Roman Anthony burst onto the scene with a great rookie season in 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)AP
David Ortiz knows better than anyone what it’s like to star for the Red Sox, having won three World Series championships and making 10 All-Star teams in his 14 years with the club. Nearly a decade after he last played, the Hall of Famer has been more than impressed with Boston’s newest star.
In Roman Anthony, Ortiz said Friday from his charity golf tournament in South Florida, the Red Sox have a ready-made star. Ortiz is ready to anoint Anthony — who finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year race and has already signed an eight-year, $130 million contract — as a “face of the franchise.”
“When you have a guy that talented, that young and that mature, that’s the full package,” Ortiz said. “You know you have a face of the franchise. A guy like him, you know your money is worth it. That’s why we gave him that big deal out of the gate, right away, because he’s worth that much.”
Anthony, who entered 2025 as baseball’s consensus top prospect, debuted on June 9 and sparked the Red Sox in the middle of the season, hitting .292 with eight homers, 18 doubles, 32 RBIs and an .859 OPS in 71 games (303 plate appearances) before suffering a season-ending oblique strain on September 2. Anthony, who turned 21 less than a month before his major league debut, emerged as a star and clubhouse leader instantly and helped propel the Red Sox to their first postseason berth since 2021.
Anthony is scheduled to be in West Palm Beach this weekend for the 17th annual “Weekend with Papi” Celebrity Golf Classic at PGA National. Anthony will join current teammates as well as former Red Sox and other athletes to help Ortiz’s efforts in “raising funds for this international cause which provides lifesaving heart surgeries and care for children in Ortiz’s native Dominican Republic and throughout New England.” The goal is to raise $1.9 million at the event.
Ortiz has met Anthony already and is looking forward to re-connecting this weekend.
“I got to meet him, with his parents this year,” Ortiz said. “What a beautiful family. He has a brother he just looks like. His mom and dad are a proud mom and dad right now. I would be too. His mentality and his focus, it’s not from a 21-year-old guy. Trust me.”
Nathaniel Lowe is expected to be cut loose by the Red Sox this week. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)AP
The Red Sox have some roster cleanup due this week, with Tuesday marking the date by which teams need to add eligible prospects to their 40-man rosters to protect them from the Rule 5 draft and Friday representing the annual non-tender deadline for arbitration-eligible players. Don’t expect Boston to clear a roster spot by cutting bait with a homegrown former All-Star starter, though.
At this point, Boston is unlikely to non-tender injured righty Tanner Houck, multiple sources said Monday. With a 40-man roster crunch coming, there was some thought that cutting bait with Houck was possible due to his current situation. Houck, who took home $3.95 million in 2025, is projected (by MLBTradeRumors’ widely used model) to take home the same salary in 2026, but is expected to miss most if not all of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in August. Considering the 2027 season is in jeopardy due to labor tensions and Houck is set to hit free agency after that year, the possibility existed that the Red Sox could non-tender (release) Houck into free agency to save a bit of money knowing he won’t be ready to pitch for most of 2026. But sources indicate the Red Sox plan to tender him a contract.
It’s unclear if the sides have talked about a creative long-term deal. Tendering Houck a contract would keep him under club control ahead of negotiations to avoid arbitration and set a 2026 salary later in the winter.
By Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET, teams must add eligible prospects to their 40-man rosters to protect them from being poached in next month’s Rule 5 draft. The Red Sox, who have a full 40-man roster, don’t have a long list of candidates but are expected to make at least a move or two. Right-handed prospect David Sandlin is a virtual lock to be added, requiring at least one 40-man roster spot to be cleared. Lefties Shane Drohan and Hayden Mullins, righties Yordanny Monegro (injured) and Jedixson Paez and outfielder Miguel Bleis are among the other potential Rule 5 candidates in the organization. If the Red Sox want to make sure any of those players aren’t taken in the Rule 5 draft, they can add them. Doing so would require spots to be cleared.
Any roster spots that need to be cleared for prospect additions need to be opened simultaneously Tuesday, which is a day when small trades are usually made throughout baseball. Therefore, the Red Sox could get a jump on the Friday non-tender deadline (set for 8 p.m. ET) by moving on from players four days early. The non-tender date represents an opportunity for teams to cut bait with arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration-eligible players and send them into free agency. The Red Sox, unlike in previous years, could be busy on non-tender day.
The most obvious non-tender candidate on the roster is first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who is projected to earn $13.5 million in 2026. That mark represents much more than what he’d get on the open market after a down season that included him being cut by the Nationals. Lowe will almost certainly be lopped off the roster but could re-sign at a lower rate as he tests the open market. Boston is anticipating the healthy return of Triston Casas next season and is looking to upgrade the first base position via free agency or trade.
The Red Sox have seven other arbitration-eligible players and are certain to retain Kutter Crawford, Romy Gonzalez, Triston Casas and Brennan Bernardino at their low projected numbers. Connor Wong, who is projected to make $1.6 million in 2026, is expected to be tendered after Craig Breslow gave him a vote of confidence last week. Cooper Criswell already agreed to a one-year, $800,000 deal for 2026, removing him from non-tender consideration.
In addition to Lowe, the Red Sox could cut bait with some younger players on the roster. Righty Josh Winckowski (projected to make $800,000) is a candidate to be cut from the roster, as is lefty Jovani Morán. Tough roster decisions might be made with the utility group of Vaughn Grissom, David Hamilton, Nate Eaton and Nick Sogard later in the winter but for now, those players are projected to be safe.