plane. I remember it was one of the NY Post’s columnists that said this, but I can’t remember exactly which one.
The Red Sox simply have a logjam of position players between outfield, first base, and DH. And that’s without considering Campbell. As his defense showed last year, he is just not a viable answer at second base, so it becomes where does he fit in the outfield or first base. And unfortunately for him, he doesn’t fit anywhere right now. The Red Sox should start him in AAA, and give him more time to continue to develop his confidence again at the plate and learn the positions he’ll be able to play. There will always be injuries and poor performance; Campbell will have opportunities in the majors during the year to show what he can do.
A new sports car, girlfriend and $60M will surely make him feel better about being a minor league baseball player. Down in the minors Campbell will be the “big man on campus”.
Campbell is old school, he has pride, and he will compete.
I just don’t understand where he is going to fall .It breaks my heart, because he seems like he could be a star if he could find some consistency at the highest level.
I think the Red Sox are truly looking at the outfield as an open battle. If anyone really looks bad in spring training, it wouldn’t shock me to see the Sox take pennies on the dollar to make a deal happen.
Just because you were willing to pay top dollar doesn’t mean the value isn’t pennies. Red Sox seem to have unlimited payroll./s. Shouldn’t be a problem paying him to be a minor leaguer.
I wish this was the case. They got outbid for Bregman and are only paying Suarez 6 mil in 2026.
Sox have as much money as Henry will allow spent. They however run the entire Fenway Group as a whole and emphasize opportunity and margin when allocating between their MLB, soccer, hockey, LIV and other “divisions”.
Mets and Sox match up so well for a OF/IF trade
Mets are pretty set in the OF. They have one of the top OF prospects in the game, Carson Bunge, who’s just about ready now. He’ll play LF.
A better match would be the two Sox teams. The White Sox are lacking in organizational OF talent but have a wealth of middle infielders that figures to grow even more when they select SS Roch Cholowsky with the top pick in next July’s Rule 4 Draft. Chicago also has some catching depth on their MLB roster that could also pique the interest of the Red Sox for 2026 and beyond.
The two teams also have a recent history of doing deals including last winter’s blockbuster involving ace Garret Crochet.
They’ll never learn.
Start paying all of them with production contracts. And stop with the projection contract failures.
Young players would get what they deserve for early career success, and you would rid yourself of post big contract complacency.
But…getting what you earn scares them. So…the fans continue to pay more, just to pay off stupid contracts like his.
I mean the Sox probably signed him to the deal knowing that they could eat the cost if he turns into a bust. The most they will ever have to pay him in one season is $16.25M in 2032, which is not $16.25M in today’s dollars.
For a large market team, eating the equivalent of ~$13M in today’s dollars wouldn’t be fun but it won’t be an anchor. And I assume if there is somehow a salary cap by that point, there will be some degree of grandfathering with regard to existing contracts.
The problem with paying true value early is players and agents will still want more later and unless all owners collude, someone will always outbid a team that sticks to this format.
I agree, it’s a very team-friendly deal and Campbell still has a ton of upside that might be realized. Actually not a huge risk at all to sign him to that deal. Look at what Sox are paying Yoshida and Story. Way more than what peak Campbell will get, and peak Campbell will probably be a productive big-leaguer. He has the tools to do it
Owners would never agree to this because they want to keep players earning league min through arbitration. Just do away with arbitration and only allow 1 year contracts if you want a better production to pay ratio
Teams would never want that. If you look at pre arb extensions a couple of them failed but a lot of them worked out.
Losing 40 mil on a busted pre arb contract sucks for a team but having to pay a top rookie 35M per year would hurt teams more.
Teams take the chance of pulling an albies or acuna bargain even if it means an occasional kingery or singleton
Yeah you really had to wonder if this kid was pushed to far too fast. That last jump to the majors is a hell of a jump, and some make it easy and some don’t. It’s always about adjustments how you’re getting pitched.
The Mets trade pieces in the infield have less value than the Sox outfielders. Baty or Mauricio isn’t going to bring back Duran or Abreu.
Play him a Worcester, give him steady OF time. No pressure, if there’s an injury give him a call. He’s still young, there’s still time.
60 million? Way to go kid. Kind of a burn on the Red Sox brain trust.
He probably won’t repeat it, but for the record Romy Gonzalez was really good last year.
