The new year of 2026 is underway and the Boston Red Sox continue to frustrate their fans with their failure to sign a single major-league free agent, even as the start of spring training is now just six weeks away.
The Red Sox did, however, sign five minor league free agents in October, a sixth in November â and now Boston has rung in the new year with a seventh minor league free agent signing.
This time, the player is a six-year minor league veteran who has never seen time at the big league level â but according to a report in September, was experiencing a resurgence in his performance that gave him âa real chanceâ to finally make his MLB debut.
The newest member of the Red Sox organization, 27-year-old outfielder Matt Fraizer, elected free agency Nov. 6 after his sixth season in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization without a call-up.
The signing was reported by Chase Ford of MiLB Central and confirmed by Fraizer himself via Instagram.
Frazier Was Once Highly Valued by Pittsburgh
The Pirates made Fraizer their third-round draft pick out of the University of Arizona in 2019, signing him with a bonus of $525,000. That sum was well below the $610,800 value assigned to his draft slot, No. 95 overall, that year.
But the discounted rate was most likely due to Fraizerâs history of injuries at the collegiate level. A hand injury ended his junior season after just 19 games. But in those 19 games, the left-handed swinger âhit .412 with a home run and 28 RBI and just six strikeouts in 85 at-bats,â according to an SB Nation report.
For his college career, Fraizer carried a .300 batting average, hitting three home runs and driving in 60.
By 2022, Fraizer had risen to the No. 10 prospect in the Pirates system, according to MLB Pipeline. That ranking, the highest of his career, came after a career-best season in 2021, spent mostly at the High-A level with the Greensboro Grasshoppers, with a later promotion to the Double-A Altoona Curve. That season led him to be named the Piratesâ 2021 Minor League Player of the Year.
Frazier Belted 23 Home Runs in 2021 Season
That season represented a high point for Fraizer, in which he seemed on a fast track to crack Pittsburghâs major league roster. Highlighted by 23 home runs â almost half of his career 48 total â the Clovis, California, native posted a .939 OPS, leading all minor leaguers with at least 350 plate appearances. He also led the minors in batting average (.306), on-base percentage (.388), slugging percentage (.552), hits (133), total bases (240) and runs scored (84).
His home run total ranked second in the minor leagues.
But spending all of 2022 at Double-A, Fraizer struggled, finishing with a .616 OPS and just six homers.
Where Does Frazier Fit With the Red Sox?
This past season, however, Fraizer seemed to find himself at the plate with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, lifting his OPS back up to a respectable .813, despite a lack of power with only four home runs. But what likely attracted the Red Sox was his resurgent ability to make contact and avoid strikeouts. With 60 base hits in 220 plate appearances, Fraizer fanned just 44 times, a rate of one strikeout per five trips to the plate.
The average MLB hitter in 2025 struck out once for every 4.5 plate appearances.
âFraizer appears ready for the big leagues,â wrote Tyler Maher of NESN.com on Friday. âBoston may not have room for him at the major league level, however, given its current logjam of outfielders. Accordingly, heâll likely serve as organizational depth unless an outfielder gets hurt or traded.â
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Red Sox Land Former Top-10 Prospect With 23-HR Power Upside appeared first on Heavy Sports.