Red Sox 2025 Trade Deadline Thread

[vegasbob]

20 hours ago, harmony said:

A headline at The Athletic: The Astros — bold, decisive, interesting — are the team the Red Sox used to be

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6531333/2025/08/01/red-sox-houston-astros-trade-deadline/

Subscription required.

A snippet:

 

Well it's  a small sample but the Dull Sox are waxing the dynamic Asstros this weekend

 

[a700hitter]

Is  the prevailing attitude that Story will not  be back in 26 and that Bregman will be opting out?  Maybe Mayer is ready to step in full time at SS, but losing Bregman would hurt.  Also, I am not a big fan of handing 1B back to Casas.

[moonslav59]

25 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I agree you can't have everybody on the field at once, but guys get beat up and injured, too, and a little insurance is not a horrible thing, especially after a trade deadline... 

Very true, but answer me this: where do guys get most beat up and who do we always need to trade for every deadline?

It's pitching and rarely OF, unless it's some minor Tommy Pham trade.

We'd be subtracting from OF depth and adding SP depth. I still want us to sign a solid SP'er AND trade an OF'er for another one. (I'm pretty sure Brez would just do one without the other, so I get your point.)

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, a700hitter said:

Is  the prevailing attitude that Story will not  be back in 26 and that Bregman will be opting out?  Maybe Mayer is ready to step in full time at SS, but losing Bregman would hurt.  Also, I am not a big fan of handing 1B back to Casas.

Story not back next year?  How?  The Sox need him.  Mayer makes me nervous because he is very injury prone.  Agree on Casas.  He's missed one full season because he swung a bat and then, this season, ran to 1b.  My guess is Campbell gets that spot.  

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Very true, but answer me this: where do guys get most beat up and who do we always need to trade for every deadline?

It's pitching and rarely OF, unless it's some minor Tommy Pham trade.

We'd be subtracting from OF depth and adding SP depth. I still want us to sign a solid SP'er AND trade an OF'er for another one. (I'm pretty sure Brez would just do one without the other, so I get your point.)

I was afraid you would say that.  In the past, the Sox have always been inclined to add a starter in July when they think they are in the hunt.  I think it was Jake Peavy in 2013 and Eovaldi in 2018.  

[dgalehouse]

I think the trade deadline is overrated. There is so much hype that people get crazy. " It's the deadline. We have to do something. It's our last chance to improve. We need this. We need that. Do something, Breslow".  And we saw the weeping and gnashing of teeth when Breslow didn't do enough to please them. But sometimes it is better to leave well enough alone. And the Sox are looking pretty good post deadline. All that anger for what ? 

[Hugh2]

9 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

I think the trade deadline is overrated. There is so much hype that people get crazy. " It's the deadline. We have to do something. It's our last chance to improve. We need this. We need that. Do something, Breslow".  And we saw the weeping and gnashing of teeth when Breslow didn't do enough to please them. But sometimes it is better to leave well enough alone. And the Sox are looking pretty good post deadline. All that anger for what ? 

I was just thinking the other day that in recent years it really feels like the level of talent that moves around the deadline has really fallen off.

[cp176]

3 hours ago, a700hitter said:

Is  the prevailing attitude that Story will not  be back in 26 and that Bregman will be opting out?  Maybe Mayer is ready to step in full time at SS, but losing Bregman would hurt.  Also, I am not a big fan of handing 1B back to Casas.

Story will be back.  I would sign Bregman for life so that he could coach for us when his playing days are done.  I would also resign Giolito as well as Chapman.  As for Casas, I think that they should have gotten rid of him when he wasn’t interested in signing long term just a few years ago.  He has accomplished nothing.  I don’t know how Campbell will make out.  His future is very much up in the air.  Mayer’s injury history worries me.  He really has had trouble staying on the field since he was signed.