Maybe not .300 again, but his Statcast numbers were really good, which is sign that he wasn’t just benefiting from flukey hits.
Yes. Comfortable with Romy at 2B and Mayer at 3rd.
The Sox have a lot of major league/majors ready players and no where to play them all, and the still have a good farm. They need to ditch yoshida at the very least and trade Duran or Campbell for some prospects that aren’t gonna be ready for a a year or two.
With that 8 year contract, Campbell has no trade value.
That’s not exactly true. His trade value is less than before because of his struggles but it’s far from zero value. Campbell remains an asset with upside, and he’s controllable for a very long time. Teams value both of those things highly–team control and potential upside
Yeah both those teams are desperate for poor fielding players with long term deals who have poor exit velocity numbers.
Campbell’s exit velocity and related numbers seem fine. It’s the ground balls and inability to hit sinkers/cutters/splitters that’s the issue.
It’s pretty clear at this point that Marcelo Mayer will be the Red Sox opening day 3B assuming he stays healthy in camp. That said, Mayer might have been a candidate for 2B had they not whiffed on FA Alex Bregman.
Going forward, Mayer profiles best at the hot corner with his high ceiling bat, strong arm and below average speed.
Kristian Campbell ought to get one more shot at 2B even if that opportunity is at AAA. The Red Sox need to prioritize 2B for him in the short term and forget about adding to his defensive versatility. If he fails again at the keystone, they can then begin shifting him around the diamond and on the grass.
The Red Sox need to see what they have in Campbell going forward, especially with their extended financial commitment to him and team need at 2B. The only way Campbell will have any future value to the team or as a decent trade chip is for him to perform and start living up to his contract and the hype. In my mind, the best way to do this is by keeping him focused on one position and not throwing him into their already crowded pool of outfielders.
This makes the most sense to me . Just pretend 2025 never happened and play 2B in AAA or even Complex to get some confidence
Aaron – Absolutely nothing is guaranteed with 3B right now. Eugenio and Moore are still out there, and Paredes/Donovan/Hoerner are still available.
I think the Sox will acquire one of those guys.
That’s true to some extent. One thing that is more certain is that the Red Sox will not add an external option at both 3B and 2B. Whichever position might be filled ahead of opening day should also result in Marcelo Mayer playing the other.
The Red Sox are also seeking plus defense in their position upgrade. Eugenio Suárez will be 35 in July and his defensive acumen at 3B is non-existent. I’m not sure who the “Moore” is you’re referring to but if it’s Dylan he’s an older utility type player with a weak bat.
The Cubs have been positioning themselves as a championship contenders this winter. Nico Hoerner is arguably their most valuable player and won’t be dealt unless they’re blown away with an offer, one that might also need to include a legit SS in return as an insurance policy for Dansby Swanson. Matt Shaw has the versatility to cover 2B and 3B but not SS.
Brendan Donovan is clearly the most available player among the trade options you listed. Boston has done plenty of business with the Cardinals this offseason so I’m certain his name has already come up in previous discussions.
Isaac Paredes might make the most sense for the Red Sox at 3B. His pull heavy right-handed power bat also matches up well with the Green Monster.
Aaron – Yes of course, Mayer takes over whatever position is still remaining to br filled.
Unfortunately you are correct, Sox have been pursuing Moore. If he is the final addition it would be s big disappointment.
Donovan is okay, Paredes would require a haul – after all, he was traded for Tucker.
But they need RH power more than anything. Otherwise the team leader in HR might have only around 27.
Dude exploded onto the scene in April and was rewarded for it. Campbell has reportedly been eating some hearty soup this winter and added about 10-15 pounds of muscle. Kid’s got a ton of raw talent and very coachable attitude. I’m hopeful there’s a place for him on the 2026 Red Sox, perhaps as a super-utility type who gets into almost every game and has an at-bat or two. But he needs to work on his defense. A LOT. Hopefully that’s improved. Definitely has the tools
The short answer is yes. He is signed long term and to give up on his bat after a small sample would be stupid. He was too good up until mid-May last year. He won’t get at bats in the OF or at DH, so 2B is the most likely landing spot with platoon backups.
These players get scouted in the womb. Scouts go to Montessori schools to find the best block stackers. Kids in diapers go to showcase tournaments all over the universe, even on the moon!
How can teams not know about players’ abilities even with all this information?
I can see it next year…, “and in the role of best supporting teammate on a championship team” the nominees are….
