Thinking about this more, but this offensive core is super fascinating to me. We more or less have a compete lineup from day one. Yes, it lacks some ceiling and impact, but that’s totally fine for a team entering year three of a rebuild with no long-term payroll commitments and hopefully a new owner influencing our free agent principles in the near future.
When I look at the group, I feel really good about the infield and catcher. We have two guys that I feel can be major league SS’s in Colson & Meidroth. The former has the higher ceiling with elite bad speed that suggests he can be a true impact player one day if he can improve his swing decisions. Meidroth is a divisive player, one lacking loud physical tools but possessing incredible skill and intangibles. I can’t stress enough how unique it is to have a player with both elite bat to ball and plate discipline abilities. People seem to think I’m just some fanboy when it comes to Chase, but go look at Statcast data around the league and find a lot of guys like him. He’s a unicorn and one I think still has considerable room for growth even if power will never be a huge part of his game.
Beyond those two, we have a plethora of infield options that can be part of next year’s group. Sosa is quickly becoming an interesting player. He’s flashing a plus hit tool and a swing that’s geared to maximize what is above average raw power for a 2B. The plate discipline is still a major red flag and I do worry his game could unravel at some point without some improvements there, but @Jake has called out that his chase rate has gotten better as the season has progressed. As much as we rip his defense, he seems like he can be average-ish at 2B. He looks like a legit 2 win player at the moment with the ceiling for more if he could actually draw some walks.
On top of Sosa, you have two 2B/3B types in Mead & Antonacci who look like they could be big league regulars. I candidly don’t know a ton about the Mead, but his past prospect pedigree (former 55 FV type) is exciting and so is his Statcast profile this year which has flashed plus power, hit, and plate discipline abilities. His game hasn’t come together yet, but he hasn’t had an extended runway yet to make you feel that it can’t. He’s a guy the Sox must find a way to get at-bats to down the strength, even if those come at 1B, DH, etc. As for Antonacci, but I just saw a stat that said he’s the only minor league this year with an over 160 wRC+ and under a 15% K rate. There is likely some BABIP good luck mixed in there, but it’s clear as day he’s got a double plus or better hit tool with excellent plate discipline. As @Timmy U has pointed out, there are some similarities to Meidroth here, but Sam comes with a bigger frame and more physical projection along with being a LH hitter. He could be in the 3B/2B mix as soon as Opening Day next year IMO.
Needless to say, there are almost too many options for these three spots, which is a good problem to have. I personally believe keeping Chase as the primary SS and Colson as the primary 3B is the way to go for the timing being (Colson should shift over to SS whenever Chase is on the bench). I believe Colson has the skills to be an elite defensive 3B with time. Chase will never be a stud defensive SS due to his lacking arm, but otherwise I think he has looked the part there and has exceeded my expectations. Most importantly, this alignment allows for 2B to be manned by Sosa, Mead, or Antonacci, which I think is the ideal position for all three of them.
I’ll post more on the other positions later today, but I did want to highlight one other point when it comes to the infield. I love our strategy to add high ceiling prep infielders in the past two years in Bonemer & Carlson. Most of the guys mentioned above outside of Colson have capped ceilings but look like they can be average to slightly above average Major leaguers. At some point will we need to add some star power and impact, and it’s this wave of kids along with possibly our 2026 1st rounder (if they go the SS route) that could provide it down the road once our theoretical financial flexibility begins running dry as kids enter arbitration. It’s good long range planing and I think Getz deserves some kudos for his org building in this area.
Oh s%*#, Meidroth is back??
