Roman Anthony takes batting practice at Hadlock Field in Portland last summer. Anthony, just 20 years old, is one of the top prospects in baseball and could make his major league debut this season. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A few years ago, Red Sox manager Alex Cora snapped at a reporter who began a spring training media availability with a question about Marcelo Mayer. Cora pointed out that Mayer wasn’t part of the team’s focus that spring and was a long way from cracking the big league roster.

That’s no longer the case, however, and Cora is the first to acknowledge it.

The Red Sox farm system was recently ranked the best by Baseball America, with three of its players in the top 25: Mayer, Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony.

Anthony, in particularly, is regarded by many as the game’s top position player prospect.

And whether any of the organization’s Big Three make the Opening Day roster, it won’t be long before all three make their debuts.

Cora is focused on communicating with the team’s best young players, making sure they’re not overwhelmed and preparing them for their inevitable arrivals to the major leagues. On Monday, Cora took a lengthy walk around the Fenway South complex with Campbell as the two chatted.

“Just to be able to connect with players and see them in this environment, without the cameras, it was good,” said Cora on Tuesday. “I had a chance to talk to the rookie development program (held in Boston in January) and kind of walk them through what this is all about and make sure they keep doing their routines and make sure they know that what they’ve been doing the last few years works and we’re not going to get in the middle of it.

“I was against talking about the kids a few years ago. Now, it doesn’t matter. We’re in a spot where they’re here. There’s no age limit to make it to the big leagues. You can make it at 20, you can make it at 32. They did an outstanding job last year. You talk to Chad (Tracy, Worcester manager), you talk to (Portland manager Chad Epperson) and they’re good. We don’t have to hide it. The cool thing about them is they’re very humble, too. They understand how it goes. They’re fun to be around. We’ll have fun and they know it. They’re prepared.”

Kristian Campbell could make the Red Sox’s Opening Day roster as their second baseman. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

Of the three top prospects, Campbell has the surest path to making the Opening Day roster. Mayer hasn’t had a Triple A at-bat after missing the final two months last season with a lumbar injury. While Anthony is highly advanced for a 20-year-old, the Red Sox don’t have an obvious place for him as a regular contributor. The outfield is set with Jarren Duran in left, Ceddanne Rafaela in center and Wilyer Abreu in right.

It seems that Mayer and Anthony, for different reasons, could stand to benefit from additional development time at Worcester.

Campbell, though, could potentially win the second base job this spring, where his competition is Vaughn Grissom and David Hamilton, neither of whom has established himself in the big leagues.

But regardless of their chances, all three are approaching spring training the same way.

“If you talk to the three of them, they have one goal: to be break camp with us,” said Cora. “So we’ll see what happens.”

THE RED SOX made a splash when they acquired Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox this offseason.

Crochet figures to be the ace of the staff in 2025, and Cora compared the newcomer to a former ace and World Series champion.

“Big dude,” Cora said Tuesday. “Hopefully Chris doesn’t take it personally, but he looks like Chris Sale, but stronger.”

Sale thrived in his first season as the Red Sox starter in 2017. The left-hander went 17-8 with a 2.90 ERA and league-leading 308 strikeouts in 214 1/3 innings. He put together a solid 2018 campaign and recorded the final out of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but Sale dealt with injuries for the remainder of his time in Boston before he was traded to the Atlanta Braves ahead of the 2024 season.

Crochet, who features a high leg kick in his delivery similar to Bronson Arroyo, was Chicago’s Opening Day starter in 2024. While his numbers don’t jump off the page — a 6-12 record with a 3.58 ERA — the White Sox were a historically bad team last season. Even so, Crochet still amassed 209 strikeouts.

A bigger, stronger, healthier version of Sale would certainly be beneficial for a Boston team that hasn’t had an ace in a few years.

While it may seem like that’s a lot of pressure to put on a newcomer, Crochet is ready for the challenge.

“Looking at my arsenal and the results I had just on a start-to-start basis and then once I incorporated the sinker I had at the end, it felt like everything was just really coming together,” Crochet said at Fenway Fest in January. “The success that I had early on in the season in May and June without that pitch and then the prospect of adding it to the mix, it’s something that I think the sky’s the limit. I just look forward to seeing it all work together.”

Cora hasn’t named an Opening Day starter, but Crochet is certainly among those in the running when the Red Sox begin the 2025 season next month.