After trading away a boatload of prospects at the Trade Deadline, the Boston Red Sox still have some roster decisions to make.
While the Rule 5 Draft in December is highly unlikely to happen as scheduled due to the impending lockout, and may not happen at all when the new CBA is agreed to, the Red Sox may have to make some hard choices about which prospects to protect.
According to MassLive’s Christopher Smith, those on the bubble include some top-30 organizational prospects: Mikey Romero, Blake Wehunt, Brooks Brannon, Hayden Mullins, Johanfran Garcia, Braiden Ward, Angel Bastardo and Yordanny Monegro.
Teams have until Nov. 17 to add eligible players to the 40-man roster.
Who Should the Boston Red Sox Keep?
Of this long list of prospects, Smith made the case for keeping Wehunt, who has been described as a “massive human”.
Built more like a small forward or tight end than your average MLB pitcher, Wehunt is 6-foot-7, 250 pounds. The Red Sox selected Wehunt in the ninth round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of Kennesaw State. Wehunt is currently Boston’s No. 16 prospect, per MLB Pipeline.
Turning 26 just a couple of days ago, he had a breakout season in 2026. After a 5.68 ERA in 2025, Wehunt posted a 3.50 ERA over 23 starts.
Wehunt has reached 98 mph with his fastball and has a deep pitch mix, including a sinker he added in 2026.
“With Blake, just a massive human is a good place to start,” Breslow said. “And still some projection left and velo that’s been climbing year over year. Not quite as dominant at Triple-A as he was in Double-A, but I think that’s pretty natural.”
Wehunt projects as a back-end of the rotation starter or middle reliever.
Who Else are Interesting Candidates?
Of the other candidates, infielder Romero and right-hander Bastardo piqued Smith’s interest.
Romero is a former first-round pick in the 2022 Draft. Injuries caused him to never get off on the right foot before 2025. During that season, he slashed .245/.300/.452 with 17 home runs and 76 runs driven in.
However, Romero took a step back in Triple-A during the 2026 season. In 113 games, he slashed .239/.305/.375 with 12 home runs and 61 runs driven in. While he is a former first-round pick with loads of talent, he may be on the outside looking in if the Red Sox have a choice to protect him.
While Bastardo is unranked on MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and other sites hold him in high esteem. The talented right-hander should stay on the team due to a lack of young, MLB-ready pitching depth in the organization. Boston re-signed Bastardo on a minor league contract a couple of weeks ago.
The Red Sox have a huge roster crunch this offseason, but thanks to the Adley Rutschman trade, some prospects may extend their stay just a bit longer.
Several Red Sox Prospects on Roster Bubble Including ‘Massive Human’