Early Trade deadline deals the selling Sox should make

[Old Red]

17 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Figuring out which of your good players to trade because you stink always depresses me.

And it seems to be a recurring theme for the past few years.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Oh, I understand the reasoning.  But you could also flip to a scenario where if you're a good team, you might extend some of these guys on expiring contracts instead of trading them. 

This 2026 team is hard enough to follow as it is, it's going to be really grim after you remove Gray and Chapman and Duran and/or whoever.

The Red Sox have sure had a pile of losing seasons starting in 2012.  It's been a somewhat bizarre roller coaster ride.  Not complaining about the 2 rings in there, of course.  But as of right now this organization feels like a directionless mess. 

And looking at how Boston's top position player prospects have fared in the majors, I have no taste whatsoever for tanking to get a top draft pick...

... and I get being patient; I was ok with Pedroia's slow start in his rookie year (when Remy was saying, "play Cora"), but he was surrounded by studs in the batting order. I was concerned with Anthony's K-rate last season, when no one else thought it mattered.

Plus, it's alarming when "youngsters" the Sox projected as core stars are actually going backwards: Bello, literally, and Campbell, who's down in the AAA .220s with four Ks the other night. 

 

[Old Red]

57 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

And looking at how Boston's top position player prospects have fared in the majors, I have no taste whatsoever for tanking to get a top draft pick...

... and I get being patient; I was ok with Pedroia's slow start in his rookie year (when Remy was saying, "play Cora"), but he was surrounded by studs in the batting order. I was concerned with Anthony's K-rate last season, when no one else thought it mattered.

Plus, it's alarming when "youngsters" the Sox projected as core stars are actually going backwards: Bello, literally, and Campbell, who's down in the AAA .220s with four Ks the other night. 

 

Well said, and as I’ve said many times all suspects highly ranked, or not does not turn in to good prospects, who then turn into good MLB players. Patient yes, but games are still counting when the likes of little Anthony, and Mayer are still learning from the very first AB.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

And looking at how Boston's top position player prospects have fared in the majors, I have no taste whatsoever for tanking to get a top draft pick...

... and I get being patient; I was ok with Pedroia's slow start in his rookie year (when Remy was saying, "play Cora"), but he was surrounded by studs in the batting order. I was concerned with Anthony's K-rate last season, when no one else thought it mattered.

Plus, it's alarming when "youngsters" the Sox projected as core stars are actually going backwards: Bello, literally, and Campbell, who's down in the AAA .220s with four Ks the other night. 

 

Have no fear: Brez will draft a pitcher first.

[Duran Is The Man]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Have no fear: Brez will draft a pitcher first.

i'm still waiting on one of the dozens of shortstops we drafted (because they're the most athletic, can play multiple positions and can be traded for pitching) to materialize. we had so many we traded pitching last winter (Harrison) for an infielder. LOL.

[moonslav59]

24 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i'm still waiting on one of the dozens of shortstops we drafted (because they're the most athletic, can play multiple positions and can be traded for pitching) to materialize. we had so many we traded pitching last winter (Harrison) for an infielder. LOL.

Kinda old news. (4 drafts ago)

Infielders in top 3 picks:

2025:

3. Godbout (7th) and a 2Bman not SS

2024: none in top 18 picks

2023: 

2. Zanetello (50th) Never really viewed as a SS

3. Anderson (83)

2022:

1. Romero (24) more like a 2B/3B man

2. C Coffey (41) Traded

2021:

1. Mayer (4th)

3. McDonough (75) 2Bman

2020:

1. Yorke (17) 3B traded

2. Jordan (89) 3B traded

2019: 2 Cannon (43) 3 Lugo (69)

2018: 1 Casas (26) 3B/1B

2017: 3 Netzer (101)

2016: 2 Chatham (51)

[notin]

6 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Have no fear: Brez will draft a pitcher first.