They didn’t give him a 8 year commitment not to play him. He will probably start 2nd base. I don’t see Boston trading for another infielder
I feel like there’s an added amount of pressure you out on a kid when you form over a ton of money before they even start to contribute at the major league level. He was probably pressing a but in efforts to satisfy expectations. But you hand to give this kid more than 250 AB before you clarify him as a bust. Find a position that best suits him and leave him alone.
Campbell seems to have been the forgotten man.
Glad we’re seeing his name pop back up.
I think his defense can be improved. Might take some time but it’s doable. Since there doesn’t appear to be a place for him with the Red Sox they should trade him. I don’t believe it will be pennies on the dollar. I think any team would be willing to do a one for one deal on a top prospect for Campbell. The Rockies should be all over him. Cards too.
He has less value than a top prospect. Bust risk +financial risk with his GTD money. Top prospect just has bust risk.
I agree that they can move him but it’d be certainly for a prospect outside of the top 100
reminds me a little of jasson dominguez. crazy young, huge expectations, defensively challenged, playing for win-now teams that can’t afford to give them consistent reps. don’t think anyone knows what the ceiling (and floor) is for either of them
What about 3rd base?
I can make a future AS roster of rookies that struggled in 2025. Rushing, Campbell, Crews, Mayo, Moore, Basallo, Eldridge, Leiter, Burns, Taylor, Sasaki, Tong, Tolle, etc.
At least one comment referenced Refsnyder (as did the article “lefty masher’ Refsnyder”. Boston mocked him when he was a Yankee, but sometimes the prospect flame-outs turn out to be useful players. If it weren’t for the contract extension, he’d find plenty of takes willing to roll the dice.
What a fall from grace. One minute you are being talked about as a franchise building block and getting extension offers thrown at you and the next minute you are being told you cant even handle the easiest position on the diamond where the major league team has a need. The players union is going to have to make some concessions when it comes to contracts or at least the guarantees and how they are structured. The team has to have some recourse when a player vanishes immediately after getting paid.
No one forced either party to sign the deal. The team knew the risks of signing an unproven player to a big extension.
Like with Roman Anthony (who has a number of salary escalators in his contract that are correlated with production), they decided that the move was worth the risk. It may still pay off or they may take a bath. But any team knows the latter is a possibility.
Campbell is still young enough to bring value to the deal. These early extensions are a gamble. For every Ozzie Albies or Ronald Acuna Jr. there are more Evan White’s, Scott Kingery’s, and Jonathan Singleton’s
Id agree with you but then we would both be wrong
The team knew the risks of signing an unproven player to a big extension.
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I’m not even sure why this needs to be written. If every extension was successful, every player would be offered one, and every player would reject it. I’d say we are far ahead on Anthony, and Ceddanne, and probably ahead on Bello. But every contract, at this age, can look completely different a year from now.
it’s been one season. Way too early to give up on Campbell or call in a vanishing act.
It might be worth giving him reps at 3B in spring training. If he could handle it even passably then he has a path with Mayer playing 2B
I won’t lose it if we go into the season with Romy/DHam, but we really need a sure thing at either 2nd or 3rd, with Mayer at the other position. Let Campbell develop in AAA.
Campbell… way too early, but appears to be a DH who can’t hit enough to be a DH.
Got paid and checked out.
basing this on what exactly? a young playe struggling in his first chance in the majors?
That extension was very premature
So which of the Bosox rookie cards are worth keeping from Campbell, Anthony, Raffaela, etc
Carl Yastrzemski. And I had it. Dang.
I wonder about Campbell, it seems they drafted him early when he was at Georgia Tech. I know that one of his teammates who is a year older is in AA right now. Probably not the same level of talent but was pretty darn good in high school. I keep saying there’s a lot of guesswork in this game as to who can thrive at the top level. If it was easy everyone would get it right. The Top 100 is about selling advertising and getting clicks, it’s not really all that useful. But it’s not like scouting is easy. It’s kind of like picking which horse would win a race during a hurricane.
Where’s the poll?
Because he is under contract, he will be given every opportunity to win a job during ST. Let’s not forget, he’s still a kid.
There’s a possible opportunity as a platoon DH/OF vs LHPs available, but I doubt the Red Sox want to make him a part time player as he needs plate appearances and OF playing time. He’s almost certain to open the year in AAA.
