Having Traded Several Young Pitchers, Is The Red Sox's Strategy A Good One?

[Nick John]

The Boston Red Sox entered the offseason with an abundance of starting pitching depth. Following the trade to acquire infielder Caleb Durbin, the Red Sox have seen that depth shrink considerably.

As our @Brandon Glick explored prior to the Durbin trade, the front office has made a habit of trading young pitchers. Since November, the team has seen Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, David Sandlin, Kyle Harrison, and Shane Drohan all get sent packing. And despite trading those players and more from their starting pitching depth, the Red Sox are still 10 deep. While in today’s major leagues the chance of injury for a pitcher is higher, the Red Sox are still in a good position when it comes to insurance policies.

Currently, the rotation is comprised of Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suárez, Sonny Gray, Brayan Bello and Johan Oviedo. That’s with both Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval not being included despite being decent pitchers in their last fully healthy seasons. On top of that, both Connelly Early and Payton Tolle who are two of the team’s top-three prospects, are currently projected to open the season in Triple-A.

All that could change with injuries — Red Sox saw it first hand last season, as they were forced to open the season with three starters on the injured list (Bello, Crawford, and Lucas Giolito). However, unlike last season, their depth should be of better quality. The team won’t need to open the season using Sean Newcomb the rotation, and they also won’t be sending Walker Buehler out to the mound every fifth day.

The Red Sox are taking a gamble with this strategy, especially as only three members of the projected rotation have made it through a full season. Suárez has never started 30 games in any campaign, while Bello has missed time every season since debuting. The Red Sox have to believe they’ll need someone to step up for what could amount to a significant amount of time. And to rest those hopes on Crawford or Sandoval after they both missed all of 2025 is probably a fool's errand.

However, that’s where Tolle, Early and fellow minor-league pitcher Tyler Uberstine come into play. That trio is projected to open in Worcester to begin the season but can easily be promoted to Boston as needed.

Because of their trust in their young pitchers, the Red Sox felt they could take the risk of trading from their strength. The Sox also have others waiting in the minors ready to step up if needed. Jake Bennet,t who was acquired in a trade this winter, is also on the 40-man roster. While further down the depth chart, he could step in as an emergency should the team go through a number of backup plans.

Options off the 40-man roster are also available to the team. Non-roster invites TJ Sikkema and Alec Gamboa stand out as potential short-term solutions to any early season injury problems. While neither seems to instill as much confidence as the players traded away, they’ve shown various levels of success across their respective careers. You can also add the likes of Hayden Mullins, Blake Wehunt and Dalton Rogers to this group, all of whom have been through multiple seasons of development with the Red Sox.

Mullins and Rogers have a chance to open the season in Worcester and could make a push to be added to Boston’s major-league roster during the season after dominating in Portland last year. Wehunt is another interesting arm that the team has kept. He moved quickly through the minors in 2024 before an injury in 2025 slowed him a bit in Double-A. Despite that, once healthy, he could quickly make it to Worcester as another depth option for the major-league staff.

It's often unwise to trade so many young starting pitchers, especially those who are just about to begin their MLB careers. But the Red Sox have spent years building up exemplary depth. Despite losing so much talent, they remain in a strong position to cover for any injuries or underperformances throughout 2026.

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[bobdec215]

Team has done a great job with pitching, witherspoon can be another one to add

[Brock Beauchamp]

On 2/14/2026 at 12:57 PM, bobdec215 said:

Team has done a great job with pitching, witherspoon can be another one to add

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