Red Sox Phenom Skyrockets 30 Spots in Keith Law's 2026 Rankings

The Boston Red Sox have depleted their farm system a bit, and yet the organization still has the No. 12 overall prospect in the game, per The Athletic's Keith Law.

Infielder Franklin Arias is now the club's No. 1 prospect. He took the top spot as guys like Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell graduated from prospect status, but he's no slouch. Law released his list of the top 100 prospects in baseball on Monday and Arias shot up 30 spots from No. 42 in 2025 all the way up to No. 12.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

"Arias is an extremely advanced hitter already, playing all of 2025 at age 19, so much so that the Red Sox challenged him by moving him up from Low-A after just 19 games there in April (and only 54 games there in total)," Law wrote. "He responded with one of the highest contact rates of any hitter in High-A, regardless of age, striking out just 8.9 percent of the time, second among qualifiers behind a 24-year-old org player, while flashing some of his power potential and playing strong defense at short. He rarely swings and misses, with an overall whiff rate of just 12 percent on the year, and just 4 percent on pitches in the zone.

The Red Sox have a very bright future

Apr 29, 2021; Arlington, Texas, USA; A view of the Boston Red Sox logo and a field bag during batting practice before the game between the Texas Rangers and the Boston Red Sox at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

"He might benefit by swinging a little bit less often — at least until he gets stronger and can do more with the contact he is making, as right now he’s getting the bat to the ball but doesn’t square it up consistently enough, with a weird spike in his pop-up rate in High-A last year. He’s barely begun to fill out physically, with room to add probably a full grade of power as he matures, but he’s such a smart hitter that he’s moved up the chain faster than most prospects his age.

"He’s a natural shortstop with excellent instincts and is at least a 55 defender there already, probably plus or better in the end. He’s less of a finished product than the other players around him in this range of the list, but if he were a college sophomore right now, we’d be talking about him as a potential 1-1 pick in 2027."

That's some massive praise from one of the most respected people in baseball when it comes to prospects. In 2025, Arias played in 116 games overall and made it all the way up to the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Overall, he slashed .278/.335/.388 with eight homers, 66 RBIs, 12 stolen bases, 27 doubles, and 62 runs scored. Arias struck out just 53 times in 526 total plate appearances. That's pretty insane. He turned just 20 years old in November.

Numbers are great. Home runs and RBIs and everything of that nature. But when it comes to prospects, it's better to listen to the experts than just look at the box score. Law is that. He's an expert when it comes to prospects. The fact that he views Arias this highly should have the fanbase fired up. In comparison, Law had Anthony at No. 1 in his rankings last year followed by Campbell at No. 9, and Mayer at No. 28.

Boston has a bright future, to say the least.

More MLB: Red Sox Should Bring Lefty Back From Nathan Eovaldi-Rays Trade