Red Sox Writer Makes ‘Controversial’ Pick For Team’s 2025 MVP

According to one Boston Red Sox beat writer, the team’s 2025 MVP won’t start or finish the regular season on the active roster.

On Pitcher List’s “The Fantasy Baseball Beat” podcast, MassLive’s Chris Cotillo named Roman Anthony the Red Sox’s MVP. Cotillo labeled it his “hot take of the year” when sharing the clip on social media.

“To me, and this is controversial among people here — we’ve had this debate. I think he’s the MVP of the Red Sox’s season,” Cotillo said of Anthony. “Basically led them for an extremely long stretch in which they were one of the better teams in baseball. And when he hasn’t been on the roster, they’ve been mediocre or average.”

The Red Sox were 32-35 when Anthony joined the team on June 9. They improved to 78-62 on Sept. 2, the final game the rookie outfielder played before suffering an oblique injury expected to sideline him for the remainder of the regular season.

Anthony batted .292/.396/.463 with a 2.7 fWAR in 71 games. The Red Sox ranked seventh in team OPS during his time in the majors, but they’re 18th since losing him this month.

“He’s the one guy that makes a huge difference,” Cotillo said. “Since they put him in the leadoff spot, the whole engine was working better.”

It’s still hard to argue that less than half a season from Anthony delivered more value than 31 stellar starts from Garrett Crochet. Still, the newcomer could develop into Boston’s best player for the foreseeable future if he taps into his power ceiling.

“I don’t think he’s hit his offensive peak,” Cotillo noted. “He didn’t hit that many home runs while he was healthy. Started to a little bit later, but this is a big power guy. This is a perennial All-Star. I think this is a guy who is a true blue-chip superstar.”