Nick John

The Boston Red Sox continue to lock up their young talent as Roman Anthony has agreed to an eight-year, $130 million contract extension per Jeff Passan of ESPN. Anthony, the former number one prospect in baseball, has been a key contributor for the Red Sox since his promotion back in early June, hitting .283/.400/.428 in 46 games. One of the best young talents in the game, Anthony is now locked in with Boston through at least the 2034 season. The contract also includes a club option and will begin in the 2026 season. While the deal is originally worth $130 million, it includes significant escalators that could nearly double the original value of the contract for Anthony up to $230 million. With this contract, the Red Sox will buy out either three or four years of Anthony’s free agency, depending on where he finishes in the AL Rookie of the Year race. Should Anthony finish in the top two, the Red Sox may have won massively with this contract, as it would buy out four years of free agency instead of three. Anthony has been a leader on the field since being called up in June and has been a key component of the Red Sox turnaround on the season. Since his promotion, the Red Sox have won 32 games and helped increase their record to 64-51, good for the top Wild Card spot and second in the AL East. There is no denying his impact and the Red Sox were wise to lock him up quickly. Anthony is now the third contract extension completed by the team this season, joining Garrett Crochet and Kristian Campbell. The club option mentioned above is for the 2034 season which will be Anthony’s age-31 season. Anthony, who was drafted in the second round of the 2022 draft, rose through the minor leagues, making it up to Triple-A Worcester less than two years after getting selected. He opened the 2025 season with Worcester despite a spring training where he showed he was ready for Boston. Instead of getting down on himself, he worked on a few minor things until the team felt he was ready. He was finally called following an injury to right fielder Wilyer Abreu a few months ago. Since then, Anthony has mainly played right field but has bounced between left field and designated hitter as well in an attempt to get everyone into the lineup. Despite the movement between the corner outfield positions, he has shown no issues handling either of them. Since being promoted, Anthony has been not just one of the top players in Boston, but around the league based on his metrics. His bat speed, exit velocity and hard-hit rate of 74.4 mph, 94.1 mph and 58% respectively would all be near the top if he had enough at-bats to qualify. His chase rate and walk rates of 19.3% and 13.7% respectively would be near the top as well despite being just 21 years old. Showcasing a great understanding of the strike zone already, Anthony is poised to continue growing into an even brighter star once he starts to hit for a little more power. Case in point: FanGraphs has calculated that in his 46 career games, Anthony has already generated 1.6 WAR. One thing is for certain with Boston these days: they want to keep their young stars in town for as long as they can. Between Anthony, Crochet and Campbell, the team has guaranteed $360 million to those three players, with it possibly going up to $500 million based on escalators and options between that trio. The Red Sox are starting to resemble the team the front office promised for years. View full article

July was an interesting month for the Red Sox minor league players, as many prospects broke out. However, there was one who really stood above the others to the point where there were questions around him not being recalled to Boston when Marcelo Mayer went on the injured list in late July. For his phenomenal month of July, which may have been his best since joining the Red Sox organization, Vaughn Grissom is TalkSox’s Minor League Hitter of the Month. Known for being the player the Red Sox got in return for the Chris Sale trade during the 2024 offseason, many have felt he’s underwhelmed. However, July was anything but underwhelming for the infielder. Playing in 18 games in the month almost made it a hard choice of selecting him as other players appeared in more games such as Kristian Campbell and the recently-traded Blaze Jordan. Outfielders Justin Gonzales and Yophery Rodriguez were also in consideration. However, the numbers put up by Grissom made the choice easier. In those 18 games, Grissom hit .324/.351/.606 with five doubles, five home runs and 17 RBIs. He also walked four times and struck out in eight plate appearances. Of Red Sox minor leaguers who appeared in at least 14 games, only Rodriguez, Gonzales and catcher Ronald Rosario had higher batting averages than Grissom. And when you look at Grissom’s OPS of .957, that mark was only beaten by Rosario’s 1.048 in 14 games. Grissom led the farm system in home runs and RBIs as well. While Grissom is no longer a prospect, having exceeded his rookie status in 2022, he is still a young, versatile player. At 24 year old, there may be a team out there interested in the