Its another off-day and we're going to take a look at the 2021 MLB Draft unfolded for the Boston Red Sox. Ex-GM Chaim Bloom treated the 2020 season like Rachel Phelps from Major League got the Sox the fourth overall pick in the draft. How did the rest of the draft turn out? Let's find out.
1st Round - INF Marcelo Mayer
As mentioned earlier, the 2020 disaster led to the Sox getting the fourth overall pick. Rather than take the top pitcher available, they selected Eastlake High School shortstop Marcelo Mayer. Mayer lived up to his billing when he tore up the Salem Red Sox and Greenville Drive in 2022, hitting .275 with 13 home runs combined. In 2023 played in just 78 games for Greenville and the Portland Sea Dogs before injuries derailed his season. In 2024, he combined with Roman Anthony and Kyle Teel to form the "Goldust Trio" that terrorized both Portland and Worcester Red Sox....even if Mayer didn't play due to injury. In 2025, mostly due to the demotion of Kristian Campbell, Mayer made his ML debut on May 24th and hit .228 with 4 home runs before, again, injuries derailed his season. This hear he's only hitting .224 with 2 home runs and the whole team is in a slump it seems. Fans are upset and calling him a bust despite being just 23 years old in his second pro season. Bottom line was fans were expecting Nomar Garciaparra and didn't get it so far. Let's see how he performs once they get a new GM and manager that know what they're doing.
2nd Round - OF Jud Fabian
As mentioned in previous years, the Sox got bamboozled by their second round draft pick, outfielder Jud Fabian. The Sox drafted him in the second round one pick before the Baltimore Orioles and strangely, he didn't sign and chose to remain at Florida. A year later, he was drafted in the second round by Baltimore and the story came out that the O's were going to sign him for 3 million in 2021, but the Sox took him and offered 1.8. Now collecting his 3 mill, he's yet to make the majors. A "launch angle" guy has hit just .216 in the minors but with 70 combined home runs in 5 years. The Orioles don't really need another outfielder that is all or nothing so he might need a change of scenery to see if he can hit major league pitching. Worse yet, several picks after Fabian made the majors such as Ryan Bliss, Andrew Abbott, Connor Norby, Ky Bush, Brendan Beck, James Wood and Joe Rock to name a few. Any one of those guys could have made it with the Sox or could have been decent trade bait. Instead they got NOTHING, HOORAY!
3rd Round - INF Tyler McDonough
Another wasted pick it seems is third round pick, infielder Tyler McDonough. Tyler showed promise at the end of 2021 batting .296 in 27 games with the Salem Red Sox and never truly broke out. He never hit above .255 as he hit .230 with Greenville in 2022 and .255 with Worcester last year. This year he got demoted back to Portland and is hitting .214 in 43 games. Its fairly obvious he's not going to make it which is doubly sad since Caleb Durbin sucks right now. To add insult to injury, Carter Jensen, McCade Brown, Mason Black and most importantly, Mason Miller were all taken after McDonough in the third round. Chaim Bloom spent too many years drafting infielders in the first round and almost none of them hit.
4th Round - RHP Elmer Rodriguez
The good news was their fourth round pick, right handed pitcher Elmer Cruz-Rodriguez, made the majors. The bad news was it wasn't with the Red Sox. Drafted as a 17 year old out of Puerto Rico, Rodriguez utterly dominated Salem from 2022-24 before getting a 7 game cup of coffee with Greenville at the end of the 2024 season. Then the Red Sox pulled off the monumental trade that sent top catching prospect Kyle Teel and other prospects to the Chicago White Sox for ace Garrett Crochet. Needing a catcher, the Sox shipped Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for budding catcher Carlos Narvaez. Narvaez had a solid 2025 season for the Red Sox while Rodriguez went 11-8 with a 2.58 ERA between Single A, Double A and triple A. This year Rodriguez made his ML debut with the Yankees on April 29 and went 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA in 3 starts before being sent back to Scranton where he's 1-3 with a 2.97 ERA. Currently Carlos Narvaez is hitting just .220 with 2 home runs this year and the entire Red Sox offense is struggling. Whether or not the trade is fair or a bust won't be determined for another few years but I think most Sox fans would rather have Rodriguez pitch on this rancid team for a lot cheaper than Ranger Suarez. Still, for 2 of the first 4 players taken to make the majors, that's still considered a win for Chaim Bloom.