[cp176]

Many here seem to be willing to lose about anything in order to sign a pitcher that might slot in to the #2 hole.  I guess I’m that guy who thinks that right now we have a staff with two #2’s on it right now.  I couldn’t be happier.  It would never hurt to add another front liner but I think the Sox should be dealing from strength in any possible trade talks they might have.  We have needs like everybody has but what’s not to like?  My summer has been great.

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

He's been hurt, so much, that I think we should cut him some slack for the early games, this season, and not see it as being wildly inconsistent. He needed time to readjust and find a groove.

That being said, he's always been a high K guy with a tendency to be streaky, as well as being "helped" by home field advantages at Coors and now Fenway.

I am not expecting .825 to .875 from him. I'm not sure he will ever have another .800 season, but I do think he can give us .750 to .799 offense, along with plus defense at SS or 2B, going forward. That would be great, to me.

You guys appear to be more forgiving than I am when it comes to Trevor Story.  Wildly inconsistent is a good description and that is not an asset.  Look back to his first season here before he got hurt. For a month he was Hank Aaron. But it was only a month, the other 70 or so games he played that year he was a black hole and killed us. 

Now he is hot again, I'm taking a wait and see and will be happy to admit I was wrong if he continues to play well.  But I fear I won't have to do that.  I'm pretty convinced that it's only a matter of time before he goes in the tank for a long stretch and finishes the year with a below average OPS.  .  

[notin]

3 hours ago, a700hitter said:

Is  the prevailing attitude that Story will not  be back in 26 and that Bregman will be opting out?  Maybe Mayer is ready to step in full time at SS, but losing Bregman would hurt.  Also, I am not a big fan of handing 1B back to Casas.

I’m not sure either one opts out.

Story isnt getting a better deal at his age with his injury history.  Even Bregman has to weigh whether or not it makes sense to walk away from $40mill.

If they opt out, msybe Alonso for 1b? Casas is unreliable given that he keeps getting injured doing routine baseball activities…

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

I was afraid you would say that.  In the past, the Sox have always been inclined to add a starter in July when they think they are in the hunt.  I think it was Jake Peavy in 2013 and Eovaldi in 2018.  

Even we don't get a SP'er at the deadline, we end up wishing we did...or even "another one."

It's not rocket science- just look at every deadline we've had since Peavy.

Why not just get an extra one or two during the winter, when they are cheaper to trade for. Or, just sign an extra one or two.

This year, it looked like Brez got us 11-12 deep, then traded Priester, cut Newcomb and 4 went on the season ending IL. We still ended up trading for a SP'er and giving Criswell his first start.

If this season did not prove that the need for SP'er depth is more important than OF depth, then nothing will convince some posters.

The next point is this: I love Duran and Abreu, but assume we trade one, look at the depth we'd still have. Yes, some is speculative or lacking in one area, but it's still more than enough and better than decent.

Trade Duran:

LF Anthony-Garcia-Campbell (Yoshida/Refsnyder)

CF Rafaela-Campbell-Garcia (Anthony)

RF- Abreu-Anthony-Refsnyder (Garcia)

Trade Abreu:

LF: Duran-Garcia-Campbell (Yoshida/Refsnyder)

CF: Rafaela- Campbell-Garcia (Duran)

RF: Anthony-Refsnyder-Garcia

We'd need 2 major OF injuries to be in trade mode at the deadline. We know we will have 2-3 pitching injuries.

I am not about trading Duran or Abreu out of anything wrong with them: we have a surplus of OF strength and will have a big need at SP'er, just like we have one now, post trade deadline.

 

[moonslav59]

50 minutes ago, notin said:

I’m not sure either one opts out.

Story isnt getting a better deal at his age with his injury history.  Even Bregman has to weigh whether or not it makes sense to walk away from $40mill.

If they opt out, msybe Alonso for 1b? Casas is unreliable given that he keeps getting injured doing routine baseball activities…

We still have control of Story beyond 2025, even if he opts out. Sounds weird, huh?