But agree that he’ll be pushed sooner than later due to the contract.
Nothing about that extension makes sense. It’s so early that if he’s worth that level of commitment, it shouldn’t be a problem to go year to year and if he’s that much of a risk (even with upside) why give him that much guaranteed money over that much time?
The way I see it, a Quadruple-A prospect who may not amount to much was handed a winning lottery ticket for $25M cash after taxes and if he’s remotely effective, will double or quadruple it in his career, but for now, he can rest assured that he doesn’t need to do anything other than physically show up and he is set for life.
because the track record for players who were selected as rthe minor league player of the year is pretty strong in terms of being succesful MLB players and there’s zero indication he will sit on his hands and not try to improve
TrillionaireTeamOperator — I sometimes wonder if it had to do with justification for putting Bregman at 3B long term. Since Bregman could play 2B when Devers would’ve been healthy, Campbell signing an extension really boils up the excitement of the fanbase in anticipation. A little bit of three card monty.
Trade him to the Yankees for Kei Igawa
Igawa is just entering his prime.
There’s no mystery. Read the writing on the wall.
– Campbell played Puerto Rican Winter Ball, so he not going to be rushed back to the majors. (Red Sox will move slow, taking time to bulk him up)
– Campbell was mostly DH in Puerto Rico, but worked on outfield technique with coaches.
– Red Sox are actively trying to acquire a 2B or 3B. (the 2 positions Campbell would play if he were to play in the infield)
– Red Sox are willing to include an OFer in trades. (creating a holes in the OF)
– Red Sox already traded two high level OF prospects away. The Password and James Tibbs.
– Red Sox will start the season with Mikey Romero and Franklin Arias in the minors ready to take infield positions when the time comes for help from the minors.
– Breslow says he likes Campbell as an OFer, but he wont rule out moving him around. (December interview)
——
Campbell will play the start of the season in Worcester mostly as an Outfielder, and probably moving around to other positions occasionally. When the Red Sox need an outfielder from the minors, Campbell will be called up, whether due to injuries or trades. But, it wont be too early in the season.
Funny how throwing 60 million in guaranteed money takes the incentive out of playing to the level he showed. The decline started almost IMMEDIATELY. Early May.
or maybe MLB pitchers started making adjustments to said player and he began to struggle as a result. What is funny is that your statement is significantly less plausible than mine.
Funny how people ignore babip when evaluating batting lines. Went from .397 (Mar/Apr) to .185 (May).
Whats the difference between money ‘thrown’ at Campbell, and the money thrown at Bello, Crochet, Anthony? The other 3 seem to be suceeding.
More likely players reach the majors and some guys have trouble adapting at first.
Contreras is signed for 2-3 more years. They’ll both be out of options by then.
People easily forget that Jarren Duran started out as a second baseman. At Long Beach State he played 169 games at 2B, spanning 3 seasons. Then in his first year im the minors he played 20 games at 2B, and reportedly had good range and instincts at the keystone but was so athletic that the org thought outfield was better development path. Seeing how the Sox have too many outfielders, and no one at 2B, why not play Duran at 2b?
For the same reason they won’t put KC there
“and reportedly had good range and instincts at the keystone but was so athletic that the org thought outfield was better development path.”
Do you have any proof of that report?
Because, I believe it was the opposite. A good hitting 2B is much more valuable than an OFer. So, why would they move him if he was a good fit at 2B. My assumption is he looked bad at 2B and immediately moved him to OF because he wasnt good enough defensively.
Given that it’s been mentioned in almost every Red Sox related thread, it’s hard to imagine it has been forgotten.
But it’s been 8 years and he never played the position above rookie-level. Given how long it took him to figure out how to play the OF, it’s hard to imagine he would be anything but horrible if thrown into playing 2nd base.
Also, the Red Sox have another CFer who is a good defender on the infield already, so it wouldn’t make sense to rely on Duran. I’m happy to see everything get looked at in spring training though, even if it’s just spectacle.
No, it’s quite the opposite. Teams want to do everything they can to maximize the 6-6.99 years of MLB control they have on the player. So the incentive is usually to hoard prospects in AAA unless they’re older. MLB minimum is nearly the same, whether a veteran or a young player.
Dragging a player out in minors is the way to save money and maximize return.
Just grabbing at straws at this point. All the Who’s On Second speculation will become moot the moment we add one of Hoerner or Donovan