infielder, especially as the Red Sox have gotten him used to playing every position in the infield. Unfortunately for Grissom, the team views him as a solid high-minors depth option who would be an emergency call-up, something that wasn’t the case when they traded for him. Should he continue to play well in Triple-A, there’s a chance some team may call in the offseason looking to trade for him and take a chance developing him into a big league contributor. Grissom’s path to Boston is currently blocked, like many prospects in the system. Originally viewed as the starting second baseman of the future, he’s been leapfrogged on the depth chart by Campbell, David Hamilton, Marcelo Mayer and even Nick Sogard, leaving him without a clear path to Fenway. Nevertheless, Grissom is improving in Worcester as shown by this season’s 8.2% walk rate. He's also cut back from a 19.2% strikeout rate in 2024 to a 17% rate this season. It is weird that the team wouldn’t look to give him a chance considering his metrics are at their best this season. His exit velocity and hard-hit rate are at career highs, and along with the fact that he’s pulling the ball nearly 40% of the time, someone should be curious to see how Grissom might take advantage of the Green Monster. Overall, Grissom is a player who isn’t letting a frustrating situation get the better of him. Instead, he continues to put the effort in each and every time he steps out on the field, and should the Red Sox not see a need for him, hopefully another team does. The least the Red Sox could do is recoup some value for a player whose trajectory with the team has changed so much in just under two seasons. View full article

The trade deadline has come and gone, and with it, many Red Sox fans feel underwhelmed. While they had their eyes set on bigger names, the team instead brought in Steven Matz and Dustin May to help improve their pitching staff. Many felt that the team should have brought in more firepower to help this team fight for a playoff run. However, many forget that the team can still add players from now until the end of August and have them be eligible for the postseason. It isn’t how things used to work before 2019, where big names could get traded, but there are still players eligible to be traded after the deadline. Prior to 2019, a team could place a player on revocable waivers, where if a player was claimed you could either negotiate a trade or pull the player back off the waivers. Remember the trade in 2012 that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to the Dodgers to get money off the books? That was an August waiver trade. Unfortunately, stuff like that can’t happen now, as players who can be traded in August must meet three criteria: They must be signed to a minor league contract They have not been on a 40-man roster all season They have not been on the MLB injured list at any point of the season The new rules really limit the quality of players who can be traded now, but it isn’t out of the question to see key contributors packaged in an August trade. The Red Sox did it twice in 2021 for extra depth, though neither player really moved the needle much. First acquiring outfielder Delino DeShields from Texas (only to eventually trade him to Cincinnati near the end of the month) and then trading for Brad Peacock on August 30. Peacock would provide 5 1/3 innings across two appearances when the team was dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak. This season, there aren’t too many names that really stand out as possible key additions, though there are two players the team could look into as depth for August and September: first baseman and outfielder Joey Meneses and pitcher Josh Fleming. Meneses, who is 33 years old, last played in the majors in 2024 with the Washington Nationals, where he struggled to a .231/.291/.302 slash line in 76 games. The year before, however, he played in 154 games and hit .275/.321/.401 with 36 doubles, a triple, 13 home runs and 89 RBIs. Add to it that this season with the Syracuse Mets, he’s hitting a respectable .282/.333/.451 with 31 doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 47 RBIs, it might not hurt to take a chance as a depth option. Fleming, on the other hand, is a 29-year-old left-handed pitcher who has dealt with injuries in 2022 and 2023 while also putting up less-than-ideal numbers in 2024. This season, he’s pitching for the Tacoma Rainers in Triple-A, where he’s appeared in 33 games and produced a 4-2 record. In 59 1/3 innings, he has a 4.40 ERA while only striking out 34 batters. Again, these players are not typically in high demand and serve more as extra depth, something that the Sox may need at first base with their belief that Kristian Campbell has more work to do and Abraham Toro having regressed since July. Another way to bring players in is through waivers. Where in the past you could pull a player off waivers if they were claimed in August, that is no longer the case. Now, you can only place them on outright waivers (if you want to clear a 40-man roster spot) or release waivers (to