If the Red Sox Become Sellers, Expect These Players to Be Discussed in Trade Talks

If they were smart they would unload chapman, bregman, duran and wilson.

I think these guys would net the best return.

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think they trade Bregman.  That would be one more PR debacle.      

Agreed. Ideal world they trade him with a word in his year that if he opts out they'll give him X dollar amount and 5/6 years in the summer and we'll have the riches we get back in exchange to move forward with him on. But that is fantasy land and would be almost certain to fail. 

It makes most sense to extend him, but I don't rule out anything with this group. 

12 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think they trade Bregman.  That would be one more PR debacle.      

He'll be 32 at the start of next season.

Barring a big spending spree or some miraculous trades in the off-season, the sox as presently constituted are at least a few seasons away from being true contenders and bregman would bring a nice return.

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Someone else mentioned this idea.  It's one of those ideas that seems to make some sense until you really think about it.  The problem is that it could only be a verbal agreement, and as such it would be worth less than zero.  Let's not forget that one possible scenario is that Bregman's quad injury turns out to be a big deal.  You think the Sox would honor their verbal agreement if it is?

Once you trade him you're in the same position as the other 28 teams who don't have any control over him.       

 

Yeah, totally agree. Every year I think the same scenario - just trade him with a promise you'll match the offer they get up to a certain point in the post season and move forward together stronger. But as you say, these things have got very little chance of actually working when the rubber hits the road. 

2 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

 

Once you trade him you're in the same position as the other 28 teams who don't have any control over him.       

 

They really don't have any control now since he has the opt-out at the end of the season.

2 minutes ago, notin said:

Not sure why Abreu, either.  Unless they keep Duran…

Has to be a one or the other with those guys. Unless they're serious about winning any bidding war for Tucker. 

I think he was playing way above what he really is at this point in his career, so move him now before he comes back to earth.

There are a lot of very short-sighted comments that have been offered in response to your article.

The team won in 2018, got completely destroyed by Cora in 2019 then devastated by the Mookie trade which set back the organization a minimum of 5 years which has already been proven.  Then Bloom dismantled the rest of the 2018 roster by the time he was fired in 2023.  This set back the Red Sox even farther.  Breslow was hired to try to restore the greatness the ownership destroyed beginning in 2019.

Part of the Bloom debacle was the $70 Million he wasted on contracts for Devers, Story and Yoshida.  Thank goodness Breslow was able to recover 8 of the 10 years of Devers contract but we still have two albatross contracts on the books.  So, with all this happening what should Breslow do at the trade deadline?

Before one answers that question, they should explain what their approach to the future is.   For example, all the people saying trade Bregman should be stating that they want to stick a fork in winning for the next 5 years.  Personally, that should be the LAST thing we would want for this storied franchise.  Being non-competitive for another five years means an entire decade of wasted time being a Red Sox fan if you want the team to be competitive.  Many don't so those folks don't care if we win or lose.  I do.

My belief is that we should build for a 2026 competitive team, so you keep the talented players and do your best to trade the albatross contracts, and the players not needed in 2026.

Hitter Keepers - Bregman, Anthony, Duran, Rafaela, Mayer, Campbell, Casas, Toro, Narvaez, Refsnyder and Eaton

Expendable Hitters if a return can be gotten for them - Story, Yoshida, Abreu, Gonzalez, Wong

Players that belong in AAA in 2026 - Hamilton and Sogard unless somebody mistakenly sees value in them then trade them but that is HIGHLY unlikely.

Pitching Keepers - Crochet, Chapman, Giolito

Every other pitcher can be traded if a fair offer is made to the Red Sox.  Breslow must take the Devers money and supplement the current pitching roster.  SP and RP talent adds need to occur.

You can't trade Crochet and the idea of trading Chapman to get a prospect is short-sighted thinking.  Who can you get on the FA market that is better than Chapman in 2026 if you are trying to win the division?  Extend him a year or two.  He seems to like playing in Boston but only if the team is moving forward trying to win which can't happen if you deal Bregman.  If you don't extend Bregman than nobody needs to be keep except prospects because it will be 5 years until the team is competitive. 

Let's hope Breslow is NOT bailing on the organization like so many here are suggesting. 

Extending the losing another 5 years should NOT be an option so Bregman must be extended because this team only has Bregman, Crochet and Chapman as perennial all-stars on the roster.  Duran is the next best player who is also being suggested for trade which would set back the chances of winning severely.  The trick of recovering from Bloom's destruction isn't going two steps forward and one backward.  All steps at this point need to be forward.  Trading your depth in the outfield with Yoshida and Abreu makes sense because there are only 3 OF spots and you can't stick with a platoon guy even if he does really well against RH pitchers.  Yoshida is the stronger player because he hits both and Yoshida could probably win a GG in RF since the competition is so bad there based on Abreu winning and Verdugo almost winning the year before.  

The best trade we could make at the deadline is Cora for Bruce Bochy, but I don't think I could wish that on any team other than LAD or NYY and I wouldn't want either of their managers in return!!

This trade deadline is a litmus test for Breslow.  Let's hope he passes.

