Sox international prospects putting on a show this spring

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- There’s a real international flavor to the Red Sox farm system these days.

They lead baseball with 15 members of their Top 30 list coming via the international market. It starts with No. 2 prospect Franklin Arias and continues with signings large and small from the last several signing periods, and are now populating affiliates at a variety of levels. The efforts of the international scouting staff are not lost on farm director Brian Abraham.

“The work they put in day in, day out, in the Dominican Republic and some of the other international countries is amazing,” Abraham said. “I think one of the things we’ve really done a good job of is collaborating between international and player development and making sure we are acquiring and trying to sign the right players we feel we can develop and optimize their highest potential.”

Having a consistent philosophy from that first step in development in the Dominican Summer League to when they come to the United States has helped several players take big steps forward production-wise almost immediately. Arias, signed in 2023, has reached Double-A and is now No. 31 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list.

And then there’s a guy like Justin Gonzales, the 6-foot-4 outfielder, who signed for $250,000 in January 2024. He dominated the DSL after signing, then jumped to full-season ball at age 18 and won the Single-A Carolina League batting title in ‘25. He routinely hits the ball as hard as anyone in the system, but he hasn’t used his bat speed and strength to get to much power yet. That’s been a point of emphasis this spring after he posted a 57-percent ground-ball rate last year.

“He’s been working on his attack angle, hitting the ball in the air a little more,” Abraham said. “When you hit the ball 110-plus mph, when you make solid contact consistently, if you get the ball in the air, that’s a pretty good thing.

“You want to see immediate results with that, but it’s not just something where you drop your shoulder and try to hit the ball in the air. That’s not how we train. It’s more complex than that. It’s putting him in situations in the cage and forcing him to do certain drills to allow him to maintain that and have it be a natural swing, vs. trying to lift it intentionally.”

Gonzales’ signing classmate Enddy Azocar ($40,000), who had a very strong showing in the Florida Complex League in 2025, isn’t far behind Gonzales. With excellent batted-ball data, he could be poised for a breakout in ‘26 at age 19, especially if he can tighten up his swing decisions and not chase as much.

There’s another wave coming right behind that group. The 2025 signing class has the chance to be equally special, led by shortstop Dorian Soto, who received the organization’s top bonus ($1.4 million) in the period. He’s a switch-hitter with the ability to hit, and with power, to all fields, plus the skillset to stay up the middle defensively. He’s the top position player, while Sadbiel Delzine is the best pitcher in a group in the U.S. now for Spring Training for the first time.

“We've been pretty lucky, at least since I've been here, to always have talent come in, year in, year out,” Abraham said. “I think this year, particularly with some of our position player group, some of the excitement that we have in terms of just skill, in terms of the physicality, is, I think, surpassing what we've had over the past couple years. And I think probably when you look at our FCL roster, what it potentially could be, it's like, ‘Wow, there are some studs up and down the lineup and even in the rotation.’”

Camp standout: Juan Valera

Sticking with the international theme, Valera is a right-hander who signed for just $45,000 out of the Dominican Republic in April 2023. He missed a bunch of ‘25 with right elbow soreness, but did strike out 10.9 per nine while walking just 2.4/9 over the 38 innings he managed to throw for High-A Greenville. Valera doesn’t turn 20 until May, so there’s no need to rush him and even though he’s throwing well enough this spring to push for a spot in Double-A, it might be more likely to see him start the ‘26 season back in the Greenville rotation.

“He consistently sits 98-100 mph and pounds the strike zone, which is unique for such a young power arm,” Abraham said. “He has a slider and changeup that are swing-and-miss-type pitches that he can throw in the zone and for chase. In terms of the maturity as a pitcher, the pitchability and then the pure physical stuff, it’s hard to find those types of arms.”

This spring, Valera has touched 101 mph on the back fields and he has shown he can hold his velocity. His stuff was present under the lights as he touched triple-digits and tossed two scoreless Spring Breakout innings against the Orioles.

“He misses barrels, limits hard contact and he gets swings and misses, so all of the recipe for success he has,” Abraham said. “Coming back this offseason, being fully healthy, coming in stronger, being in a better spot, I think that’s why it’s been such a good piece for us.”

Breakout candidate: Anthony Eyanson

Valera wasn’t the only one lighting up the radar gun in a Spring Breakout outing. Eyanson was the Red Sox’s third-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, the third of three college arms from the SEC taken in the top three rounds. The fact that he also was hitting 100 mph against the Orioles wouldn’t be such a big deal until you realize this is a much more recent development as he’s worked to add velocity. Combine that with his outstanding secondary stuff and ability to throw strikes and he could be much better than initially advertised.

“The velo jump is hard to ignore,” Abraham said. “He was mostly 93-95 in college, I know he touched 97, but he’s been sitting 96-98 this spring with secondaries that are advanced for where he is. He just has a really good feel for the baseball, feel to spin the ball, and can challenge the strike zone.”

Something to prove: Nazzan Zanetello

In 2023, Zanetello was taken in the second round of the Draft out of the Missouri high school ranks and the Red Sox went way over slot ($1.7 million) to sign the toolsy infielder away from his commitment to Arkansas for $3 million. A hamstring injury hampered him for much of his first full season, as did adjusting to pro pitching, and he didn’t find much more in the way of production in 2025.

Zanetello heads into the 2026 season with a career .164/.296/.274 line to go along with a strikeout rate close to 40%.

“He still has a ton of athleticism, but the bat-to-ball has really been poor,” Abraham said. “He hits the ball hard when he does, he’s just not doing it enough. We’ve seen some glimpses this spring of hopefully him turning the corner.

“The work and the consistency of the kid are all there, which is hard to measure, but those are valuable for us in terms of development. You want a kid who’s going to push himself and challenge himself and be able to handle failure. Hopefully the results will eventually come.”