{"id":417394,"date":"2026-01-16T18:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/417394\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T18:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T18:07:07","slug":"red-sox-could-trade-from-rotation-depth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/417394\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Could Trade From Rotation Depth"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Red Sox went big with their first free agent signing of the winter, adding\u00a0Ranger Su\u00e1rez<\/a> for five years and $130MM<\/a> on Wednesday. That followed trade acquisitions of\u00a0Sonny Gray<\/a> and\u00a0Johan Oviedo<\/a>, meaning the Sox could enter the season having replaced 60% of their rotation.<\/p>\n

Even with\u00a0Lucas Giolito<\/a> departing in free agency, the Red Sox have eight to ten viable options. They\u2019ll be anchored at the top end by Garrett Crochet<\/a>, Su\u00e1rez and Gray. It\u2019s unlikely that Boston would flip Oviedo within a few months of giving up a reasonably well-regarded outfield prospect (Jhostynxon Garcia<\/a>) to acquire him. Beyond that, the Sox could dangle any of their starters on the trade market.<\/p>\n

Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic<\/a> and Sean McAdam of MassLive<\/a> each wrote this week that a rotation trade was a possibility. The Sox don\u2019t need to force one unless overwhelmed by an offer. Starting pitching depth can quickly thin, and most of Boston\u2019s back-end arms have minor league options remaining. They can load up the rotation at Triple-A Worcester to prepare for injuries over the course of a 162-game schedule.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, dealing a starter could get the Sox their finishing piece in the infield. They lost the bidding for\u00a0Alex Bregman<\/a>, leaving them short at least one player on the dirt. Even if they\u2019re comfortable turning the hot corner to\u00a0Marcelo Mayer<\/a>, they don\u2019t have a clear answer at second base. They don\u2019t want to take Ceddanne Rafaela<\/a> out of center field, where he\u2019s one of the best defenders in the sport. Kristian Campbell<\/a> struggled defensively as a rookie, and it seems the organization prefers him in the outfield. A platoon of\u00a0David Hamilton<\/a> and\u00a0Romy Gonzalez<\/a> is underwhelming for a win-now team in a competitive division.<\/p>\n

If the Su\u00e1rez signing was their one big free agent move in the budget, the Red Sox should find a way to add an infielder on the trade front. The Sox were tied to Ketel Marte<\/a> before the Diamondbacks pulled him from the market. They\u2019ve been linked to Brendan Donovan<\/a>, although Ari Alexander of 7 Boston News<\/a> suggests they\u2019d prefer a right-handed bat and thus may not be as motivated as some other teams on Donovan (e.g. Giants, Mariners).<\/p>\n

The Red Sox have been tied to Houston third baseman\u00a0Isaac Paredes<\/a> throughout the winter. Astros GM Dana Brown has downplayed the club\u2019s interest in moving an infielder, but that hasn\u2019t stopped teams from calling. Brian McTaggart of MLB.com<\/a> wrote this week that teams continue to engage the Astros to see if they can change their minds on Paredes. Houston has added a pair of potential mid-rotation starters,\u00a0Mike Burrows<\/a> and\u00a0Tatsuya Imai<\/a>, but they remain light on controllable starting pitching.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a run through the possibilities if chief baseball officer Craig Breslow does move a starter.<\/p>\n

Payton Tolle<\/a>\/Connelly Early<\/a><\/p>\n

If the Sox deal from their rotation, these would be their two most valuable trade chips. Tolle and Early both debuted late in the 2025 season. Early was very good over four abbreviated starts. Tolle struggled over seven appearances, but that\u2019s not going to deter teams from having interest in a 23-year-old who pitched his way to the big leagues within his first full professional season.<\/p>\n

Tolle and Early respectively rank as the Sox\u2019s top and third-best prospects at Baseball America<\/a>. Tolle has bigger stuff, averaging 97 MPH on a heater that plays up even further based on his excellent extension and above-average life at the top of the zone. Early also gets good extension and has fantastic secondary stuff, headlined by a plus changeup. His 94 MPH fastball is closer to average, but he\u2019s a superior strike-thrower to Tolle.<\/p>\n

Both pitchers have six years of club control and a trio of minor league options. Teams are loath to part with starters who have this level of talent. It\u2019s unlikely the Sox would trade either pitcher for a player who is a year from free agency. Would they entertain it for a controllable star hitter? McCaffrey and McAdam both floated the possibility of the Sox trying to reengage with Arizona on Marte by dangling one of Tolle or Early alongside an outfielder like\u00a0Jarren Duran<\/a> or Rafaela. Even if the Diamondbacks are committed to moving forward with Marte, the general idea is that the Sox would only move one of their most talented starters for an impact bat.<\/p>\n

Brayan Bello<\/a><\/p>\n

Bello will make $6MM next season and is signed for a total of $50.5MM over the next four years. There\u2019s a club option for 2030 that gives the Sox a fifth season of control. Bello would be locked into the fourth starter role if he\u2019s not traded. The 26-year-old righty has briefly come up in conversations this offseason, albeit with uncertainty about how willing the Sox are to move him.<\/p>\n