release a player) and if they get claimed, that’s it. Usually, this move is seen as a salary dump as the team receiving the player takes on the salary owed, but it doesn’t mean impact players can’t be acquired. Just last season, outfielders Tommy Pham (who looks to be a candidate for this again this season) and Robbie Grossman were moved in this way, as were infielders Emmanuel Rivera and Amed Rosario. This season, there are a few names that could be interesting for teams, but maybe not the Red Sox with how their current team is built. One such player that the Red Sox may hope to see placed on waivers is Josh Bell. Bell, a 32-year-old first baseman playing for the Washington Nationals, is having a very mediocre season. In 94 games he’s hitting .228/.322/.386 with 10 doubles, a triple, 13 home runs and 40 RBIs. However, when you look deeper, you'll realize his struggles may be due to bad luck. His batting average on balls in play is .249, and when you realize his expected batting average, on-base percentage and slugging are all higher than his actual numbers (.252/.345/.445), you can’t help but wonder what his numbers would look like if a few more hits dropped in. He also walks at an 11.1% rate and barrels the ball up at a 10.5% rate, which might entice a few teams to take a chance at him if he becomes available. The last way of adding players is really the most obvious: signing free agents. The Red Sox did this in 2021 with Jose Iglesias, as he took over at second base in September and went on a tear. Unfortunately, he wasn’t eligible for the playoffs as he signed after the deadline to add eligible players, but without him, there’s a good chance the 2021 team misses the playoffs. All Iglesias did in 23 games that September was hit .356/.406/.508 with four doubles, a triple, one home run and seven RBIs. He also played his standard top notch defense between second base (18 games) and shortstop (five games), where he only committed a single error between the two positions. There aren’t many interesting names in this regard either, and of those available, none really fit what the Red Sox need... at least at the moment. There’s always a chance another team releases a struggling player to open up a roster spot, but the addition may not move the needle much. The trade deadline may be the last chance to add a bona fide impact player, but it isn’t the last time that teams can add to their rosters. It all comes down to what minor league players are available and who in the majors is placed on waivers. Honestly, it’s all about luck with these moves, but sometimes, there is a player or two who can still be an impactful addition. The Red Sox made the moves they did, and unless they pull off a minor league deal between now and the end of August, there aren’t any other reinforcements coming that aren’t already in the organization. The team has depth, but the question is how that depth will compete against the best teams in the league. Regardless of how you feel about the trade deadline, the Red Sox have put themselves in a position where if they miss the postseason, they have no one to blame but themselves. 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The Boston Red Sox stayed busy Sunday afternoon after sweeping the Houston Astros as they promoted their top pitching prospect Payton Tolle to Triple-A Worcester per Beyond The Monster’s Andrew Parker. Tolle is Boston’s top pitching prospect and has pitched for both Greenville and Portland. Now he will face the highest level of minor league baseball with the possibility of being added to Boston’s roster at some point in September. In six games since his promotion to Portland, Tolle made five starts and pitched out of the pen in a piggyback role once. He tossed 27 innings and had a 1.67 ERA to go along with 37 strikeouts to just seven walks Drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 MLB Draft, Tolle throws four pitches: a fastball, cutter, slider and changeup. He is also currently ranked 49th on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list. Do you think it’s too early for Tolle to be promoted? Should he have just been promoted alongside fellow pitchers David Sandlin and Connelly Early last week? Could he make it to Boston before the end of the year? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments. View full rumor

