Article: 4 Names That Should Top Craig Breslow's Red Sox Wishlist as the Trade Deadline Approaches

[Alex Mayes]

The Boston Red Sox are firmly in the thick of the playoff hunt as the second half of the season gets underway, even following a series loss to the formidable Chicago Cubs. They have an incredibly difficult second half schedule to overcome, but they’ve proven in recent weeks that they are able to win games with both their offense and their pitching. Even with some players on the roster emerging as legitimate stars, the team needs to be active on the trade market.

Just how active is anyone’s guess though. In his first trade deadline last year, President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow made deals on the fringes of the major league roster to try and put the team in a position to make the postseason. He failed pretty miserably. Now, in 2025, Breslow has the firepower to pull off trades that can make the Red Sox surefire postseason players. While we don’t have access to Breslow’s specific player wishlist, the four names below should be squarely at the top of it.

• Edward Cabrera
  • The Red Sox have been linked to Cabrera in the past, but that was before he found his footing as a starter in 2025. Now, he’s pitched to a 3.61 ERA with 86 strikeouts and a 3-4 record over 82 1/3 innings. Breslow has said he prefers controllable pitchers over expiring deals and Cabrera checks that box. He’s still arbitration eligible and won’t reach free agency until 2029. That being said, he won’t be cheap. He strikes people out at a 24.8% clip, and his walk rate (8.6%) and ground ball rate (45.5%) are encouraging. He’s considered day-to-day with an elbow injury at the moment, so there could be a bit of concern about his health, but that could help to make him a bit cheaper as the deadline approaches, too. Cabrera isn’t the prototypical No. 2 type starter that the Red Sox have been connected to, but honestly, the team likely doesn’t need to add a co-ace at the deadline. That’s something that can be saved for the offseason when those types of names become available more often.
•  Lucas Erceg
  • Erceg also fits the controllable profile that Breslow has identified in the run-up to the trade deadline. He won’t reach free agency until 2030, so he’d be expensive for that alone, not even including his dominance on the mound. Luckily for the Red Sox, the Royals are in need of outfielders and Boston has a plethora of them to pick from. He’s an elite set-up reliever and would help prevent the rest of the bullpen from being overtaxed as the season moves through the summer months. His 2.09 ERA would rank him second among all qualified relievers on the roster, behind only Aroldis Chapman’s 1.18 mark. Erceg is an off-speed specialist who would slot in nicely right in front of Chapman, or another closer we’ll get to in a second, as the Red Sox look to close out games on a high note. He induces a ton of ground balls, currently ranked in the 95th percentile according to Baseball Savant, and with the infield defense taking a step forward with Marcelo Mayer shifting to second, he could be a monster in Boston.
• Ryan Helsley
  • There’s a bit of a caveat with Helsley, because if the Red Sox were to acquire him, it would likely mean that Chapman has been dealt in a different trade. If the team is looking to capitalize on Chapman’s value, this should be the play they make. Helsley is a year removed from being an All-Star, and though this season doesn’t seem to be a repeat of last, he’s still a dominant closer. The other downside to Helsley is he’s not a controllable arm like Breslow wants. He will become a free agent at season’s end, so it’s entirely possible the Sox are fine to wait for that to happen and sign him when they wouldn’t have to give up prospects and other assets to land him. Helsley is working with a 3.27 ERA on the season, and while that’s not an improvement over what Chapman is doing, Helsley is younger and would be far more deserving of an extension than a reliever having a career resurgence at age 37.
• Christian Vazquez
  • The final name here isn’t flashy, but it fixes a glaring problem on the roster. It’s no secret that Connor Wong shouldn’t be long for this team. He’s underperformed more than anyone else on the roster this year, and the backup catcher role has to be addressed at the trade deadline. Sure, you’d like to see a bigger name than Vazquez in the conversation, but he's an upgrade over Wong that wouldn’t cost a ton. He’s slashing .167/.236/.247, so he’s perfectly at home in a backup catcher role, and coming back to Boston could be just the thing that sparks him to add just a bit more offensive firepower to his game. He’s beloved in Boston and would be an incredible mentor for Carlos Narvaez throughout the remainder of the season. Vazquez is a free agent at the end of the year, so the long-term back up catching plan still wouldn’t be crystal clear, but bringing Vazquez back to Boston would help to send him off into the sunset on a high note in front of fans that adore him. He could likely be had on an incredibly cheap contract for next season if he decides to stick around, too.

There are a ton of different ways the Red Sox could go as the trade deadline approaches, but being buyers in some capacity is the correct path forward. The four names listed above would be win-now additions, while some would bolster the team for the future at the same time. If the team looks to capitalize on the value that some rostered players have, they are going to have to supplement the team as those names are traded away. We haven’t seen Breslow make a plethora of trades so far in his role as the President of Baseball Operations, but this season feels like the perfect time to make a handful of high-impact additions as the team prepares to be contenders in October in 2025 and beyond.

