We heard rumors about this a few weeks ago but now it’s official: the Red Sox will send Kristian Campbell to the Caribbean for a little bit of winter ball this offseason. No word yet on where he’ll play, though the safe bet is that he’ll be in Puerto Rico with the Caguas Criollos, a team managed by Sox bench coach Ramon Vazquez. The big thing to watch down there won’t be how he hits, but what position he plays. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
I suspect that we won’t see much of Kristian Campbell in the infield, either this winter or next season. But there is a new infield face we may see. The Sox just signed 29-year-old infielder Vinny Capra to a minor league deal that comes with a spring training invite. Capra has played 67 total games in his career, slashing .133/.181/.188, which is… not good. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
Don’t worry: Vinny Capra was not signed to replace Alex Bregman. But how is the Bregman market shaping up? This MLB insider says the market is really centered around two teams, the Red Sox and Tigers:
Of course, Scott Boras is going to try to squeeze out a few extra dollars based on the “Alex Bregman is an extra coach” narrative. And in that regard, this report about him helping Connelly Early with potential pitch tipping will help. (Colin Keane, NESN)
And speaking of Connelly Early, we’ve got prospect news this weekend. Baseball America released their updated list of the top 10 Red Sox prospects and Payton Tolle took the top spot. Rounding out the top three are Franklin Arias and Early. This piece also hands out superlatives for best tools in the Red Sox system, with Tolle winning for best fastball and Early winning for best changeup. (Baseball America)