The trade deadline has officially passed, as the Boston Red Sox made two moves to bolster their pitching staff. Bringing in left-handed reliever Steven Matz and right-handed starter Dustin May, the team made moves that they felt will help the roster continue its pursuit of the playoffs. But, as everyone knows, in order to get a player, you need to give something up as well. With the team reluctant to trade any player on the current 26-man roster, Craig Breslow and the rest of the front office turned towards the team’s minor league system for players to trade. Of course, sometimes, fans feel that certain players shouldn’t have been included in a deal or that maybe a player who was traded could have got the team back someone better. For that concern, we’re going to look at the prospects that were traded away. In total, the Red Sox traded out three prospects before the 6 p.m. trade deadline on Thursday. All three of the players were ranked within MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospects within the system, with the highest ranked player being outfielder James Tibbs III who was fifth on that list. OF James Tibbs III Originally acquired as the “centerpiece” of the Rafael Devers’ trade on June 15, Tibbs was viewed as an already-expendable prospect. His lack of defensive versatility made it a lock that, should he make it to Fenway, he would be stuck playing left field and the occasional first base, positions that would be blocked for him by players already ahead of him on the depth chart, especially if you believe in Kristian Campbell's transition to the cold corner. To make matters worse, his best tool that was supposed to make him valuable to teams in a potential trade (his hit tool) seemed to take a step back upon being promoted to Double-A Portland once he came over from the San Francisco Giants. In the short amount of time he was in the organization, the outfielder played in 29 games where he hit .205/.321/.268 with two doubles, a triple, one home run and seven RBIs. He also struck out 37 times (compared to drawing just 19 walks). During his time in Boston, Tibbs made it as high as fifth on MLB Pipeline’s rankings for the team's farm system. Yet, despite the high ranking, it seemed that Boston may not have been impressed with the display Tibbs put on since arriving in mid-June. Deciding to move him to the Dodgers as one of two prospects in the deal for May, the team may have moved him while his value was at its lowest out of worry it could drop even more. OF Zach Ehrhard Drafted twice by Boston—the first time in the 13th round of the 2021 draft, the second time being in the fourth round of the 2024 draft out of Oklahoma State—Ehrhard worked his way into the top-30 of Boston’s prospect rankings after a struggle in his first professional games in 2024. By the time of the trade, Ehrhard made his way up to being Boston’s 27th-ranked prospect on Pipeline's list. This season, he showed an improvement in his offensive game, splitting time between High-A Greenville and Double-A Portland. In 88 games before being traded, Ehrhard hit .270/.371/.434 with 23 doubles, one triple, nine home runs and 45 RBIs. He also stole 23 bases, while walking 46 times and striking out 75 times. But, just like with Tibbs, his path to Boston was blocked by a loaded outfield along with top prospect Jhostynxon Garcia ahead of him on the depth chart. Because of that, he was easy enough to move in a trade, though many were surprised to see him included as the second piece of the Dustin May deal considering many thought that Tibbs should have had enough value on his own for a rental pitcher like May. INF Blaze Jordan The third and final prospect moved at this year’s deadline was one who had been in the system the longest. Drafted in the third round of the 2020 draft, Jordan had become a staple in the organization, making his way up to being the 17th-ranked prospect in the Sox system by MLB Pipeline. Already, he’s been ranked as the Cardinals’ 19th-best prospect. It comes as no surprise that Jordan was moved at the deadline, the biggest reason being that he was Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason. The Red Sox did not seem to think too highly of him either, considering their lack of desire to give him a try up in Boston despite their first base issues and his quality hitting across the entire season. There was a very high probability that some team would take him in the Rule 5 Draft and take a shot on him over the offseason (assuming the Red Sox left him unprotected off the 40-man roster). Instead, the team moved him for Steven Matz to help their bullpen. With the absurd market conditions for relievers at the deadline, being able to get Matz for just one superfluous player may end up being a steal based on how he pitches for Boston. The Sox were likely to lose Jordan for nothing in the offseason, so instead, they were able to make a deal work where they got someone back for him. In 88 games split between Portland and Worcester, Jordan hit .308/.377/.495 with 22 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs and 62 RBIs. He also walked 33 times and struck out just 38 times. View full article

