Red Sox Notes: No. 3 Overall Prospect, Roman Anthony Hope, Boston Looking to Deal

It's been a season full of bumps and bruises for the Boston Red Sox, but there have been some positive developments over the last few days for the organization.

First and foremost, Boston had one of its most promising games of the season on Wednesday. The Red Sox sent Connelly Early to the mound to face off against the Atlanta Braves and he pitched seven shutout innings against the best team in the league and lowered his season ERA down to 2.95. On top of this, Jarren Duran collected four base hits, including a homer. In a season full of negatives, Wednesday was a massive — and much-needed — positive.

It's been an intriguing few days in general for the team. Let's take a look at some of the biggest — and most positive — stories around Boston.

Franklin Arias' Meteoric Rise

Boston Red Sox prospect Franklin Arias — Greenville Drive infielder Franklin Arias (19) fields a ground ball Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025 during the MiLB baseball game against the Hub City Spartanburgers at Fifth Third Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina. | Alex Martin/Greenville News / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Franklin Arias is Boston's No. 1 prospect and is making his case for the club to promote him at least to Triple-A, and maybe even higher. Arias has played in 37 games with Double-A Portland and is slashing .341/.415/.652 with a 1.067 OPS, 11 homers, 30 RBIs, four stolen bases, eight doubles and 28 runs scored. He has been so good that he has already jumped from No. 12 to No. 3 on The Athletic's top 50 prospect list.

"Preseason Rank: 12," Law wrote. "Arias has already set a new career high in homers, with 11 in 36 games so far in Double A, but more impressive is how difficult it has been to strike him out: he has just 19 strikeouts on the season, a 12.3 percent rate, with a whiff rate on pitches in the zone of just 13 percent this year. Arias is very likely to stick at shortstop with excellent hands and a plus arm, with 25+ homer upside."

A long-term middle infield with Arias and Marcelo Mayer would be a dream scenario.

Roman Anthony Progress

May 1, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Roman Anthony (19( runs for second base after hitting a double against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

Roman Anthony hasn't played in a game since May 4, but he has made significant progress over the last few days with his sprained ligament in his hand. Anthony took 12-to-15 dry swings on Tuesday and followed with more dry swings on Wednesday. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reported that the expectation is that Anthony will begin hitting off a tee on Thursday.

Boston Looking To Deal

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke to Cotillo on Wednesday and confirmed that the club currently isn't looking to sell off pieces and is having conversations with teams looking to add offensive talent to the organization.

"We need to score more runs,” Breslow said to Cotillo. “One way to do that is to get guys that are here to play up to what we think they can be. Another is to obviously look at guys outside the organization. ... We’ve been aggressive in terms of outreach and trying to identify players that we think can help us. Obviously, we’ve talked about the fact that the league is very compressed and there’s a bunch of teams — despite poor performance — who are still in it."

Now, the club just has to get a deal over the finish line.

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