Bloom used to take a lot of flak for not drafting pitchers early enough.  But here we are with his draftees Tolle and Early in the rotation.   We have Sonny Gray who was acquired for a package including Bloom draftees (and BA Top 100 prospect) Brandon Clarke.  Willson Contreras was acquired in a package including RHSP Hunter Dobbins, also drafted by Bloom…

 

[Hugh2]

31 minutes ago, notin said:

Bloom used to take a lot of flak for not drafting pitchers early enough.  But here we are with his draftees Tolle and Early in the rotation.   We have Sonny Gray who was acquired for a package including Bloom draftees (and BA Top 100 prospect) Brandon Clarke.  Willson Contreras was acquired in a package including RHSP Hunter Dobbins, also drafted by Bloom…

 

Tolle was a Breslow draftee.  So was Brandon Clark

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Bloom used to take a lot of flak for not drafting pitchers early enough.  But here we are with his draftees Tolle and Early in the rotation.   We have Sonny Gray who was acquired for a package including Bloom draftees (and BA Top 100 prospect) Brandon Clarke.  Willson Contreras was acquired in a package including RHSP Hunter Dobbins, also drafted by Bloom…

 

I think moving the focus to improving the pitching pipeline might be Brez's best contribution to the team.

[Duran Is The Man]

44 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think moving the focus to improving the pitching pipeline might be Brez's best contribution to the team.

i think you're right. and it was long past time to do so.

 

[moonslav59]

Brez Pitchers Added:

Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Tolle, Bennett, Oviedo, Sandoval, Chapman, Slaten, Moran, Coulombe, Weissert, Watson, Samaniego, T Guerrero, Kahnle, Anderson, Gamboa, La Sorsa, E Rivera, Eyanson, Witherspoon, Phillips, Holobetz, Ziehl, E Rivera, Delzine B Morgan, Futrell & more

Giolito, Buehler, May, Criswell, Wilson, Matz, I Campbell, L Garcia, L Sims, Burdi, Fulmer, Hendriks

__________________________

Pitchers added and then subtracted:

Priester,  Newcomb, Travieso, Harrison & Hicks

_____________________________

That's a lot of pitchers in 2.5 years.

___________________________

Brez Pitchers Subtracted:

Harrison, Dobbins, Fitts, L Guerrero, Perales, Clarke, Fajardo, Aita,

Bernardino, Murphy, Booser, Hoppe, Wikelman, Elmer Rodriguez

[Duran Is The Man]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Brez Pitchers Added:

Crochet, Suarez, Gray, Tolle, Bennett, Oviedo, Sandoval, Chapman, Slaten, Moran, Coulombe, Weissert, Watson, Samaniego, T Guerrero, Kahnle, Anderson, Gamboa, La Sorsa, E Rivera, Eyanson, Witherspoon, Phillips, Holobetz, Ziehl, E Rivera, Delzine B Morgan, Futrell & more

Giolito, Buehler, May, Criswell, Wilson, Matz, I Campbell, L Garcia, L Sims, Burdi, Fulmer, Hendriks

__________________________

Pitchers added and then subtracted:

Priester,  Newcomb, Travieso, Harrison & Hicks

_____________________________

That's a lot of pitchers in 2.5 years.

___________________________

Brez Pitchers Subtracted:

Harrison, Dobbins, Fitts, L Guerrero, Perales, Clarke, Fajardo, Aita,

Bernardino, Murphy, Booser, Hoppe, Wikelman, Elmer Rodriguez

you forgot sale.

 

[JoeBrady]

On 6/19/2026 at 10:53 AM, southpaw777 said:

We never really gave Harrison a chance.

Which is, of course, the reason we traded him.

[vegasbob]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I think moving the focus to improving the pitching pipeline might be Brez's best contribution to the team.

Maybe he should have been hired as EVP of Starting Pitching not  CBO

[JoeBrady]

On 6/19/2026 at 11:08 AM, mvp 78 said:

It was to make the draft more exciting and less about tanking. 

Dumbest idea ever.  Depriving bad teams of the best draft picks will simply ensure they continue to be bad teams.

[JoeBrady]

On 6/19/2026 at 2:53 PM, mvp 78 said:

The FO was heavily promoting those kids as the Big Three

It was BA, BP, MLB & Fangraphs that were heavily promoting those kids as the Big Three.