If he opts out, the Sox can negate his opt out by exercising his 2028 option at $25M, thereby giving him 3 x $25M left not 2 x $25M left.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, cp176 said:

Many here seem to be willing to lose about anything in order to sign a pitcher that might slot in to the #2 hole.  I guess I’m that guy who thinks that right now we have a staff with two #2’s on it right now.  I couldn’t be happier.  It would never hurt to add another front liner but I think the Sox should be dealing from strength in any possible trade talks they might have.  We have needs like everybody has but what’s not to like?  My summer has been great.

No problem having an ace and three #2 in my book.

Plus, someone will get hurt or struggle: they always do.

This year, we lost Houck (our preseason #2) Crawford (our preseason #4 or 5) and Sandoval, who was supposed to be ready by August to be slotted 4/5. We then lost Dobbins, who was pitching like our #2/3, at the time. We tried Newcomb, Fitts and a couple of pen games before giving Criswell a shot in August.

To me, we should put a #2 SP as our #1 priority after a closer.

[cp176]

2 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

No problem having an ace and three #2 in my book.

Plus, someone will get hurt or struggle: they always do.

This year, we lost Houck (our preseason #2) Crawford (our preseason #4 or 5) and Sandoval, who was supposed to be ready by August to be slotted 4/5. We then lost Dobbins, who was pitching like our #2/3, at the time. We tried Newcomb, Fitts and a couple of pen games before giving Criswell a shot in August.

To me, we should put a #2 SP as our #1 priority after a closer.

I have no problem with them doing more to upgrade as long as it doesn’t get too costly.  I’m assuming that Dobbins is back next year.  He is young and still a bit untested but he for sure isn’t Kutter Crawford or Tanner Houck.  He’s young but he is powerful and he knows how to pitch.  

[moonslav59]

53 minutes ago, cp176 said:

I have no problem with them doing more to upgrade as long as it doesn’t get too costly.  I’m assuming that Dobbins is back next year.  He is young and still a bit untested but he for sure isn’t Kutter Crawford or Tanner Houck.  He’s young but he is powerful and he knows how to pitch.  

When Houck is healthy, he knows how to pitch, too. He's got some of the nastiest breaking stuff on the whole team.

Did we ever find out what Crawford's non-pitching injury was?

As of now, it looks like...

Houck is out for the 2026 season.

Crawford & Dobbins may miss start of the season.

Sandoval should be ready.

We have Crochet & Bello returning, and it looks like Gio won't reach 140 IP and opt out.

Criswell, Fitts, Harrison offer experienced depth.

We have 3-4 prospects that will be ML ready, too.

[Hugh2]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

We still have control of Story beyond 2025, even if he opts out. Sounds weird, huh?

If he opts out, the Sox can negate his opt out by exercising his 2028 option at $25M, thereby giving him 3 x $25M left not 2 x $25M left.

There’s no way the Sox do that, and he’s likely not opting out. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

There’s no way the Sox do that, and he’s likely not opting out. 

Probably right, but we do have team control.

[Maxbialystock]

14 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

No problem having an ace and three #2 in my book.

Plus, someone will get hurt or struggle: they always do.

This year, we lost Houck (our preseason #2) Crawford (our preseason #4 or 5) and Sandoval, who was supposed to be ready by August to be slotted 4/5. We then lost Dobbins, who was pitching like our #2/3, at the time. We tried Newcomb, Fitts and a couple of pen games before giving Criswell a shot in August.

To me, we should put a #2 SP as our #1 priority after a closer.

Exactly the way I would put it if I only could.  

[Maxbialystock]

10 hours ago, Hugh2 said:

There’s no way the Sox do that, and he’s likely not opting out. 

Do the Sox have another great shortstop I don't know about?  I say another because I've very afraid Mayer will continue to be injury prone. Right now he's odds on to miss the rest of the season after playing in just 44 games.  His track record in the minor is basically never playing a full season.   Plus he does not seem to hit MLB pitching well.  