The trade deadline has come and gone as the Red Sox only made two moves in an attempt to help improve their roster. Acquiring Steven Matz of the St. Louis Cardinals and Dustin May of the Los Angeles Dodgers, it seems they planned to beef up their pitching. And while it wasn’t the deadline many were hoping for, there may be a silver lining when it comes to Dustin May. May, a former top prospect of the Dodgers and a talented, yet oft-injured pitcher, was the only rotation help that arrived at the deadline. Just 27 years old, May hasn’t reached his prime just yet. but injuries have left him with limited time on the field as he missed most of 2021 from requiring Tommy John surgery and then pitched in six games in 2022 after rehabbing only to have his season end on September 24 due to lower back tightness. The 2023 campaign was more of the same, needing a Tommy John revision surgery in early July after being on the injured list since mid-May. He would only make nine starts that season and go on to miss the entire 2024 season due to injury rehab and then later needing surgery for an esophageal tear. The 2025 season has seen May at his healthiest since 2020, and he has pitched to mixed results. In 19 appearances, May has gone 6-7 with a 4.85 ERA in 104 innings pitched. In that span, he’s walked 43 batters for a 9.5% walk rate and has struck out 97 batters for a 21.5% strikeout rate. May has not been a big-time strikeout pitcher, with a strikeout per nine innings of 8.39 on the season. Despite that number looking rather pedestrian, it is actually considered to be above average. In fact, it would actually be the second-highest out of all Red Sox starters, just behind Garrett Crochet. Compared to the rest of the American League, it would also place him just behind Max Fried’s 8.40 mark. Looking at his walks per nine innings, May would immediately be the second-worst out of all starters on the staff with a 3.72. The only starter he would be better than would be Walker Buehler. However, despite having a high walk rate, opponents hitting .243 against him and a WHIP of 1.35, May has managed to strand runners at a 70.1% rate. This has been, in part, due to May’s ability to get ground balls while needed. On the season. May has gotten opposing batters to hit the ball on the ground 43.8% of the time, which is unfortunately a career-worst for the pitcher, but a promising floor for such an important metric. On the opposite end, he’s allowing fly balls at a career-high 37.8% rate and has given up 16 home runs on the season. In his previous five seasons pitching combined, he had only given up 19 home runs. One thing is for certain with May: he will need to get the ball more on the ground at Fenway than he did pitching with the Dodgers, especially as he’s allowing a hard-hit rate of 35% and an average exit velocity of 90.8 mph. Batters have hit him hard when they make contact. One positive to build off of for May is his four-seam fastball, as batters are hitting just .111/.168/.206 against it on the season. While Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey seems to like movement more than straight gas, May might benefit from relying more on a four-seamer that averages around 95.5 mph. It has also been his second-best pitch in terms of generating whiffs, with opposing batters whiffing at a 26.2% rate against the offering, so an increase in its usage could result in more swings and misses in his game. One pitcher who has seen an improvement this season when relying more on his fastball is May’s new teammate Brayan Bello, who has looked like a different pitcher after honing in on his fastball usage. Plus, another similarity between the two is the two pitchers rely on similar pitches, as two of Bello's top three most-used pitches are his sinker and sweeper, just like May. The other three pitches in May’s arsenal this year are his cutter, sinker and sweeper (though FanGraphs has it listed as a slider). May dropped his curveball and changeup rates this season and altered his pitch usage. The sweeper is his main pitch now, being tossed 41.1% of the time, while his sinker has been his second-most used pitch at 36.1%. The four-seam fastball has been used 16.1%, and finally the cutter has been tossed just 6.7% of the time, a downgrade from the 14.8% usage it saw in 2023. That may be for the best, as his cutter has been his worst pitch this season, opponents hitting .520/.406/.840 against it. In the same vein, May has also seen trouble with his sinker, as opponents have a slash line of .285/.347/.589 to go along with 10 of May’s 16 home runs allowed being from the sinker. That's not to say either pitch is a lost cause, but if the Red Sox would like to streamline his effectiveness for the season's second half, they could encourage May to deploy a heavier fastball-sweeper mix. May is very much a rental starter, expected to fill in the back-end of the rotation from now until the end of the season in a better manner than Richard Fitts or Walker Buehler has done so far. Likely to slot in as the team’s number four pitcher, May will just be expected to go out there and provide five or six competitive innings as the team looks to make the playoffs. It isn’t a bad upgrade to the rotation, but when it’s the only upgrade, it can look bad. Had the Red Sox acquired a second starting pitcher to go along with him, fans may have looked at this move in a better light. And, if he can improve his sinker even slightly, there’s a chance the Red Sox might have got an exciting young pitcher they could attempt to re-sign for cheap. If it doesn’t work out, then they can let him walk in the offseason. Should the Red Sox tap into the potential and skill that had him renowned as a top prospect before injuries, this trade could age extremely well. If not... well, let's hope James Tibbs gets crowded out of a busy Dodgers' roster, too. View full article