[moonslav59]

Brez Pitchers drafted:

Witherspoon 15th '25

Phillips 33rd '25

Tolle 50th '24

Nealy 86th '24

Eyanson 87th '25

Clarke 148th '24

Foutch 148th '25

Aita 177th '24

Finley 178th '25

Patton 208th '25

Cason 237th '24 ($1.25M bonus)

Brown 238th '25

Mayers 268th '25

Futrell 29th '24

IFA:

$500K Delzine '25

$500K C Pereira '26

$450K Da Reyes '24

$350K C Cordero '25

$190K Y Pineda '26

$175K S Rojas '24

$140K J Medina '24

$100K W Montero '25

$50K T Wilson

$47K Vargas '26

$40K Ju Duran '25

$32K Mayora '26

$30K Y Veraza

$28K Lopes '26

$25K J Fernandez & Y Bonaci '24 and 3 guys in '25

$20K A Prado, J Gamboa '24 and 5 guys in '25

$10K Berny Ortiz & 7 others '24 and M Bido & Payano '23, plus 16 pitchers in '25 and 12 in '26

Many trades involved adding pitching prospects (see previous post.)

 

[Old Red]

7 hours ago, JoeBrady said:

It was BA, BP, MLB & Fangraphs that were heavily promoting those kids as the Big Three.

It was the Red Sox FO that made a BIG deal out of the Big Three being in WOO together like the Beatles landing in NY.🤫

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

3 hours ago, Old Red said:

It was the Red Sox FO that made a BIG deal out of the Big Three being in WOO together like the Beatles landing in NY.🤫

Except they turned into the Beastie Boys.

At least they were able to replace drummer Teel with Narvaez (top hit: "It Don't Come Easy").

[moonslav59]

Too bad IKF went on the IL. He was doing well, and may have had some decent trade value.

While Coulombe has an awful ERA his .593 OPS Against and other data might make him a trade target.

Gray is the prize, in terms of trade value (BTV be damned.)

Duran's time in BOS is likely near its end.

Chapman has the 2027 option that becomes guaranteed at 40 IP, so I'm not so sure he will or should be traded.

To me, these 5 are the the only real trade candidates.

 

[moonslav59]

I'm not seeing any specific trade suggestions, here.

Who can/should we get for...

Gray

IKF & Coulombe?

Duran?

Chapman?

[notin]

56 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Too bad IKF went on the IL. He was doing well, and may have had some decent trade value.

While Coulombe has an awful ERA his .593 OPS Against and other data might make him a trade target.

Gray is the prize, in terms of trade value (BTV be damned.)

Duran's time in BOS is likely near its end.

Chapman has the 2027 option that becomes guaranteed at 40 IP, so I'm not so sure he will or should be traded.

To me, these 5 are the the only real trade candidates.

 

Tyron Guerrero.  Relievers are always in demand, there could be few as 6 teams selling, and Guerrero is FA at the end of the year and is already 35, with a seriously questionable career behind him.   But he’s been light out this year.

I’d listen on Coulombe, Kahnle, Weissert, Kelly, Watson, Moran.  Basically any healthy veteran reliever except Whitlock and maybe Slaten.

(Yes Moran is injured.  But he’ll be back.  I hold on to Houck as my unhealthy veteran.)

Duran feels like selling low, but Hes probably never going to be 2024 Duran again.  And teams like Philly (no farm), San Diego (no farm), Atlanta (good farm) and Cleveland (also good) could use him.   Focus on the latter two and let Philly and San Diego fight it out for Jo Adell and Mickey Moniak, assuming Colorado even entertains offers for him.

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, notin said:

Tyron Guerrero.  Relievers are always in demand, there could be few as 6 teams selling, and Guerrero is FA at the end of the year and is already 35, with a seriously questionable career behind him.   But he’s been light out this year.

I’d listen on Coulombe, Kahnle, Weissert, Kelly, Watson, Moran.  Basically any healthy veteran reliever except Whitlock and maybe Slaten.

(Yes Moran is injured.  But he’ll be back.  I hold on to Houck as my unhealthy veteran.)

Yes, T Guerrero should be added to the trade list.

[notin]

38 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm not seeing any specific trade suggestions, here.

Who can/should we get for...

Gray

IKF & Coulombe?

Duran?

Chapman?