[Maxbialystock]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

When Houck is healthy, he knows how to pitch, too. He's got some of the nastiest breaking stuff on the whole team.

Did we ever find out what Crawford's non-pitching injury was?

As of now, it looks like...

Houck is out for the 2026 season.

Crawford & Dobbins may miss start of the season.

Sandoval should be ready.

We have Crochet & Bello returning, and it looks like Gio won't reach 140 IP and opt out.

Criswell, Fitts, Harrison offer experienced depth.

We have 3-4 prospects that will be ML ready, too.

Another great laydown. 

However, allow me to remind you that this year's throw-together staff now has the 7th best ERA in MLB, 3.70..  I don't know the last Sox pitching staff that was that good. The 4th best team ERA right now is 3.68, the Brewers.  

Is it remotely possible that our CBO, who is thought to be the smartest man in MLB and was a major league pitcher for 10 years--some with the Sox--just might have had something to do with that?  And he did it despite sending Sale to the Braves where he won the CY Young last year. 

[Bellhorn04]

7 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Another great laydown. 

However, allow me to remind you that this year's throw-together staff now has the 7th best ERA in MLB, 3.70..  I don't know the last Sox pitching staff that was that good. The 4th best team ERA right now is 3.68, the Brewers.  

Is it remotely possible that our CBO, who is thought to be the smartest man in MLB and was a major league pitcher for 10 years--some with the Sox--just might have had something to do with that?  And he did it despite sending Sale to the Braves where he won the CY Young last year. 

And despite trading away Quinn Priester (10-2, 3.27) for prospects.

Breslow also brought in Andrew Bailey, who I'm assuming is doing a pretty good job. 

[harmony]

From Jim Bowden's analysis at The Athletic:

Quote

Front office that asked for too much in trades: The Red Sox, at least according to several opposing general managers.

Quote

Weirdest trade: The Red Sox acquiring lefty Steven Matz from the Cardinals for first-base prospect Blaze Jordan. I just didn’t understand the move for Boston: adding a 34-year-old failed starter-turned-reliever who is making $12.5 million (and will be a free agent at season’s end) for Jordan, who has slashed .304/.373/.486 between Double A and Triple A this year.

Quote

The fan base that heard crickets: The Red Sox. The front office publicly built up their trade deadline, but then didn’t make any trades to move the needle in their quest to beat out the Blue Jays and Yankees. That said, give them credit: The Sox have won five in a row and own one of the best records in baseball since June 1.

Quote

The trade I wish we’d seen:

Red Sox get — RHP Joe Ryan

Twins get — OF Jhostynxon Garcia, LHP Payton Tolle and SS Dorian Soto

 

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6534077/2025/08/04/mlb-trade-deadline-highlights-lowlights-2025/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983&userId=1096049&source=dailyemail

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[Bellhorn04]

22 minutes ago, harmony said:

From Jim Bowden's analysis at The Athletic:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6534077/2025/08/04/mlb-trade-deadline-highlights-lowlights-2025/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983&userId=1096049&source=dailyemail

Subscription required.

The "experts" might all be wrong this time.  First time ever!😄

Calling Matz a failed-starter-turned-reliever is a really silly cheap shot.  A lot of good relievers were once starters.  

Weirdest trade: The Red Sox acquiring lefty Steven Matz from the Cardinals for first-base prospect Blaze Jordan. I just didn’t understand the move for Boston: adding a 34-year-old failed starter-turned-reliever who is making $12.5 million (and will be a free agent at season’s end) for Jordan, who has slashed .304/.373/.486 between Double A and Triple A this year.

[Maxbialystock]

Just a reminder to everyone that John Henry is still a hands on owner, even with his 76th birthday in September.