The Red Sox continued their post-deadline trend of promoting prospects, as outfielder Miguel Bleis is on his way to Portland per Beyond The Monster’s Andrew Parker. Bleis, who is 21 years old, signed as an international free agent in January of 2021 and received the largest bonus that year. His potential was viewed so highly that, entering 2023, he was a Top-100 prospect on several prospect lists despite only playing in the Florida Complex League. Since signing, he has dealt with several injuries that cost him time in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. but the potential he showcases at times helps to explain what the Red Sox and scouts saw in him back in 2021. Bleis is currently ranked 12th on MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Red Sox prospects (19th on TalkSox) and will look to showcase his potential in Portland while aiming to play in a career high number of games. So far in 77 games, Bleis is hitting .226/.314/.422 with 15 doubles, a triple, 13 home runs and 41 RBIs. The outfielder is incredibly talented yet very inconsistent. He will be Rule 5 Draft eligible this offseason, and so his time in Portland could also serve as a showcase for teams who might be interested in his skills. View full rumor

Following the trade deadline, the Red Sox are promoting one of their top prospects to Worcester. As reported by Beyond the Monster’s Andrew Parker, the Red Sox are promoting infielder Mikey Romero to Triple-A Worcester. Romero, a former first-round draft pick, is likely being promoted to fill the roster spot left by traded corner infielder Blaze Jordan. Romero, who was initially drafted as a shortstop has seen his time in the field split between third base, second base and shortstop. He has also spent time as the designated hitter. Known for his offensive potential, Romero appeared in 65 games for Portland, where he hit .250/.313/.436 with 17 doubles, four triples, eight home runs, and 39 RBIs. What may be most impressive for Romero is the fact that he’s on pace to play in the most games of his professional career, beating the 78 games played last season. Romero will likely see the majority of his playing time come at third base and shortstop as the team sees how he can handle the increased level of play. View full rumor

The Boston Red Sox acquired right-handed pitcher Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers per Jeff Passan. After missing out on Merrill Kelly earlier in the day, the Red Sox managed to acquire May and add the young pitcher to their rotation. In 19 games this season, May has gone 6-7 with a 4.85 ERA in 104 innings pitched. May was a former top prospect with the Dodgers and will help provide innings after the Sox have seen injuries affect their pitching depth. May, who missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and undergoing surgery for an esophageal tear, has been a mixed bag of performances. A free agent after the season, May is entirely a rental for the remainder of the season. This is a pure buy-low opportunity on someone the team may have wanted to sign over the offseason; better to get him in the system now and try to work on an extension than compete with 29 other teams in free agency. Despite his numbers looking rather pedestrian, batters are only hitting .111 against his four-seamer on the season, the second-lowest mark in the majors this season. The 27-year-old pitcher has a 21.5% strikeout rate thanks in part to that fastball, which has averaged 95 mph on the season. What may work out the best for May with the Red Sox is his 44.6% ground ball rate, thanks in part to the infield defense led by Alex Bregman, Trevor Story and (upon his return) Marcelo Mayer. Batters are currently hitting .243 against May on the season with an average exit velocity of 90.8 mph on balls put in play. He's giving up a career-high barrel rate at 8.6% and a career-high hard-hit rate of 43.6%. As first reported by Robert Murray of FanSided, the Red Sox sent outfield prospect James Tibbs III as the main piece back to the Dodgers. Tibbs was acquired back on Father's Day as part of the Rafael Devers trade with the San Francisco Giants. He was considered the "centerpiece" prospect at the time, but he was heavily blocked in the outfield by the major league roster and top prospect Jhostynxon Garcia. Joining him to the Dodgers will be 2024 fourth-round pick Zach Ehrhard as reported by MassLive's Christopher Smith. Ehrhard is another outfielder who has split the 2025 season between Greenville and Portland. Another player blocked in the outfield by the major league roster and Garcia, he will now have an opportunity to make it to the majors in a similarly-loaded Dodgers system. View full article

Outfield is locked for the next half decade with Anthony, Rafaela and Abrue. Not to mention who knows what happens with Duran. By the time you need to worry about the outfield again you'll have younger guys making their way through the system again.