Gray - Cubs, Nats, Athletics, Diamondbacks

Chapman - Cubs, White Sox, Phillies, Nats, Cardinals, Blue Jays 

Duran - Atlanta, Cleveland, San Diego, Philly

The rest (Guerrero, IKF, Kahnle, Moran, etc.) will appeal to nearly any contender to some degree…

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Gray - Cubs, Nats, Athletics, Diamondbacks

Chapman - Cubs, White Sox, Phillies, Nats, Cardinals, Blue Jays 

Duran - Atlanta, Cleveland, San Diego, Philly

The rest (Guerrero, IKF, Kahnle, Moran, etc.) will appeal to nearly any contender to some degree…

I meant players.

I think HOU might want Duran, although they didn't seem to that much last winter.

[notin]

On 6/20/2026 at 10:14 AM, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

And looking at how Boston's top position player prospects have fared in the majors, I have no taste whatsoever for tanking to get a top draft pick...

... and I get being patient; I was ok with Pedroia's slow start in his rookie year (when Remy was saying, "play Cora"), but he was surrounded by studs in the batting order. I was concerned with Anthony's K-rate last season, when no one else thought it mattered.

Plus, it's alarming when "youngsters" the Sox projected as core stars are actually going backwards: Bello, literally, and Campbell, who's down in the AAA .220s with four Ks the other night. 

 

Also because that’s not a thing in baseball.

Also do we know what they’re doing in Worcester?  On one hand we have people saying the Sox are changing approaches, etc. and on the other people seem to think that AAA stats still matter.  If Bello is working on secondary pitches and not throwing his fastball, does his ERA still matter? And what is Campbell doing? Working on recognizing /hitting breaking pitches?  How does that happen?  And do stats still matter at that point?

[Old Red]

16 minutes ago, notin said:

Also because that’s not a thing in baseball.

Also do we know what they’re doing in Worcester?  On one hand we have people saying the Sox are changing approaches, etc. and on the other people seem to think that AAA stats still matter.  If Bello is working on secondary pitches and not throwing his fastball, does his ERA still matter? And what is Campbell doing? Working on recognizing /hitting breaking pitches?  How does that happen?  And do stats still matter at that point?

We DO KNOW what KC is NOT doing at WOO, and that is hitting the baseball. 2 more K’S today, and now 4-41 in June with 18K’S. If it makes you feel better to think KC is struggling so much is because he’s working on recognizing hitting breaking balls then think away, but KC is looking more lost at the plate everyday.

[notin]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

We DO KNOW what KC is NOT doing at WOO, and that is hitting the baseball. 2 more K’S today, and now 4-41 in June with 18K’S. If it makes you feel better to think KC is struggling so much is because he’s working on recognizing hitting breaking balls then think away, but KC is looking more lost at the plate everyday.

You keep fighting this message as if you know the answer.  So if we know what he’s doing - what’s his program?  Is he just playing his game?  Is he only supposed to swing at breaking pitches?  If he faces 3 pitches, is he supposed to recognize them and tell the coach what he saw?  These are all things coaches do actually do with young players.  But are they doing anything like that with Campbell? And if any of them are happening, they will absolutely hurt his stats and make them meaningless…

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

You keep fighting this message as if you know the answer.  So if we know what he’s doing - what’s his program?  Is he just playing his game?  Is he only supposed to swing at breaking pitches?  If he faces 3 pitches, is he supposed to recognize them and tell the coach what he saw?  These are all things coaches do actually do with young players.  But are they doing anything like that with Campbell? And if any of them are happening, they will absolutely hurt his stats and make them meaningless…

I’m not the one questioning his futility, and making excuses for why he sucks so much with bat.

[moonslav59]

6 minutes ago, notin said:

You keep fighting this message as if you know the answer.  So if we know what he’s doing - what’s his program?  Is he just playing his game?  Is he only supposed to swing at breaking pitches?  If he faces 3 pitches, is he supposed to recognize them and tell the coach what he saw?  These are all things coaches do actually do with young players.  But are they doing anything like that with Campbell? And if any of them are happening, they will absolutely hurt his stats and make them meaningless…

Wouldn't doing well or bad as a prospect both be "suspect?"

LMAO.