{"id":703012,"date":"2026-05-29T21:40:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/703012\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T21:40:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T21:40:18","slug":"the-red-sox-could-field-a-competitive-roster-from-players-they-gave-away-for-nothing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/703012\/","title":{"rendered":"The Red Sox could field a competitive roster from players they gave away for nothing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Watching Chris Sale<\/a> pitch against the Red Sox<\/a> on Thursday in the midst of another likely All-Star season, it\u2019s still mind-boggling to think that Boston<\/a> got nothing of value in return for Sale.<\/p>\n

In fact, they gave Atlanta<\/a> money to take on Sale while getting only prospect bust Vaughn Grissom <\/a>in return. But Sale is just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n

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The Red Sox have nothing to show for the Rafael Devers<\/a> trade but roster flexibility. Connor Wong<\/a> is the only remaining player on the roster from the ill-fated Mookie Betts<\/a> move.<\/p>\n

There are more. Xander Bogaerts<\/a> left and returned only a comp pick that became struggling prospect Kristian Campbell<\/a>. At least he\u2019s still in the organization. Nathan Eovaldi<\/a> comp-pick Justin Reimer is long gone.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s possible to make a full Major League roster of players who the Red Sox traded or let walk with very little to show for it. It wouldn\u2019t be a great roster, but it would be competitive with the 23-32 team that currently plays home games at Fenway.<\/p>\n

The roster below doesn\u2019t even include Kyle Teel<\/a>, Chase Meidroth<\/a>, Christian Vazquez<\/a> or Eduardo Rodriguez<\/a>. At least with those four guys, the Red Sox can look at the returns for those players \u2014 Teel and Meidroth were part of the trade for Garrett Crochet<\/a>. A Vazquez trade produced Wilyer Abreu<\/a> and the compensation round draft pick they got for Rodriguez was Roman Anthony<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Below is a roster of ex-Red Sox currently in the majors who brought back nothing or next-to-nothing for Boston.<\/p>\n

Starting PitchersChris Sale <\/p>\n

traded with cash to Braves for Vaughn Grissom<\/p>\n

Sale, who has rekindled his Hall of Fame chances, was 7-3 with a 1.89 ERA with 72 strikeouts coming into the game. Each of those had him in the top 10 among major league starters. His WAR is 12.2 since leaving Boston.<\/p>\n

Nathan Eovaldi<\/p>\n

Eovaldi remains a good starter on a lousy Rangers team at 5-5 with a 3.65 ERA and 61 strikeouts.<\/p>\n

In four seasons since leaving Boston, he\u2019s 40-21, with a 3.20 ERA and 8.7 K\/9 with a 7.7 WAR.<\/p>\n

Michael Wacha<\/a><\/p>\n

Wacha was good in his one season in Boston going 11-2 with a 3.32 ERA and 3.2 WAR, but they made minimal effort to keep him as he signed in San Diego<\/a> for $6.5 million less than he made in Boston.<\/p>\n

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This year in Kansas City<\/a>, he\u2019s 4-2 with a 2.69 ERA and 60 strikeouts with a 2.1 WAR.<\/p>\n

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

Harrison was the best piece of the Rafael Devers trade. That deal would look so much better now if Craig Breslow<\/a> hadn\u2019t been fleeced by the Brewers in the Caleb Durbin trade.<\/p>\n

At 6-1, with a 1.57 ERA and 61 Ks, he\u2019s a possible All-Star.<\/p>\n

Quinn Priester\/Nick Pivetta<\/a><\/p>\n

Priester, who is currently injured, was traded for Yophery Rodriguez<\/a>, John Holobetz and a draft pick. Pivetta, who left as a free agent is out with a flexor strain.<\/p>\n

The Brewers have done a terrific job stealing pitchers from the Red Sox. Priester<\/a> was 13-3 with a 3.32 ERA, 132 Ks and 3.0 WAR last year, but is out with thoracic outlet syndrome. Unless the Red Sox had some health concerns about him, they gave away a young productive starter.<\/p>\n

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Rodriguez is having a solid year in High-A, but he\u2019s years away from contributing. Holobetz has been unremarkable in Double-A.<\/p>\n

Pivetta was 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA, 190 Ks and a 5.0 WAR last year.<\/p>\n

BullpenKenley Jansen<\/a><\/p>\n

Signed with Tigers as a free agent<\/p>\n

After earning 29 saves while going 5-4 with a 2.59 ERA last year, he\u2019s 1-3, with a 4.80 ERA and seven saves.<\/p>\n

Matt Strahm<\/a><\/p>\n

At 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA and a 9.4 K\/9, he\u2019s still a valuable member of the Royals bullpen.<\/p>\n

John Schreiber<\/a><\/p>\n

Traded for David Sandlin before the 2024 season<\/p>\n

Schreiber has been solid out of the Kansas City bullpen at 0-2, with a 2.95 ERA and a save.<\/p>\n