The MLB trade deadline is today! The Red Sox appear to be in the middle of most rumors as they attempt to acquire talent that will help get them back into the playoffs for the first time since 2021. With a loaded farm system, they have plenty of pieces to move, but realistically, what might each of their top prospects be worth? We’ll be looking at three prospects who could be shipped out by the end of the trade deadline and what similar players were able to get back in a trade. For the sake of simplicity, I will being using the MLB Pipeline rankings when it comes to the prospects discussed. Jhostynxon Garcia, OF, Red Sox #2 Prospect Why He Should be Traded Garcia is a talented young outfielder who is blocked from playing in Boston. He’s a Top-100 prospect on MLB Pipeline and with the Red Sox outfield being set for presumably the next half-decade, there’s no reason to not make him available in the right trade. 2024 was a bit of a coming out party for Garcia as he played well at three different stops in the minor leagues, to the point he was added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. 2025 has been more of the same, as he’s shown he’s capable of handling Triple-A pitching just fine. The only issue is there’s no room for him in Boston. It would only make sense to move someone of his caliber while his value is at its (likely) highest. As they say, “You have to give something to get something,” and well, Garcia might be the best piece they could give up in a trade, depending on who you ask. Recent Trade Comparison: Pete Crow-Armstrong for Javier Báez and Trevor Williams (2021) In no way am I saying Garcia is going to be the next Armstrong, but the two players are similar when it comes to their prospect rankings near the deadline. Armstrong was the Mets’ fifth-ranked prospect in 2021 and wasn’t even a Top-100 prospect at the time of the trade (though that was due to a serious injury). Garcia himself is a fringe Top-100 prospect (MLB Pipeline has him as one, but other prospect lists don’t). The Mets were able to turn their fifth-best prospect in 2021 into a two-time All-Star who, at the time, had 22 home runs, and a pitcher in Williams who gave them 32 1/3 innings of 3.06 ERA baseball between the bullpen and rotation. A power-hitting bat and a steady relief arm are two things the Red Sox currently need, and if Garcia could deliver them all by himself, it would be a fair trade. Mikey Romero, SS, Red Sox #8 Prospect Why He Should be Traded Romero was drafted back in 2022 and was viewed as one of the best hitters in that draft’s high school class, and he’s shown it when healthy. The problem is his health, as he’s missed time in every season of his professional career due to various injuries. This year, he’s currently on pace to play the most games in his career while also improving his walk rate. This is a situation where a player's talent is being held back by availability. If you can move him in a deal while his value is rather high (he’s in Boston’s top 10) and improve the major league roster, you must do it. There’s no guarantee his body will hold up. Add to it that the infield at the major league level is packed for the time being, and Romero may not see a chance to reach the majors here. Recent Trade Comparison: Nick Yorke traded for Quinn Priester (2024) We don’t need to look far to see a trade that could fit something similar for Romero. Nick Yorke was Boston’s sixth-ranked prospect last year but had no path to the majors. He had put up a decent season in 2024 up to the trade deadline and the Red Sox, not wanting to risk losing him in the Rule 5 Draft, decided to move him. In the deal, they got a former first-round pick back in Quinn Priester, someone who had previously been a Top-100 prospect but had struggled in the majors with Pittsburgh. The Red Sox acquired him with the thought of retooling his pitch selection and having him be starting pitching depth for the remainder of the 2024 season. The only difference here is that that Yorke had played more games than Romero, and he had a better offensive campaign up to the trade deadline last season. James Tibbs III, OF, Red Sox #5 Prospect Why He Should be Traded Tibbs, being one of the main returning pieces for Rafael Devers, makes it odd to think that the Sox only acquired him to trade him. Well, much like Garcia. he has no path to the majors in Boston. as he’s expected to be limited defensively to left field and possibly first base. Because of that, it would make sense for Boston to move him before he loses value. A first-round pick last season, he was viewed as having one of the best combinations of swing decisions and hard contact in the draft. Since coming to the Red Sox organization, he hasn’t been as good, putting up only a .609 OPS in 28 games. The Red Sox would be wise to move him in a deal, even if he's unlikely to be the centerpiece in a blockbuster. Tibbs is still full of potential, and it’s likely that another team would love to add him to their system and tap into that potential. Recent Trade Comparison: Greg Deichmann and Daniel Palencia traded for Andrew Chafin 2021 While the trade was a two-for-one, the main piece was Deichmann, who was the A’s ninth-ranked prospect in 2021 and was having a better offensive season than Tibbs has had with Portland so far. The A’s were able to get, at the time, a valuable left-handed pitcher who had been working as a set-up man in Chicago. Of course, Palencia was a fireballer who has turned into a star closer for the Cubs, highlighting the risk of trading prospects in deals like these. View full article

The platoon of Romy/Abe right now, plus the fact that they're teaching Campbell first who they just signed to that extension, plus Casas will be back some point next season. He was never going to play in Boston

