Three Reasons Red Sox Should Be Thankful This Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday for reflection, gratitude and the appreciation of the world around us. The Boston Red Sox may not be thankful for their recent past, but they should be thankful for what lies ahead in the future as early in 2025.

The young core is established in Boston. The sport’s best farm system is about to start its MLB impact and the Red Sox appear motivated to shake up baseball this winter with major moves on the open market.

Sure, three years of postseason absence can make it hard to find gratitude around the franchise. With a rejuvenated look to the future, the Red Sox should have smiles around the dinner table this Thanksgiving.

Here are three primary reasons the Red Sox should be thankful this Thanksgiving.

THE KIDS ARE HERE
This piece last year talked about the emergence of young pieces such as Brayan Bello, Triston Casas and Jarren Duran to establish the next Red Sox core. Duran took that and ran with it as an MVP candidate and the All-Star Game MVP in 2024.

This year is all about the next wave and the one that will energize fans for the next decade if all goes well.

The Red Sox have six prospects within MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 in Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery and Franklin Arias. Anthony and Campbell excelled in their eventual rise to Triple-A at the end of last season. They hit their way into the national spotlight and should have legitimate chances to make the Opening Day roster for the Red Sox.

Mayer and Teel won’t be far behind if their health and development stay on schedule in Triple-A for the first few months of the season.

This is the core the Red Sox bet their future on. This is the core that will be the reasons Boston gets aggressive for big-name pieces to finish out what the Red Sox hope becomes a championship-contending roster for years to come. That vision starts in 2025.

PITCHING IS ON THE RISE
Disclaimer!

The Red Sox still need an ace this offseason. No doubt about it. Sign one. Trade for one. Just get it done.

The good news is that Boston’s rotation as the middle of the rotation solidified largely in part to a huge step forward from first-time All-Star Tanner Houck along with progress from young arms in Bello and Kutter Crawford.

Lucas Giolito returns from a spring training injury with the chance to revive his career and dig for shades of the stuff that made him a Cy Young candidate at the start of the decade. The staff as a whole faded in the second half last season, but pitching coach Andrew Bailey’s impact is real.

The 2025 season should be a great reminder of that.

SPLASH LANDING
The Red Sox appear to be right where they want to be with the opening of a competitive window on the horizon.

They did their job to restore the farm system to an elite status. They developed young players to set the tone at the big-league level. They retained their franchise player in Rafael Devers.

Now, it’s time to go.

Is that massive move that resets the franchise signing Juan Soto? Is it signing not just one, but two frontline starting pitchers in free agency? Or is it making a consequential trade to take a big swing for top talent?

The Winter Meetings are right around the corner in December. That seems like a great spot for the Red Sox to announce their return to relevancy.