ESPN: The Los Angeles Dodgers No. 2 Pitching Prospect Signed by the Red Sox.
José De León, a former top pitching prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has found his next home as he announced on Instagram that he has joined the Boston Red Sox. Although the terms of his contract are unclear, De León wrote, “We’re back.” De León pitched in the Red Sox organization in 2021, but he never played for the big-league team. A 24th-round pick in 2013, De León is 4-2 with a 7.44 ERA in 34 games (seven starts) for four teams, most recently going 0-1 with a 4.67 ERA in 12 games for the Minnesota Twins in 2023.
De León has previously been a member of the Cincinnati Reds and Tampa Bay Rays. Fans of the Dodgers may recall De León as a highly anticipated prospect in the middle of the 2010s. Before the 2016 season, De León was actually ranked by Minor League Baseball as the Dodgers’ No. 3 overall prospect and No. 2 pitching prospect, behind only future 20-game winner Julio Urías. De León’s career never took off, particularly following a trade to the Rays in 2017. After Tommy John surgery, he missed all of 2018 and had three minor league stints in 2017.
De León returned to the mound and played in international competition this offseason after undergoing a second Tommy John surgery in 2023. He pitched 13.2 innings for Criollos de Caguas and Indios de Mayagüez, recording a 1.32 ERA.