5th Round - C Nathan Hickey
To say 5th round pick, catcher Nathan Hickey, is a bust already is unfair....but the signs look pretty bad. Back in 2021 the Sox had the tag-team of Kevin Plawecki and Christian Vazquez so the feeling was Hickey might take Plawecki's spot if Connor Wong didn't work out. It looked like Hickey was headed for great things in 2023 when he hit 19 home runs between Greenville and Portland but then spent most of 2024 as Kyle Teel's backup in Worcester hitting just .210. With Teel traded in 2024, Connor Wong bottomed out completely in 2025....and Hickey never got a sniff. This year both Narvaez and Wong are struggling and instead of calling up Hickey, they go with journeyman Mickey Gasper. All signs point to Hickey being in no man's land. To add insult to injury, after Hickey was taken, Eric Cerantola, Evan Justice, Christian Scott and Tanner Bibee all made the show. Its not too late for the 26 year old, but hitting .179 with 3 home runs in Triple A isn't going to cut it.
6th Round - C Daniel McElveny
The first real "bust" of the draft was sixth round pick, catcher Daniel McElveny. He played in just 52 games between 2022 and 2023 hitting just .206 and .214 respectively. He got in 55 games for Salem in 2024 hitting just .179 before he was cut loose after the season. He played in just 26 games for the Arizona Complex Rockies hitting .242 before he was released by Colorado in July. He's been out of baseball since and THIS pick came back to haunt Boston. Carson Seymour, Braxton Fulford, Carlos Rodrguez, Spencer Arrighetti, "Big" Dick Fitts and Seattle Mariners ace Bryan Woo were all taken after Daniel in theb 6th round. That's a pretty big swing and a miss by Bloom.
7th Round - RHP Wyatt Olds
How 7th round pick, right handed pitcher Wyatt Olds is still in the system is anyone's guess. He was drafted out of Oklahoma University where he was 4-6 with a 5.17 ERA. He's been straight batting practice ever since....and is still here. In 2022 he was 4-9 with a 5.92 ERA between Greenville and Portland, in 2023 he was 1-9 with a 7.54 ERA between the Florida Complex Sox and Greenville, in 2024 he was 4-4 with a 6.09 ERA between Portland and Worcester. In 2025 he was 7-4 with a 5.05 ERA between Portland and Worcester and this year he's got a 7.25 ERA in 15 games. His minor league record is 19-29 with a 6.01 ERA.....that says it all. How he made it this far when other people who had better numbers were released or traded is anyone's guess. Worse yet, Noah Cannon, Jacob Young and Tristan Peters all made MLB out of the seventh round after Olds was picked. Its only a matter of time before he's given the boot.
8th Round - RHP Hunter Dobbins
Bloom scored with his eighth round pick when he selected right handed pitcher Hunter Dobbins out of Texas Tech University. After missing 2021 with Tommy John surgery and going 0-5 with a 5.22 ERA in 2022 for Greenville, he started to turn it around. In 2023, he was 9-6 with a 3.67 between Greenville and Portland and was 8-5 with a 3.08 ERA between Portland and Worcester in 2024. He made his ML debut with the Red Sox in 2025 and went 4-1 with a 4.13 ERA in 13 games before he tore his ACL and missed the rest of the season. He was traded back in December to send Willson Contreras from St. Louis to Boston and so far the Sox have won the trade. Contreras is their best power hitter, which isn't saying much, while Dobbins JUST came back from knee surgery and allowed 3 runs in 4 1/3 innings in his Cardinals debut, then 1 run in 3 2.3 innings. Just like the Rodriguez/Narvaez swap, the trade is still up for grabs. What's not is the fact Bloom found an MLB pitcher in the eighth round. Dobbins had the goods to make the show, he just couldn't stay healthy in Boston.