Six years ago he decided that he no longer wanted to spend freely even though DD had just produced the best Sox season ever with the highest payroll in MLB 

So he hired Chaim Bloom in the hope that he could produce something like the Rays system, which flat did not happen and resulted in CB making some pretty bad hires before being let go after the 2023 season.  

Right now the Sox payroll, $194M, is ranked 1`2th in MLB--actually, 9th if you count just the active payroll. 

Spotrac also provides the latest W-L records next to all those payrolls.  And here are the 8 teams above the Sox active payroll of $159M:  Mets, Dodgers, Phillies, Rangers, Jays, Padres, and Yankees.   12th highest active payroll belongs to the Astros, 15th to the Detroit Tigers, and 20th to the Brewers.  

And the kicker is that 11 of those 12 teams have won at least 60 games and no more than 67.  That's a pretty tight shot group.  

Also, the woebegone Rockies with just 30 wins has the 27th highest active payroll, $44M, and Miami, 55-55, has the 29th, $35M.  

Back to John Henry.  He probably knows those numbers and therefore believes that his payroll is about right.  So is his CBO, who allowed to sign pricey Bregman, Crochet, and Chapman--also $20M for Buehler.  Breslow also had JH's backing to "trade" Devers and his huge pay package to the Giants after Devers publicly said he would not play 1b.  

Sox attendance is still off,  33,481 per game so far, but in the 3 games vs Houston the average was 36,369.  All 3 of those games were played AFTER BRESLOW refused to spend big to get a really good starter or whoever.   Talksox is still livid that Breslow screwed up, but the people in spend the bucks are not.  

In 2018 the best Sox team ever's average attendance was 35,747, but in 2019 it was 36,106. no doubt because of the afterglow.    So I think JH thinks the new approach is also good attendance.  

And let's not forget that this winter Breslow will again be allowed to spend significantly in part because Devers belongs to the Giants.  

[moonslav59]

43 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Do the Sox have another great shortstop I don't know about?  I say another because I've very afraid Mayer will continue to be injury prone. Right now he's odds on to miss the rest of the season after playing in just 44 games.  His track record in the minor is basically never playing a full season.   Plus he does not seem to hit MLB pitching well.  

Arias might be. He's a top 35 prospect, according to a few rankings. He's already ML ready on D, and might be GG caliber. Romero looks more like a 3Bman or 2Bman.

Soto, Cason and Godbout are too far away.

[Bellhorn04]

The experts say the Yanks kicked the Sox butts at the deadline.  Oddly enough the Yanks then went 0-3 vs the Marlins while the Sox went 3-0 vs the Astros.

In the first Marlins game the Yanks 3 new relievers gave up a total of 9 runs and blew the game.  

[moonslav59]

59 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Another great laydown. 

However, allow me to remind you that this year's throw-together staff now has the 7th best ERA in MLB, 3.70..  I don't know the last Sox pitching staff that was that good. The 4th best team ERA right now is 3.68, the Brewers.  

Is it remotely possible that our CBO, who is thought to be the smartest man in MLB and was a major league pitcher for 10 years--some with the Sox--just might have had something to do with that?  And he did it despite sending Sale to the Braves where he won the CY Young last year. 

I'm fine with our 2025 staff. I applauded Brez for having a rotation 11-12 men deep, even after the Priester trade. We've needed all of them, and now have May and will probably give Criswell another start, while Harrison has yet to get a look.

Our staff ranking has been boosted more by the pen than the rotation, surprisingly.

Our SP'ers rank T17th in fWAR and 7th in IP. fWAR is aided by more IP, so 17th might not really reflect how highly ranked we are. We ate 0.1 ahead of #19 WSH. We are 18th in FIP & 19th in K-BB%.  (23rd in WHIP) That being said, they have been hurt by bad defense. We lead the league in Unearned runs allowed and many more scored on uncalled errors, unturned DPs and bonehead nonplays. Our starters rank 9th in ERA-, which is the best in the ALE. That's good enough for me, but still not really dominant, like I'd like to see it.