The trade deadline is roughly 18 hours away, and the Red Sox have made their first trade in the wee hours of Thursday morning. In a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Red Sox are finalizing a trade to acquire left-handed reliever Steven Matz. The deal is currently agreed to and is pending medical review to be finalized as first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan: The return for Matz is corner infielder Blaze Jordan as first reported by Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Jordan, a former third-round pick in the 2020 draft, had made it to Triple-A Worcester this season after opening the year with Double-A Portland. Jordan was the Red Sox's 17th-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline, though an adjustment was surely due after his strong campaign. In 87 games this season Jordan was hitting .304/.374/.494 with 22 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs and 61 RBIs. His promotion to Boston seemed unlikely, blocked at both first base and third base, and he was set to be Rule 5 Draft eligible for his second consecutive winter. Instead, the Red Sox get a left-handed reliever that has kept left-handed batters to a stat line of .179/.216/.226 in 89 plate appearances this season. Given Chaim Bloom's scheduled takeover of the Cardinals' front office this coming offseason, it's no surprise he targeted one of his former picks in Boston. Matz has made 172 starts in his MLB career, though he's thrived as a reliever over the last 12 months in St. Louis. Expect the Red Sox to keep him in the bullpen for the second half. More to come... View full article

It’s been an interesting season for Kristian Campbell, as the rookie broke camp with the Red Sox and opened the season on a hot streak that had fans picturing him as the Rookie of the Year just two weeks into the season. He even received a massive extension, signifying his place as a core piece of the future. It's been all downhill from there, as Campbell struggled mightily after April, hitting just .134/.184/.171 in the month of May. In June, Campbell was sent down to Triple-A Worcester to work on some things offensively and to get work at first base as he was one of the worst, if not the worst, defender in the major leagues while at second base with -14 defensive runs saved. Since going down to Worcester, Campbell has finally started to look like himself while learning a new position. In 28 games since his demotion, Campbell is hitting .267/.398/.438 with four doubles, a triple, four home runs and 14 RBIs. But when we take a deeper look into it, is Campbell improving on the issues he faced at the major leagues? One of his biggest issues was an inability to pull inside pitches, mostly hitting them to the opposite field for easy outs or striking out (not including that home run in Detroit that he just muscled out to right field). Before his demotion on June 20, Campbell had an exit velocity of 88.6 mph while only barreling up the ball at a 5.1% rate. To go with that, he was chasing pitches outside of the zone at a 23.4% rate (a rather good number as he was in the 76th percentile), but whiffing on 27.3% of pitches he swung at in general and striking out at a 27.4% rate. What really hurt him was that he was only pulling balls at a 28.7% rate, going to the opposite field at a 33.8% clip and back up the middle at 37.6% of the time. Those numbers have slightly changed in the time he’s been in Worcester. It hasn’t come easy, as Campbell began his return to Worcester going just 9-for-45 in his first nine games. However, in the span from July 19 to July 27, he has been on fire, seemingly getting back on track to being the hitter that made him a top prospect. In that nine game stretch, he hit .407/.484/.667 with a 13% walk rate and a 23% strikeout rate in 31 plate appearances. This included Campbell crushing a home run to left at 104.3 mph. Since his demotion, Campbell has actually improved upon pulling the ball with Worcester, now up to a 47.8% rate. That does come with the caveat that he's rarely hitting the ball up the middle (16.4%), while going to the opposite field 35.8% of the time. His timing remains a work in progress, hence why he's still hitting the ball on the ground so often. With Worcester, he's hitting groundballs 51.5% of the time and line drives at a 28.8% rate. Unfortunately, his fly balls have dropped to a paltry 19.7% clip. He still needs to work on getting the ball in the air and pulling it to left more, something that would allow him to take advantage of the Green Monster in Boston. It’s been a slow improvement, but when learning a whole new position while working on your hitting mechanics, things are rarely going to be smooth. It's promising that his .171 ISO is a big jump over his number in Boston (.122), and his 127 wRC+ with Worcester paints a promising picture for the future. Could Campbell return to the team after the trade deadline if they fail to acquire a first baseman? Defensively, Campbell has only played 16 games at first base, but in that span, he’s yet to make an error in the 133 2/3 innings he’s played in the field. It’s a small group of data, but with the Red Sox needing first production as Abraham Toro has fallen off in July, the team may decide to give Campbell another opportunity in the majors, this time at the cold corner. Doing so would also allow them to save prospects and other resources to use in a trade to improve their rotation and/or bullpen. He’s young, this being his age-23 season, and is still learning. People need to remember he went through High-A, Double-A and Triple-A last season before making his major league debut on Opening Day this year. Campbell is smart and he’s showing he can make the adjustments when given time; it shouldn't be long before he’s back in Boston helping the team. View full article