Cooper Criswell<\/a><\/p>\n

The former Red Sox farmhand has been solid for Seattle<\/a> at 1-1, 3.33 ERA.<\/p>\n

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Shane Drohan<\/p>\n

Traded with Harrison to Milwaukee<\/a> for Caleb Durbin<\/p>\n

The other piece of the Durbin deal is off to a good start in Wisconsin with a 2-1 record and a 2.63 ERA.<\/p>\n

LineupC – Reece McGuire\/Sandy Leon<\/p>\n

McGuire left as a free agent. Leon was dealt for a non-prospect.<\/p>\n

Admittedly, neither of these guys are anybody the Red Sox would like to have back.<\/p>\n

1B – Rafael Devers<\/p>\n

Traded for Kyle Harrison, James Tibbs, Jordan Hicks and Jose Bello<\/p>\n

Devers, like most of his Giants teammates, is having a down year \u2014 7 home runs, .695 OPS. But its hard to picture that he and the Red Sox wouldn\u2019t have been better off together. Boston was happy to dump his contract and never reinvested his money into offensive help.<\/p>\n

2B \u2013 Vaughn Grissom<\/p>\n

Grissom was traded to Anaheim for a long-shot prospect<\/p>\n

Grissom, who was a huge bust in Boston after the ill-fated Sale trade, has started to show some signs of life in Anaheim, where he has three home runs and a .674 OPS. Those numbers are better than Marcelo<\/a> Mayer\u2019s two home runs and .581 OPS.<\/p>\n

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SS \u2014 Xander Bogaerts<\/p>\n

Signed with San Diego as a free agent<\/p>\n

The popular former Red Sox shortstop and leader is having a bit of a bounce-back season with seven home runs and nine steals. He could finish with 20 home runs and 20 steals. The Red Sox miss his leadership and clubhouse presence as well as his offense.<\/p>\n

3B – Alex Bregman<\/a><\/p>\n

Signed with the Cubs as a free agent<\/p>\n

His production has dipped going from Fenway to Wrigley. He\u2019s got just four home runs and a .703 OPS. Still it\u2019s hard not to think he\u2019d have been a valuable resource when Roman Anthony was slumping or a voice that could help mature Jarren Duran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

LF \u2013 Kyle Schwarber<\/a><\/p>\n

Signed with Philadelphia as a free agent<\/p>\n

Back in the old days, when winning championships was a much higher priority for the Boston owner, the Red Sox would have found a way to keep Schwarber after his cameo in 2021.<\/p>\n

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In four full seasons in Philadelphia, he\u2019s averaged 47.25 home runs per season and is on pace to surpass that this year with 21 to go with his .957 OPS. The punchless Red Sox could sure use a jolt of that.<\/p>\n

RF \u2013 Mookie Betts<\/p>\n

Traded for Alex Verdugo, Jeter Downs and Connor Wong <\/p>\n

Betts missed a month with an injury so his numbers (six home runs, .649 OPS) aren\u2019t cause for panic yet.<\/p>\n

He could have landed in several positions on this roster. Even if Betts would never have re-signed when he was a free agent, it\u2019s criminal how little the Red Sox got in return for him.<\/p>\n

CF \u2014 Enrique Hernandez<\/a><\/p>\n

Traded to the Dodgers<\/a> for lesser prospects<\/p>\n

This spot could have been Rob Refsnyder<\/a>, Andrew Benintendi<\/a> or Tyler O\u2019Neill. Not a lot of good choices.<\/p>\n

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DH \u2014 Nathaniel Lowe<\/a><\/p>\n

Signed with Reds as a free agent<\/p>\n

He was never going to be a long-term fit in Boston, but his 8 home runs and .912 OPS are better than most Red Sox right now.<\/p>\n

Bench:<\/p>\n

Dominic Smith<\/a>, David Hamilton, Rob Refsnyder<\/p>\n

NCAA should take more care with Brendan Sorsby<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the NCAA denied Brendan Sorsby\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re hoping that the Texas Tech quarterback coming out of gambling rehab will declare himself eligible for the supplemental draft and become the NFL\u2019s problem to worry about.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s probably what will happen. While Sorsby might beat the NCAA in court if he chose to make the fight, timing is a problem. He\u2019s only got until June 30 to declare himself eligible. If he doesn\u2019t turn pro now, he might be left idle until 2027, wasting an important year of his development and his career.<\/p>\n

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But the NCAA should welcome him back. His situation is something they should try to learn from, not run from.<\/p>\n

Legalized gambling, the transfer portal and NIL arrived in college sports in awfully close proximity. Suddenly athletes had a lot more money, were harder to monitor and had easy access to gambling.<\/p>\n