We have the 5th best pen fWAR and FIP. Our pen is 2nd in ERA-, and that is what is driving our overall staff numbers looking so good. Our pen is 5th in WHIP. To me, this is a stunning performance, and Cora deserves huge props for getting the most out of a pen that was much maligned in March. Brez & Bailey deserve credit, too.

Even with 4 of our top 7-8 SP'ers out for the rest of the year, we still have a nice staff and decent depth.

SP: Crochet, Giolito & Bello make a very nice playoff top 3 rotation. Buehler, May, Criswell, Harrison & Fitts offer some hopes we can be okay at #5, but #4 looks very sketchy, to me.
 

Even with Slaten, Hendriks and others out, for the rest of the season, this looks pretty good:

RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Wilson & Weissert make a pretty nice top 4 arms for the playoffs. Matz, Murphy, Hicks & Burdi can be a nice supporting four. (I see Alcala's days being numbered.) Bernardino, Kelly, ICampbell and SP'ers like Harrison, Criswell & Fitts might add some key pen depth over the next two months. (Sandlin may be added, when we DFA Alcala.)

 

[moonslav59]

17 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

The experts say the Yanks kicked the Sox butts at the deadline.  Oddly enough the Yanks then went 0-3 vs the Marlins while the Sox went 3-0 vs the Astros.

In the first Marlins game the Yanks 3 new relievers gave up a total of 9 runs and blew the game.  

Teams like TEX, SEA and DET also "did better" than us at the deadline.

Let's look again, in a few weeks.

[notin]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm fine with our 2025 staff. I applauded Brez for having a rotation 11-12 men deep, even after the Priester trade. We've needed all of them, and now have May and will probably give Criswell another start, while Harrison has yet to get a look.

Our staff ranking has been boosted more by the pen than the rotation, surprisingly.

Our SP'ers rank T17th in fWAR and 7th in IP. fWAR is aided by more IP, so 17th might not really reflect how highly ranked we are. We ate 0.1 ahead of #19 WSH. We are 18th in FIP & 19th in K-BB%.  (23rd in WHIP) That being said, they have been hurt by bad defense. We lead the league in Unearned runs allowed and many more scored on uncalled errors, unturned DPs and bonehead nonplays. Our starters rank 9th in ERA-, which is the best in the ALE. That's good enough for me, but still not really dominant, like I'd like to see it.

We have the 5th best pen fWAR and FIP. Our pen is 2nd in ERA-, and that is what is driving our overall staff numbers looking so good. Our pen is 5th in WHIP. To me, this is a stunning performance, and Cora deserves huge props for getting the most out of a pen that was much maligned in March. Brez & Bailey deserve credit, too.

Even with 4 of our top 7-8 SP'ers out for the rest of the year, we still have a nice staff and decent depth.

SP: Crochet, Giolito & Bello make a very nice playoff top 3 rotation. Buehler, May, Criswell, Harrison & Fitts offer some hopes we can be okay at #5, but #4 looks very sketchy, to me.
 

Even with Slaten, Hendriks and others out, for the rest of the season, this looks pretty good:

RP: Chapman, Whitlock, Wilson & Weissert make a pretty nice top 4 arms for the playoffs. Matz, Murphy, Hicks & Burdi can be a nice supporting four. (I see Alcala's days being numbered.) Bernardino, Kelly, ICampbell and SP'ers like Harrison, Criswell & Fitts might add some key pen depth over the next two months. (Sandlin may be added, when we DFA Alcala.)

 

DFA Alcala with a 1.69 ERA and a 99mph fastball?Peripherals do not support that ERA at all, but he still has to be behind Isaiah Campbell in the DFA pecking order, and in the same neighborhood as Eaton, Sogard,  and Burdi.

I wonder about a potential DFA of Vaughn Grissom as well, but I think because he has not appeared in MLB this year, he can still be traded.  That potential usefulness alone might give reason to hold on to him…