Red Sox Linked to Several Frontline Starting Pitchers In Trade

[Nick John]

The trade deadline is now 26 hours away, and the Red Sox are attempting to upgrade their roster. Their biggest need appears to be starting pitching, as the team has been linked to starters Mitch Keller and Dylan Cease.

Now, Rob Bradford of WEEI reports that the Red Sox have shown interest in pitchers Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Along with that, Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reports that the Red Sox have been monitoring Sandy Alcantara of the Miami Marlins.

All three starters are likely to be moved before the deadline and have the potential to upgrade the Red Sox rotation based on past pedigree.

What do you think? Should the Red Sox pursue any of these three? Is there a different starter they should go after? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below.

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[Nick]

With Cease, it's worth it to give up a high level, positional prospect for a rental. No pitchers though.

We have enough, young positional players.

It's worth gambling on a starting pitcher that can give us a lift.

 

[Nick]

I don't know if we have enough bullets, but Cease, Duran and 1B man would get us to the promised land, me thinks. I'm okay with emptying the farm as long as they are not pitchers.

[Larry Cook]

I saw cease pitch a couple weeks ago!!  Is he really better than Fitts??? Hard to imagine 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Larry Cook said:

I saw cease pitch a couple weeks ago!!  Is he really better than Fitts??? Hard to imagine 

Yes, but not worth the trade cost.

[Hitch]

We should not be doing anything close to emptying the farm in deals that involve Cease.

[mvp 78]

10 minutes ago, Hitch said:

We should not be doing anything close to emptying the farm in deals that involve Cease.

Agreed.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

Miami has Alcantara, who is a stud starting to return to form.  Miami has Eury Perez a young stud who will be a strong SP3.  Miami has Edward Cabrera a comparable pitcher to Perez.  Back up the truck of prospects and go get at least Alcantara and one other and if possible get both Perez and Cabrera. 

WOW would that make this staff tough down the stretch and in 2026 and beyond.  Most of the prospects in the farm system now that the big three are MLB players, are solid but not great so the deal needs to be volume for quality.  Empty the top 10 for the three players.  The two years the team would have to wait for the lower-level prospects to rise won't hurt this organization because the team is so young.

Seldom are there 3 great pitching prospects available from one team that is the lowest payroll team in the MLB.  Take advantage of the situation like the Yankees did when Jeter ran the Marlins!!

[sk7326]

3 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Miami has Alcantara, who is a stud starting to return to form.  Miami has Eury Perez a young stud who will be a strong SP3.  Miami has Edward Cabrera a comparable pitcher to Perez.  Back up the truck of prospects and go get at least Alcantara and one other and if possible get both Perez and Cabrera. 

WOW would that make this staff tough down the stretch and in 2026 and beyond.  Most of the prospects in the farm system now that the big three are MLB players, are solid but not great so the deal needs to be volume for quality.  Empty the top 10 for the three players.  The two years the team would have to wait for the lower-level prospects to rise won't hurt this organization because the team is so young.

Seldom are there 3 great pitching prospects available from one team that is the lowest payroll team in the MLB.  Take advantage of the situation like the Yankees did when Jeter ran the Marlins!!

Alcantara is the most interesting as the team control is attractive for a former Cy winner.  Now - he has been arguably the worst starting pitcher in the majors this season, and that counts on his resume too.  The FIP numbers speak to a little bit of bad luck, but STILL lousy.  But the last couple of starts have had some promise.  How much signal vs noise is why Breslow gets the big bucks.  

I'd have a hard time dealing him if I was Florida, just because it's so obviously selling low.  

[mvp 78]

26 minutes ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Miami has Alcantara, who is a stud starting to return to form.  Miami has Eury Perez a young stud who will be a strong SP3.  Miami has Edward Cabrera a comparable pitcher to Perez.  Back up the truck of prospects and go get at least Alcantara and one other and if possible get both Perez and Cabrera. 

WOW would that make this staff tough down the stretch and in 2026 and beyond.  Most of the prospects in the farm system now that the big three are MLB players, are solid but not great so the deal needs to be volume for quality.  Empty the top 10 for the three players.  The two years the team would have to wait for the lower-level prospects to rise won't hurt this organization because the team is so young.

Seldom are there 3 great pitching prospects available from one team that is the lowest payroll team in the MLB.  Take advantage of the situation like the Yankees did when Jeter ran the Marlins!!

Cabrera is not comparable to Perez.

[TedYazPapiMookie]

4 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Cabrera is not comparable to Perez.

Most people don't know Perez so I didn't want to speak too highly of him if we are going to trade for him because I don't want to drive the price up.  My personal opinion is he's better than Alcantara but history suggests Alcantara is a more proven pitcher.  Cabrera while nowhere near as good as Perez he is far more proven and far more likely to part of a deal than Perez.  If I ranked the BOSTON staff versus the MIAMI staff, I would put Perez above Crochet but that's my bias.  I would rank Alcantara close behind Crochet so that's why I keep pushing for Breslow to spend whatever farm system he needs to spend to get at least two if not all three Miami starters. 

The comparable comment related to how seasoned Cabrera is while lesser in talent.  I completely agree with you.

[moonslav59]

To me, Joe Ryan might be the best non rental available, but his availability is in question. The extra years of control carry a lot of value. He is NOT a one year wonder. In 2024, he had a .657 OPS Against and a 3.44 FIP. Combine 2024 & 2025: 3.23 ERA (131 ERA+) 3.32 FIP & 0.956 WHIP.

My next choice might be Mitch Keller due to the years of control. He has a .668 OPSA, this year. He's been pretty mediocre for years, though.

[Hitch]

5 hours ago, TedYazPapiMookie said:

Most people don't know Perez so I didn't want to speak too highly of him if we are going to trade for him because I don't want to drive the price up.  

Oh bravo, sir. Fantastic work. 

[Hugh2]

The more I think about it, the more I think Joe Ryan should be the move.  But it would be very unlike the Sox to trade like that at the deadline.  But it would be weclomed. 

Crochet/Ryan/Giolito/Bello is going beat teams. 

[Hitch]

15 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

The more I think about it, the more I think Joe Ryan should be the move.  But it would be very unlike the Sox to trade like that at the deadline.  But it would be weclomed. 

Crochet/Ryan/Giolito/Bello is going beat teams. 

I just don't see us being able to get him. I'd love him and it would definitely put us in a place to nail down a post season spot (health assumed), but I think Twins are happy to keep him until the off season and reassess, which would mean us needing to blow them away. 

What would you offer for him out of interest?

[Hugh2]

43 minutes ago, Hitch said:

I just don't see us being able to get him. I'd love him and it would definitely put us in a place to nail down a post season spot (health assumed), but I think Twins are happy to keep him until the off season and reassess, which would mean us needing to blow them away. 

What would you offer for him out of interest?

I'd offer Abreu/Tolle/Arias