9th Round - INF Tyler Miller
In the 9th round, the Sox took Auburn University third baseman Tyler Miller. Miller looked like a house of fire with the Complex and Salem to end 2021 but flopped in 2022, hitting just .219 in 114 games although he did have 13 home runs. Things started to sour in 2024 when he hit just .228 with one home run for Portland and hit just .201 in 82 games in 2025. He was released in March of 2026 and hasn't signed with anyone since. Unlike the others, only one other pick in the ninth round made the show and it was Will Dion that JUST got promoted on May 26th. All in all Miller was just another failed ninth round pick in a sea full of them.
10th Round - RHP Matt Litwicki
In many cases, the prospects didn't make it at least played to show what they had. The Sox 10th round pick, right handed pitcher Matt Litwicki didn't even get a chance. He was an injury case at Indiana University pitching in just 22 games between 2019 and 2021. With the Red Sox, he missed all of 2021 and 2022 due to injury. He pitched in just 6 games in 2023 for the Complex and Salem before being released in August. These days he wears a hell of a suit working for Consolidated Electrical Distributors. To add insult to injury, Billy Cook, Darren Baker, Franco Aleman and Jack Winkler made MLB coming out of the 10th round after Litwicki. Its one thing to play 5 or 6 seasons in the minors and not make it, its another to be released after SIX games.
11th Round - INF Niko Kavadas
Bloom scored in the 11th round when he took slugger Niko Kavadas out of Notre Dame University. Kavadas bashed 26 home runs in Salem, Greenville and Portland combined in 2022 and hit 22 home runs between Portland and Worcester in 2023. In 2024 he was hitting .281 with 17 home runs when he was traded to Los Angeles in the package deal for Luis Garcia. It was a horrible trade as Kavadas along with Matthew Lugo and Ryan Zeferjahn all made their debuts with the Angels. Kavadas became the first member of this draft class to reach the majors. Niko hit 4 home runs in 30 games for the Angels in 2024 and was a 4A player in 2025, hitting 28 home runs for the Salt Lake Bees while getting in 10 games for LA. This year he's back with Salt Lake hitting .329 with 5 home runs. He might turn out to be a classic 4A player, but that's a hell of an accomplishment from an 11th round pick. He might not have made his debut with the Sox, but Bloom still made the right decision.
12th round - RHP Christopher Troye
In the 12th round, the Sox took right handed pitcher Christopher Troye out of USC Santa Barbara University. Once again this is is a case of taking the wrong guy. After having mediocre seasons in 2021 and 2022, Troye looked to be breaking out in 2023 when he allowed just 4 runs in 18 innings for Greenville to get called up to Portland. He posted a 3.77 ERA in 24 games and things appeared to be looking up. Instead he crashed in 2024, battling injuries to go 2-2 with a 4.60 ERA. In 2025 he had a 7.20 ERA for Portland when he was given the boot at the end of July. He's been out of baseball since and is now a real estate developer in Los Angeles. Usually 12th round picks aren't expected to be all-stars but here's the problem. Later in the 12th round the New York Yankees took Ben Rice who hit 26 home runs for the team that knocked the Red Sox out of the playoffs. Especially with Triston Casas' injury, bet they wish they picked Rice over Troye now.
13th Round - INF Zach Ehrhard
This pick doubly hurts because 13th round pick Zach Ehrhard has had quite the journey. The Sox initially took him out of Wharton High School but he chose not to sign, instead going to Oklahoma State. After 3 years there, the Sox took him again in the 4th round of the 2024 draft. Ehrhard hit .342 for Greenville in 2025 and had clobbered 8 home runs for Portland when he was traded along with James Tibbs to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dustin May at the trade deadline. The trade was a disaster as May was so bad he was released in September and Tibbs is hitting .300 with 12 home runs for the Oklahoma City Comets. Ehrhard is currently hitting .274 with 3 home runs for the Comets and the trade gets worse by the day. However, since this was a 2021 pick, we'll judge it by those standards. Zach didn't sign and Matt Svanson, David Festa and Bob Seymour all made the majors from the 13th round. How do you fumble the same guy twice?
