In 2022, former Boston Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom took a mountain of criticism for his handling of the departure of free agents Xander Bogaerts and Nathan Eovaldi.
After not being able to trade the two stars for a return, Bloom was unable to get the team’s payroll under the Competitive Balance Tax threshold. When Bogaerts went to San Diego and Eovaldi went to the Texas Rangers, the compensatory picks he received in the 2023 MLB Draft for losing players to free agency came at the end of the fourth round, not the second round.
Little did anyone know at the time that Kristian Campbell, the player they would draft with the first of those two picks at number 132, would be the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year just a year later.
In the world of baseball cards, the Kristian Campbell bandwagon is still gassing up at the station. As a high schooler, Campbell appeared in the 2020 Leaf Perfect Game National Showcase set with base cards, parallel cards and autographs. That was the last the hobby had seen of him on cardboard until he was included in the 2023 Bowman Draft and Panini Extra Edition sets after he was drafted.
Raw copies of his cards can still be found for a dollar or two. Ungraded copies of his regular 2023 Bowman Chrome Draft autograph card have been selling for around $100. There are a mountain of parallels, too, bringing higher prices.
Campbell’s 1/1 SuperFractor auto sold for $3,000 in May while a Red Refractor auto numbered to 5 sold earlier this month for the same price.
Fewer Elite Extra Edition Campbell cards seem to be on the market, with prices–even for autographs–still quite low.
Road to the Doorstep of The Show
Campbell, an athletic second baseman from Georgia Tech who hit .376 with an OPS of 1.033 with the Yellow Jackets, has risen through the minor league ranks. After just one year in the minors, he has a legitimate shot at being the opening day second baseman for the Red Sox next season.
In 2024, he divided his time between Greenville (A), Portland (AA) and Worcester (AAA). He hit at every level, batting .330 with a .997 OPS, 20 home runs and 77 RBIs. He hit only four home runs in 2023 with Georgia Tech.
His rapid rise through the minors is unparalleled.
“He has had the most remarkable development in recent years,” Baseball America Editor-in-Chief JJ Cooper told SC Daily this week. “I have struggled to try and come up with an example of what he has done. He went from being a fourth round draft pick a year ago to being the Minor League Player of the Year the next year.”
Campbell came out of college with an elite contact rate, but he did not hit for power. He spent the off-season working on adjustments to his swing.
“He was a singles hitter at Georgia Tech, but then the Red Sox drafted him, and he went to work,” said Cooper. “He worked on his bat speed, and he re-worked his swing path. This is the first year he is trying to drive the ball like that.”
In college, using an aluminum bat, he did not have a hit with an exit velocity above 109 mph. This year, with wooden bats, he has hit several balls at 110 mph and above.
Although he was primarily a shortstop, Campbell has been playing most his games at second base. He has also played in all three outfield positions, and he has had a handful of games at third base. Roman Anthony, his WooSox teammate who was recently named baseball’s top prospect, recently referred to Campbell as a freak athlete who can play a high level of defense every position he plays. At the plate, Anthony calls him Barry Bonds.
Right now, because he has just been named the Minor League Player of the Year and there is already talk of him being a potential 2025 Rookie of the Year candidate.
“He is going to go to camp as a versatile player who is pretty well prepped at a number of positions,” Cooper said. “Second base is the best option for him to make the team out of camp next season. They don’t have to rush him, but he has shown a much faster rate of development than normal.”
For as much criticism as Bloom took before leaving Boston, some of the moves he made are about to pay dividends. The teams system has a trip of prospects known as the big three – outfielder Anthony, shortstop Marcelo Mayer, and catcher Kyle Teel. All three are among the top prospects in the game.
“With the emergence of Campbell, the big three is now the big four,” Cooper said.
Elite Company
Baseball America began naming its Minor League Player of the year in 1981. Going back to the last 10 years, with the exception of 2020 when there was no award, the winners have all made an impact at the major league level. Some have become superstars.
Starting in 2015, the winners have been Blake Snell, Yoan Moncada, Ronald Acuna Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Gavin Lux, Bobby Witt Jr., Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday.
There are three Hall of Famers who have won the Minor League Player of the Year Award: Frank Thomas, Derek Jeter and Joe Mauer.
Other notable winners include Mike Trout, Andruw Jones, Manny Ramirez, Dwight Gooden, Greg Jefferies, and Jose Canseco.
“One question we get a lot is why the Minor League Player of the Year is not the top prospect,” Cooper said. “They are two different things. The top prospect is the player who we have identified to be the minor ;eague player who will have the best major league career. The Minor League Player of the Year is the player who had the best year. There is some criteria, though. For example, if a 29-year-old minor leaguer had a huge year, he would not likely be our Minor League Player of the Year. We take into consideration the player’s age and the level he is playing in.”
The criteria used is what makes Campbell so special. It’s like he came out of nowhere and surprised everyone.
“We have seen pitchers have a rapid rise, but there are many factors involved,” Cooper said. “Spencer Strider might be an example of that. With pitchers, there are Tommy John surgeries and different pitches that might impact a pitcher. Also, pitchers are reaching higher velocity because velocity can be developed.
“For hitters, the development takes longer. Let’s use Jackson Chourio as an example. We had him highly rated as a prospect before he even played a professional game, but we knew all about him and what he could do because he was so heavily scouted and sought after. Everyone knew he would be a star and that he would be talked about as a potential rookie of the year. But no one imagined Campbell developing and improving like he did.”
Collectors might get the chance to pull Kristian Campbell rookie cards out of Topps 2025 Series 2 should he make the team out of spring training. Until then, however, watch closely as his 2023 high-grade Bowman cards may start to tear up the market the way that he tore up Minor League pitching this year.
You can check out all of Kristian Campbell’s cards listed on eBay right now here.
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