Last season, Bello ranked second on the team with 166 2\/3 innings. He turned in a 3.35 earned run average but didn\u2019t have as favorable reviews from estimators like FIP (4.19) and SIERA (4.55). That\u2019s due to a career-low 17.7% strikeout rate. Bello\u2019s 8.6% swinging strike percentage was also a personal low and ranked in the bottom 25 among all MLB pitchers (min. 100 innings pitched). It\u2019s difficult to maintain mid-rotation results with that level of swing and miss.<\/p>\n

Bello has good velocity, averaging 95 MPH on his sinker and four-seam fastball. The sinker is the better of the two offerings, and he leans on it more as a ground-ball pitch than one that gets a lot of whiffs. While Bello has missed more bats in previous seasons, he has always had more of a ground-ball approach. There\u2019s volatility baked into that, and the Sox don\u2019t project to have a great infield defense behind him. Bello is probably closer to a league average arm than the ERA would indicate. That\u2019s still valuable at the remaining $12.625MM average annual value on his contract. Notably, if the Sox chose to move Bello, they\u2019d be trimming what\u2019s currently a $9.166MM luxury hit from their current books (the overall AAV of his extension, which covers the 2024-29 seasons).<\/p>\n

Kutter Crawford<\/a>\/Patrick Sandoval<\/a><\/p>\n

Both pitchers missed the entire 2025 season. Crawford, who is signed for $2.75MM in his second of four arbitration years, began the year on the shelf with right knee discomfort. He injured his right wrist a couple months later and underwent surgery. Crawford had been a swingman for his first couple seasons but stepped into a full-time rotation role in 2024. He pitched well for a few months until a second-half home run spike pushed his ERA to 4.36 across 183 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n

Crawford had slightly above-average strikeout and walk marks a couple seasons ago. The home runs and injury history are concerns, but he\u2019s cheaply controllable through 2028 and could be a league average starter if he\u2019s healthy. He also has a pair of minor league options, so there\u2019s a decent amount of roster flexibility for the Sox or any team that acquires him. He\u2019s well behind Tolle, Early and Bello in terms of trade value but would have some appeal if the Sox tried to swap him for a utility infielder or controllable bullpen piece.<\/p>\n

The Sox knew that Sandoval was unlikely to pitch much (if at all) in 2025 when they signed him to a two-year, $18.25MM contract early in his rehab from June \u201924 Tommy John surgery. They backloaded the deal, paying $5.5MM for his rehab year and a $12.75MM salary for the upcoming season. The 29-year-old Sandoval was a mid-rotation starter over his final three seasons as a member of the Angels. He pitched to a 3.84 ERA with a 21.9% strikeout rate in nearly 400 innings between 2022-24. His command is fringy but he sits around 94 MPH and has above-average secondaries with his changeup and slider.<\/p>\n

Boston may not want to trade Sandoval for a modest return after paying more than $5MM to cover his rehab year. The front office liked him enough to sign him to that deal in the first place. Yet the rotation picture has changed, and Sandoval\u2019s five-plus years of service mean he can\u2019t be sent to the minors. They might be better off trusting Oviedo or Crawford as the fifth starter and getting some of Sandoval\u2019s contract off the books for a utility or bullpen pickup.<\/p>\n

Kyle Harrison<\/a><\/p>\n

Of the players acquired from the Giants in the\u00a0Rafael Devers<\/a> trade, Harrison was probably the centerpiece. The deal was mostly about moving on from Devers and shedding his contract. The Sox kept Harrison in Triple-A for much of the \u201925 season even as their rotation was being hit by injuries. They finally brought him up in September. Harrison pitched well over his first two outings before getting knocked around in his third. The Sox carried him on their Wild Card Series roster but didn\u2019t use him, opting instead to go with the rookie Early in a must-win Game 3.<\/p>\n

Harrison has a decent arm, sitting in the 94-95 MPH range. His secondary stuff and command have been inconsistent, and he owns a 4.39 ERA across 194 2\/3 career innings. Harrison is under club control for at least five seasons and has a pair of options remaining. There\u2019d be plenty of teams interested if the Sox shopped him, but his stock has dropped since he was one of the sport\u2019s top pitching prospects a couple seasons ago. Boston is probably better served holding him and hoping for a step forward in his age-24 season.<\/p>\n

Tanner Houck<\/a><\/p>\n

An offseason Houck trade wouldn\u2019t accomplish much and feels unlikely. He\u2019s coming off a terrible year that culminated in an August Tommy John procedure. He\u2019s expected to miss the \u201926 season and would have minimal appeal to another team. Houck agreed to a $4.1MM salary to avoid arbitration and should make the same amount for his final year of club control . They can place him on the 60-day injured list once Spring Training opens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Red Sox went big with their first free agent signing of the winter, adding\u00a0Ranger Su\u00e1rez for five…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,30848,91434,211170,112591,591,76377,85,9424],"class_list":{"0":"post-417394","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-brayan-bello","11":"tag-connelly-early","12":"tag-kutter-crawford","13":"tag-kyle-harrison","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-payton-tolle","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-tanner-houck"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}