14th Round - RHP Jacob Webb
Time's run out for Boston's 14th round pick, right handed pitcher Jacob Webb. Originally he seemed to be the one that would make the majors before anyone else as he allowed just 2 runs in 12 innings in 2021 and made it to Portland in 2022. Then he crashed hard as he was 8-3 but with a 5.03 ERA in 2023 and was 10-3 with a 4.28 ERA in 2024. He did get a cup of coffee in Worcester but it ended badly. In 2025 he was 2-1 with a 3.26 ERA for Portland but posted a 6.35 ERA in Worcester. This year he posted a 6.66 ERA before he was placed on the Development List for Worcester. He tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings in his return, but still. With so many fresh arms coming up, its just a matter of time before this loss is cut. What makes this pick worse is two very familiar faces were taken later. Boston's own Tyler Samaniego was the first pick of the 15th round and Caleb Durbin was drafted by the Atlanta Braves later in the 14th round. While Durbin is sputtering, Samaniego looked good before he was foolishly sent to Worcester. They could have had him all along if Chaim Bloom was just a bit smarter.
15th Round - INF Payton Green
The Sox swung and missed with their 15th round pick, Green Hope High School shortstop Payton Green. Why? He didn't sign. Green ended up going to North Carolina State before transferring to Georgia Tech. He was taken in the 6th round of the 2024 draft by the Miami Marlins and batted .266 with 8 home runs between A and AA in 2025. This year he was hitting .240 with 4 home runs for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos before being called up to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on the 26th. He has 3 hits in 11 at-bats and the word is still out whether or not he can make the majors. Unfortunately for the Sox, one guy did. Blake Dunn of the Cincinnati Reds taken later in the 15th round. If Green makes it to Miami, Bloom had the right idea....just the wrong time.
16th Round - INF BJ Vela
Much like Matt Litwicki, 16th round pick second baseman BJ Vela's time in Boston was very short...but no one really knows why. He played in 21 games for the Florida Complex Sox in 2022 and hit .342, not bad right? Well for whatever reason he was released in Spring Training in 2023. His journey wasn't over though, he went back to school and has played the last two years for Texas Wesleyan University. Whether or not he gets drafted again this year or simply goes on to life a normal life, it does seem strange that the Sox gave up on him THAT early, especially with Wyatt Olds and Jacob Webb given five full years. Later in the 16th round, the Detroit Tigers took Alek Jacob. Not the greatest resume but still more than what the Sox got out of Vela.
17th Round - RHP Luis Guerrero
Chaim Bloom scored big time late in the draft when he took right handed pitcher Luis Guerrero in the 17th round. Usually JuCo pitchers are cucka but Guerrero wasn't. He pitched for the Complex, Salem and Greenville in 2022 posting a 3.23 ERA. In 2023 he allowed 10 earned runs in 49 innings for Portland to move up to Worcester. He didn't have a successful cup of coffee, but began the 2024 season there. After being a stallwart all season in the bullpen, he was rewarded with a 9 game cup of coffee with Boston beginning on September 8. In 2025 he bounced between Boston and Worcester with a rehab stint in between. He was 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA for the playoff bound Sox but was shipped off to Tampa Bay in a salary dump for cheap infielder Tristan Gray of the Rays. This year he's floundering in AAA for the Durham Bulls going 1-3 with a 5.47 ERA. Still, he doesn't turn 26 until August and there's plenty of journeymen relievers in MLB and AAA, he's not done yet by a long shot. As it is, to make the majors from the 17th round is a win for Chaim Bloom.
