LAS VEGAS \u2014 Not long ago Kristian Campbell appeared to be a key franchise cornerstone for the Red Sox.<\/p>\n
The former top prospect rocketed through the minor leagues in 2024, made the Opening Day roster in 2025 and earned American League Rookie of the Month and an eight-year, $60 million extension within his first few weeks in the big leagues.<\/p>\n
But then everything fell apart, and now Campbell\u2019s future role with the Red Sox is unclear.<\/p>\n
Campbell hasn\u2019t appeared in a big league game since June 18, 2025, and spent the entire 2026 season at Triple-A Worcester. Originally envisioned as Boston\u2019s starting second baseman, Campbell has since shifted to the outfield full-time, where he\u2019ll face stiff competition for playing time with Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Masataka Yoshida and Eli White.<\/p>\n
Even with his path to playing time seemingly blocked, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow believes Campbell might still have a part to play in the club\u2019s long-term success.<\/p>\n
\u201cStill feel like he\u2019s got a world of potential. We saw it in the minor leagues when he was coming up, we saw it in the first month of the season when he was up with us, and I think we started to see it in the second half last year, too,\u201d Breslow said Tuesday at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas. \u201cSometimes the adjustments take longer than you might think and there\u2019s often some combination of physical and mental component to all of this, but just seeing him start to impact the ball in the second half this last year the way we\u2019re accustomed to seeing, seeing him walk around with that confidence was great.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe still feel like he has a really bright major league career ahead of him and excited to get to spring training and see that manifest itself on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Campbell got off to an underwhelming start to the season in Triple-A, the 24-year-old finally began turning things around during the second half. From July 1 onwards, Campbell batted .320 with six home runs, 12 doubles, 29 RBI, 30 walks and a .963 OPS over his last 45 games, compared to a .214 average and .631 OPS over his first 64 games prior.<\/p>\n
If not for a left foot contusion that prematurely ended his season in early September, Breslow said Campbell may have had a chance to come back up to the majors down the stretch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had definitely put himself in the conversation given the performance,\u201d Breslow said. \u201cWe\u2019re obviously looking at more than what are the top line results, but seeing him make better swing decisions, seeing him start to impact the ball a little bit more, stay in the zone, control the zone the way he had coming up, get the ball off the ground a little bit, so I feel like the Kristian that we\u2019d seen in \u201924 was starting to show up on the field every day, it was really exciting. The injury was really unfortunate for a lot of reasons but, yeah, I felt like he\u2019d put himself in the conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Breslow also expanded on the decision to shift Campbell to the outfield from second base. During his time in the majors Campbell played at both spots, and there was also a stretch following Triston Casas\u2019 season-ending knee injury that Campbell started getting work at first base. But once in the minors Breslow said the decision was made to stick to one position so Campbell could dedicate his entire focus to recapturing his form at the plate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason we limited him to the outfield was talking to him he felt like that was most natural, where his natural athleticism could play, and we wanted to limit the distractions and the variables that we were putting on his plate as he was trying to get comfortable in the box,\u201d Breslow said. \u201cSo it made sense to not throw additional challenges and variables at him. I think over the long run it\u2019s something that we may revisit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even if Campbell was trending upwards when the season ended, the reality is the Red Sox have a jam packed 40-man roster with few obvious places to cut. One possibility that has been floated in the rumor mill is the Red Sox could clear a spot by designating Campbell for assignment, with the hope that his big contract might discourage another team from claiming him and allowing him to remain in the organization.<\/p>\n
Is that something Breslow would consider? The Red Sox boss wouldn\u2019t say, but he also didn\u2019t rule it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot something I\u2019m going to speak to right now,\u201d Breslow said. \u201cKristian is a part of our organization, we\u2019re really happy about that and we are invested in doing everything we can to perform like he\u2019s capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n
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