There was always going to be a Brendan Sorsby. Athletes crave the rush of competition and now they can do it on their phones. Schools and conferences and the NCAA as a whole have varying amounts of preventative education. And nobody can force a player to absorb it, but just kicking him to the curb like rotten fruit can\u2019t be the best answer? There are other Sorsbys out there.<\/p>\n

If the NCAA cares about the student athlete, a year in college with increased monitoring is almost certainly the best option for Sorsby. In return, he should let the NCAA behind his curtain. Show them all the trap doors and potholes that are out there for at-risk athletes to fall through.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s going to be a rough couple of weeks<\/p>\n

In the long term, will it be worse if the Knicks win the NBA title or lose it? Their fans will be hard to be around either way.<\/p>\n

Because it\u2019s New York, they have an outsized opinion of their importance on the sports landscape and the fact that they haven\u2019t won anything in decades has made them that much more insufferable.<\/p>\n

The Knicks fans might be the worst in all of American sports. Throughout the NBA finals, we\u2019re going be treated to all of their performative celebrity fans mugging for the camera. It\u2019s like if the 2004 Red Sox had 25 Ben Afflecks.<\/p>\n

Knicks fans are worse than Lakers fans.<\/p>\n

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Knicks fans are worse than Yankees<\/a> fans.<\/p>\n

Go Oklahomantonio.<\/p>\n

The Top 5Top 5 Celtics coaches never to win Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n

5. Jim O\u2019Brien<\/p>\n

4. Doc Rivers<\/p>\n

3. KC Jones<\/p>\n

2. Brad Stevens<\/p>\n

1. Bill Russell<\/p>\n

Real Jeopardy! Clue<\/a><\/p>\n

Sports clues from actual editions of America\u2019s favorite quiz show. As always, mind the date<\/p>\n

CATEGORY: NBA Finals – $800<\/p>\n

Date: May 28, 2026<\/p>\n

Fans in Philly for Game 4 of the 1980 Finals saw one of the most amazing moves ever as this Doctor went up, then under & around two defenders & the backboard for a gravity-defying reverse layup<\/p>\n

\u2014 Answer below<\/p>\n

Today in Massachusetts Sports History<\/p>\n

May 29<\/p>\n

1980 \u2014 Larry Bird beat out Magic Johnson for NBA rookie of year.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Lightning round<\/p>\n

If the opening proposals mean anything, this is going to be a long work stoppage for baseball.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for a takeout sandwich and you\u2019re anywhere the North End, My Mother\u2019s Cutlets, makes an amazing sandwich.<\/p>\n

I just read an article on graduation speech wisdom and I liked this quote from Patti Smith<\/a>: \u201cMaybe curiosity killed the cat, but the lack of curiosity will kill us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Real Jeopardy! Question:<\/p>\n

Who is Julius Erving?<\/p>\n

Finally…<\/p>\n

Happy National Paper Clip Day to those who celebrate.<\/p>\n

Read the original article on MassLive<\/a>. Add MassLive<\/a> as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watching Chris Sale pitch against the Red Sox on Thursday in the midst of another likely All-Star season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[5154,180882,57638,58090,4131,64,63,483,130442,2870,240118,180605,180603,6115,10146,225113,15430,64939,5138,99126,77921,166011,6104,16047,342194,13521,33450,12845,42155,112591,5152,240119,2873,196042,16071,235230,5130,591,6590,10539,60093,5136,342195,342193,5148,16088,60094,31839,5886,5157,5142,318821,85,79186,91435,21936,42153,6114],"class_list":["post-703012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-alex-bregman","tag-andrew-benintendi","tag-andruw-monasterio","tag-anthony-seigler","tag-atlanta","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boston","tag-caleb-durbin","tag-celtics","tag-chase-meidroth","tag-chris-sale","tag-christian-vazquez","tag-cleveland","tag-connor-wong","tag-cooper-criswell","tag-craig-breslow","tag-david-hamilton","tag-dodgers","tag-dominic-smith","tag-eduardo-rodriguez","tag-enrique-hernandez","tag-garrett-crochet","tag-jarren-duran","tag-john-schreiber","tag-kansas-city","tag-kenley-jansen","tag-knicks","tag-kristian-campbell","tag-kyle-harrison","tag-kyle-schwarber","tag-kyle-teel","tag-lakers","tag-marcelo","tag-matt-strahm","tag-michael-wacha","tag-milwaukee","tag-mlb","tag-mookie-betts","tag-nathan-eovaldi","tag-nathaniel-lowe","tag-philadelphia","tag-pivetta","tag-priester","tag-rafael-devers","tag-red-sox","tag-rob-refsnyder","tag-roman-anthony","tag-san-diego","tag-san-francisco-giants","tag-seattle","tag-shane-drohan","tag-sports","tag-the-athletics","tag-vaughn-grissom","tag-wilyer-abreu","tag-xander-bogaerts","tag-yankees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703012","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=703012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}