6 hours ago, notin said:

Tucker is certainly intriguing.  But he should be avoided due to his clear fits on the Dodgers and Yankees.

Pete Alonso makes more sense, especially considering no one really wanted him last off-season. (And I do not like Angry Pete.)

I was all for Alonso this past off season. I several times suggested getting him in and flipping Casas for pitching (without Yoshida attached) if possible. I think it's likely the Mets get to keep him now though.

6 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

We don't really know what kind of return he would bring.  He's on the IL right now, he's guaranteed a lot of money over the next 2 years and he has opt outs at the end of this year and next.  

It'd be a PR debacle because it'd be one more sign to the fans that this team still isn't really serious about competing.

I think there's enough signs to make that evidently clear already.

The Yanks and the tigers both desperately could use a 3B. It only takes 2 teams to start a bidding war, not that the sox would trade him to the Yanks. But they could use that to drive the price up.

6 hours ago, notin said:

These timelines to competition are such BS. The Sox could be competitive next year if they want to be.  It might involve heavy spending, but it can and does happen all the time…

Hence the reason I specifically stated "Barring a big spending spree or some miraculous trades in the off-season".

Please try to keep up.

6 hours ago, notin said:

… which might make him less enticing to other teams and at a minimum, diminishes his return value…

Not when there's at least 2 top contenders who could really use a 3B.

9 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

As of this writing now, the Boston Red Sox have a 40-43 record. That’s good for fourth in the AL East, where they are eight games out of first place and three games back of the final AL Wild Card position. During the press conference after the Rafael Devers trade, President of Baseball Operations Craig Breslow confirmed the team was still planning to be buyers as the trade deadline approaches, and his opinion hasn’t changed, as he confirmed on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show on Thursday. Even though fans may not want to, it’s best to take him at his word.

The flip side here is the team just got swept by the Angels and should this downward trend continue over the next few series, the team could ultimately decide to be sellers at the deadline instead. The good news here is that there are major league pieces that would command a great return to help put the team in a better position for 2026 and beyond. Let’s take a look at those ten names, their contract status, and what the team could hope to get back in return for them.

• Jarren Duran, OF
  • Jarren Duran isn’t having the season anyone hoped he would, and I’ve already written about how a change of scenery would likely do him wonders. He’s currently slashing .254/.307/.404 and his contract has him signed for one-year/$3.85m with a club option for 2026. While Duran alone won’t land the Red Sox a controllable starter, packaging him with prospects not named Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer should get the Red Sox another front-line starter to slot in behind Garrett Crochet.
• Aroldis Chapman, LHP
  • I’ve also already written a bit about how Aroldis Chapman would be a prime trade target for teams in the playoff hunt should the Red Sox decide to sell. He’s experiencing a career resurgence this year and has commanded large trade packages in the past. He’s one a one-year/$10.75M deal, so he would be relatively cheap for a team looking to bring him into the fold. He would likely get a mid to back-end starter in return.
• Wilyer Abreu, OF
  • I’ve included Abreu here even though I don’t really see the Red Sox trading him now, even after they attempted to during the offseason. He’s slashing .252/.324/.465 and carries the pedigree of winning a Gold Glove in right field after his rookie season. He’s making $780K and isn’t eligible for arbitration until 2027. Like Duran above, he wouldn’t command a front-line starter on his own, but in a package with prospects we’d be looking at a similar, although possibly lesser, return in a mid-tier starter. 
• Walker Buehler, RHP
  • I’ll admit, it’s almost funny to include Buehler on this list since he’s been abysmal after returning from injury, but there will be a handful of teams interested in bringing him into the fold solely based on his previous championship experience and how he’s performed in the postseason. He’s on a one-year/$21.05M contract that will be more than halfway paid by the deadline. In a trade, he could be worth at least three buckets of balls, right? In all seriousness, a trade of Buehler wouldn’t net the Red Sox much more than a low-floor, high-ceiling prospect. 
• Justin Wilson, LHP
  • Wilson is quietly having a great season for the Red Sox. He’s been the second-most dependable left-handed pitcher in the bullpen behind Chapman. His contract is incredibly team-friendly at one-year/$2.25M. He would be able to be flipped pretty easily and would likely return a prospect somewhere just outside of the top-100 with some upside.
• Alex Bregman, 3B
  • With the news that Bregman likely won’t return from his quad injury until after the All-Star break, I believe that the third baseman is the least likely person (on this list) to be moved this season. In fact, I just wrote about how the Red Sox should extend him since he’s open to it. Right now, Bregman is on a three-year/$120M contract with opt-outs after each season. Should the team make him available, there will be a line of teams wanting to acquire his services. That would drive his price up considerably and likely net the Red Sox some valuable major league-ready talent.  
• Lucas Giolito, RHP
  • Giolito has had a very up-and-down season so far, but he has put a string of three solid starts together as of this writing. He seems to be trusting his fastball again, and even though it’s not playing up like it used to, he’s seeing success. He’s in the last year of a two-year/$38.5M deal with a mutual option that turns into a club option if he pitches less than 140 innings this season. He wouldn’t command a huge return, likely some low-level prospects, but he would get the team some talent that would restock the farm system after the Big Three graduate.
• Rob Refsnyder, OF
  • Rob Refsnyder, the lefty killer. He is performing well again this season and has been a solid contributor for the team. He’s moved into a platoon DH role after the Devers trade, but should move back to the fourth/fifth outfielder position once Masataka Yoshida is with the big league club. He’s on the last year of a two-year contract and will become a free agent once the season ends. He contemplated retirement before the 2025 season, so it’s possible he looks into it again. If the team did decide to trade Refsnyder, he wouldn’t command a huge return either. A playoff team would likely be interested in his services thanks to his southpaw-mashing abilities, though, and should multiple teams get involved, a high-ceiling prospect isn’t out of the question here. 
• Romy Gonzalez, UTIL
  • It’s crazy to think that Gonzalez went from being DFA’d by the White Sox to a possible trade candidate for a team in the postseason hunt. He’s performed quite well in a platoon at first base with Abraham Toro since the injury to Triston Casas. He’s slashing .294/.342/.471 on the season and, like Refsnyder above, could have multiple teams interested in bringing him into the fold to come off the bench against left-handed relievers late in games. A bidding war for his services would drive his price even higher than Refsnyder’s.
• Abraham Toro, UTIL
  • This will sound similar to the Gonzalez section above since they are platoon partners, but Toro has looked great in that role at first base. He’s cooled off quite a bit in recent weeks, but there is still value here. Currently signed to a one-year/$801.1K deal, he’s extremely cheap and would be easy to flip for lower level prospects.
• Masataka Yoshida, OF/DH
  • It’s no secret that the Red Sox have been chomping at the bit to trade Yoshida since Breslow took over as the President of Baseball Operations. So far, they’ve been unsuccessful. With reports coming that he will rejoin the team in July and be in a platoon DH role with Refsnyder, that could drum up a bit of interest in him. He’s in the third year of his five-year/$90M contract and the Red Sox will likely have to eat some of that money to get him traded. If they are willing to take on a significant portion of it, they could turn him into someone who could compete on the major league team this year. Still, if there is a Yoshida trade, I'd expect it to take place over the offseason once the Japanese slugger rehabilitates some of his value in the second half.
• David Hamilton, UTIL
  • David Hamilton is currently starting at second base for the Boston Red Sox, for now. There’s not a ton of value here at all. He’s on a one-year/$780K contract and becomes arbitration eligible in 2027. Trading Hamilton really only takes away a pinch runner once Marcelo Mayer shifts to second base when Alex Bregman is healthy, and the team can afford to lose him. He won’t be the centerpiece of any deal that gets done. He more than likely will be an additional part added to help salaries and roster numbers match up, but as part of a larger deal, he could be moved for something significant.