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[moonslav59]

Please: NO Vazquez.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Interesting choice of 4 names.  Cabrera is a given.  Miami can get something of value for him but BOS needs to check his health carefully, so we don't end up with a Paxton type situation once we do the deal.  He's an excellent long-term pitcher but if the deal is to help be successful in 2025, we need an extensive health check.

Erceg is another excellent choice, and Abreu is the perfect trading partner for Erceg.

Helsley is a great choice but I'm not sure why Chapman would be traded to acquire Helsley.  To me, that makes no sense.  I would add Helsley with Chapman if the team is to make a run in 2025 but I'm not sure we have anything we can offer for Helsley if Abreu goes to KC.

Vazquez is a great suggestion IF he's forgiving the organization for how poorly Bloom handled the situation.  He's a great back-up catcher and his love for Boston and the Red Sox was epic.  I'm hoping it still is.

Fun choice of 4.  Nice out of the box thinking.  I personally prefer adding Helsley and not trading Chapman if the team is to make the playoffs with their schedule.

 

[Malcolm White]

On 7/21/2025 at 4:33 PM, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Interesting choice of 4 names.  Cabrera is a given.  Miami can get something of value for him but BOS needs to check his health carefully, so we don't end up with a Paxton type situation once we do the deal.  He's an excellent long-term pitcher but if the deal is to help be successful in 2025, we need an extensive health check.

Erceg is another excellent choice, and Abreu is the perfect trading partner for Erceg.

Helsley is a great choice but I'm not sure why Chapman would be traded to acquire Helsley.  To me, that makes no sense.  I would add Helsley with Chapman if the team is to make a run in 2025 but I'm not sure we have anything we can offer for Helsley if Abreu goes to KC.

Vazquez is a great suggestion IF he's forgiving the organization for how poorly Bloom handled the situation.  He's a great back-up catcher and his love for Boston and the Red Sox was epic.  I'm hoping it still is.

Fun choice of 4.  Nice out of the box thinking.  I personally prefer adding Helsley and not trading Chapman if the team is to make the playoffs with their schedule.

 

This  presumes they'll be buyers. It's obvious that this version of the Sox is overpowered by strong teams. Yes, the AL playoffs will be easier than this stretch, but depending on platoon players and rookies is not a winning strategy. If they're able to get even one game from each of these three series, they're in a mosh pit to qualify for the away game of a one-game series, with the toughest schedule in baseball in front of them and at least a dozen teams driving prices up. That's why I wouldn't advocate spending too much prospect capital at the deadline, maybe a Morton and a reliever to shore up the staff.

They have rookies in key spots in the order, won't let their best defenders play against lefties, DFA'd guys in key bullpen roles -- it's a mishmash. See how the kids finish the season; they're fortunate that most of their better minor leaguers are having strong seasons. There are deals to be made, good deals, but better ones in the offseason.

I don't like saying this, but they were a mess when their schedule was the easiest and they didn't make hay. And now the price of even incremental additions is ridiculous.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

5 hours ago, Malcolm White said:

This  presumes they'll be buyers. It's obvious that this version of the Sox is overpowered by strong teams. Yes, the AL playoffs will be easier than this stretch, but depending on platoon players and rookies is not a winning strategy. If they're able to get even one game from each of these three series, they're in a mosh pit to qualify for the away game of a one-game series, with the toughest schedule in baseball in front of them and at least a dozen teams driving prices up. That's why I wouldn't advocate spending too much prospect capital at the deadline, maybe a Morton and a reliever to shore up the staff.

They have rookies in key spots in the order, won't let their best defenders play against lefties, DFA'd guys in key bullpen roles -- it's a mishmash. See how the kids finish the season; they're fortunate that most of their better minor leaguers are having strong seasons. There are deals to be made, good deals, but better ones in the offseason.

I don't like saying this, but they were a mess when their schedule was the easiest and they didn't make hay. And now the price of even incremental additions is ridiculous.

Excellent commentary.  One of the best analyses of the Red Sox I have seen.  I agree the buying / selling decision is premature and while the 10 win then 10 loss theory won't be precisely true, it was fairly predictable that they would swing back to .500 after their hot streak.  

I firmly believe they should be playing for 2026, and Cora should be let go so Breslow can take full accountability for the 2026 results.  The way Cora is constantly messing with the daily line-up it's almost as if he doesn't want to win.  Duran CF, Rafaela RF, Anthony LF, Bregman 3B, Yoshida DH, Story SS, Mayer 2B, Narvaez C and Toro 1B (for now). 

The bench should be Wong (for now), Gonzalez, Refsnyder and Abreu.  At some point soon I hope Campbell returns as the 1B and makes Abreu or Yoshida obsolete, so they trade one of them, preferably Abreu since there is no room for a platoon player even if he has good power.  All players need to be able to hit both RH and LH pitchers.  It doesn't have to be equal but Abreu is over 70 points apart with his average vs LH pitchers is below .200.