18th Round - OF Phillip Sikes
For a while, it looked like outfielder Philip Sikes was going to follow Luis Guerrero to the majors as an 18th round pick. He hit .253 with Salem and Greenville in 2022 with 11 home runs. In 2023 he hit just .210 but with 9 home runs for Portland and in 2024 he hit .235 but with 11 home runs between Portland and Worcester. Then it crashed in 2025 as he hit just .200 with 6 home runs and was released in Spring Training earlier this year. He hasn't been picked up by anyone else yet and at 27 years old, this might be it. Chaim Bloom took a lot of all or nothing guys like Tyler McDonough, Niko Kavadas and Philip Sikes and only one barely made it. Now normally finding value in the 18th round is like finding a needle in a haystack, and unfortunately it wasn't the Red Sox. The Houston Astros took Will Wagner later in the 18th round. Still, the fact Sikes got to AAA from this spot gets an A for effort but not exactly a win since someone else made the majors.
19th Round - RHP Tyler Uberstine
A lot of people, myself included, thought Chaim Bloom was nuts for using their 19th round pick on Northwestern University right handed pitcher Tyler Uberstine. He was 2-3 with a 5.82 ERA in 8 starts his senior year but became the Complex ace to end 2021. In 2022 he started 21 games for Salem and Greenville before Tommy John surgery wiped out 2023 and most of 2024. In 2025, he went 6-5 with a 3.60 ERA for Portland and Worcester to put him in AAA to start 2026. On April 5th, he put in a yeoman's effort in his ML debut before being sent back to Worcester after the game. Then he got shut down due to shoulder inflammation. He just came back this past Tuesday and started his rehab in Greenville. If his shoulder is sound, he might be back to Boston sooner rather than later. Still, the fact the 19th round pick made MLB over a lot of others on this list is a hell of an accomplishment. That's a big W for Bloom no matter what moving forward.
20th Round - INF Josh Hood
In the 20th round, the Sox picked Pennsylvania University shortstop Josh Hood....and he didn't sign. He transferred to North Carolina State and ended up getting picked in the 6th round of the 2022 draft by the Seattle Mariners. Just like the others on this list, he's all or nothing. He hit .273 with 13 home runs in 2023 between Low and High A then hit .246 with 15 home runs for High A in 2024. Last year he hit just .206 with 12 home runs for the Double A Arkansas Travelers and got even worse this year, hitting just .157 with 4 home runs. If the power numbers dip as he climbs the ranks, that's NOT a good sign when he doesn't hit for average. To make matters worse, later in the 20th round the Mariners took Troy Taylor and the San Diego Padres took Chase Burns. Finding value in the 20th round is even harder than the 19th so kudos to Seattle and San Diego. The Sox got burnt by Hood but it doesn't seem like it'll effect much.
RFA - OF Kier Meredith
Sometimes things work out in different ways and such was the case with Clemson University outfielder Kier Meredith. His four years at Clemson were good but not good enough for the draft as he went undrafted after all 20 rounds. The Red Sox took a flier on him as a rookie free agent and he hit just .265 for Salem in 2022 and just .178 for Greenville in 2023. After the season he voluntarily retired and became a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates. On top of that, he became an assistant coach for Team USA Baseball. A lot of great field managers weren't very good players in their day and it takes a lot of courage to know when to admit you're in over your head. Still, for someone who wasn't even drafted to make a career out of being a scout & coach, that's better than nothing.
Lastly, the Sox took a flier on former local Brighton High School pitcher Jhonny Felix after the 2021 draft. To show signs of things to come, he allowed 10 runs in 3 innings for the Florida Complex to end the 2021 season. In 2022, he allowed 41 runs in 38 innings between the Complex and Salem. In 2023, he allowed 36 runs in 45 innings for Salem before being released in August. Not much you can say since he only cost 20 grand to sign and you didn't waste a draft pick on him. Still, you'd like him to have done better than THAT. Oh well.
The 2021 Draft for all intents and purposes was a success. There aren't any Hall of Fame caliber players as of yet but 6 players made the show with another few still knocking at the door. The word is still out on Mayer, Dobbins, Guerrero, Uberstine, Dobbins and Rodriguez but at least they made it. Fabian, Ehrhard, Green, Webb, Olds and Ehrhard are in AAA while Hood is still in AA. The 2021 season was the last to go right for the Red Sox and to get value out of your 17th and 19th round pick is nothing short of remarkable. Would have been nice not to have wasted your 2nd and 3rd round picks but sometimes that's the way it goes.