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What do you think? Do you have other names you’d like to see the team shop if they go into sell mode? Comment below and let’s discuss!

 

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I'm willing to trade any or all of them. The Red Sox already hit the tank button once they got rid of Devers. The 4-8 tailspin after the trade just confirmed the post mortem. I hate to give up on the season already but you have to be real, we're not going far with what we've got now. Can we plan for next season? In particular the guys on the last year of their deal should be moved for future value.

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Unless we go on a wicked run, and even then, I'm not sure, we need to look at the general idea of trading every single FA to be, even if we might try to bring them back, next year. Extending Bregman and maybe Chapman and Refsnyder might be the exceptions.

Then, decide on Duran and/or Abreu to trade for pitching and make way for Jh Garcia and Anthony as our next corner OF'ers. Try like hell to see what if we can trade Story and Yoshida to shave a little off our budget, with the idea that we spend heavily, this winter on pitching, pitching, pitching and right side infield, assuming Bregman is back.

It's not a complicated blue print, but it will have to involve spending big, and more importantly, wisely and at least one more big trade that rivals the Crochet deal, but perhaps with some vets mixed in, and not all just prospects.

I don't think we have that run in us. I don't trust this team to spend big nor to spend wisely when they do.

Bregman signing is an outlier compared to the usual disaster signings. I feel like Cora must have pushed hard behind the scenes to make the deal happen. Bregman was very, very good for us when healthy. Which is why it won't surprise me if ownership moves him for no other reason than salary savings.

A Cheaper less competitive version of the Tampa Rays North is what they want. Well they are getting it.

I feel the only reason they gave Devers his contract was they felt a revolution about to boil over if they shipped off our last homegrown star so close to dumping Mookie Betts followed by the rest of the 2018 championship core. If John Henry dare showed his face today in front of a Red sox faithful crowd he would get roundly booed for getting rid of Devers as well.

Red Sox will be moving on some pieces at the trade deadline because we're not a playoff caliber team anymore, it's just a matter of what kind of return we can get for them and who goes.

7 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I don't think they trade Bregman.  That would be one more PR debacle.      

The Red Sox are famous for their PR debacles now. Nothing would surprise me at this point.

Would I like to keep Bregman? Yes, he's a very good player and a solid clubhouse figure from all reports.

Do I trust this cutthroat front office to do what's best for the team? Absolutely not. Not a single shred of confidence in them remains.

I think it is unlikely that Bregman opts out of a $40 million deal. No one is likely to top that.