Craig Breslow might reel in some help .
Wednesday June 25 was the day Red Sox fell to the Angels to conclude a sweep by the Halos and drop Boston to 40-42. It was also the 23rd birthday of Cheer Up!, the fourth studio album by ska band Reel Big Fish. The hit track of that album was not one of their traditional ska offerings but the much more regular-sounding rock song Where Have You Been? about a guy whose girlfriend (ex-girlfriend? Third baseman?) isn’t around anymore. While you might think that’s where we’re going you’re way off.
Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel ranked the top MLB trade deadline candidates with several noted as good fits for Boston. With Alex Bregman not expected back until after the All-Star Break — so July 18th at the earliest — and Kutter Crawford done for the season — it’s going to be up to Craig Breslow to get the ship righted ASAP. And there are several players who might fit the bill.
First off, yes, Alex Bregman, Jarren Duran, Aroldis Chapman, and Walker Buehler are all listed as potential trade chips for a selling Red Sox team. But after many prognosticators picked the Sox to win the division (I felt that was high, although now 86 wins looks high too) and Breslow got John Henry to open up his money clip for the aforementioned Bregman and a rich extension to Garrett Crochet, the POBO might find himself on the wobbly chair come this winter. While it might have been difficult to find someone to take the job, once the Sox have soured on you (Cherrington, Dombrowski, Bloom) it can be a quick exit. Obviously we don’t know that Craig Brewlow’s employment depends on this season turning into at least three October games but we also don’t know that it doesn’t.
I’m not suggesting Henry and FSG are more interested in the Sox than before, but that they don’t appreciate looking like fools.
Jeff and Kiley did a great job describing the players so I’m not going to write more of the same words. Just a quick comment on the more specific fit.
We’ll group their targets by category type:
Starting Pitchers:
- Sandy Alcantera of the Miami Marlins
- Freddy Peralta of the Milwaukee Brewers
- Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks
- Tyler Mahle of the Texas Rangers
We can get the jokes out of the way first: yes Alcantera and Mahle are in their returns from Tommy John surgery (and Mahle is additionally back on the IL) so obviously the Red Sox want more broken-down guys. Happy?
Honestly, Alcantera still probably has the best ceiling of the group and will cost the most to acquire and might be functionally on an innings limit. I‘d love to see them make that move; the Sox are desperate for innings that Buehler and Houck (plus now Crawford) aren’t giving them. It also seems like one of Richard Fitts or Hunter Dobbins is hurt all the time, so the depth and availability of a long man is lacking. Try to squeeze Peralta or Kelly away. Peralta comes with an option to pick up fort 2026 at just $8 million while Kelly would be a free agent.
Not connected to the Sox but also on the list are Zack Littell of the Tampa Bay Rays and Tyler Anderson of the Los Angeles Angels (who isn’t as good as he looked against Boston) and honestly sure, whoever. Plus Zach Eflin of the Baltimore Orioles, whom the Sox tried to sign just a few years ago. He’s struggled but also isn’t getting blown up every outing. Maybe the O’s let hm go for less and that counters the price of helping a division rival? If Buehler is bad see what even remotely solid arms are out there.
First Basemen:
- Ryan O’Hearn of the Baltimore Orioles
- Josh Naylor of the Cleveland Guardians
O’Hearn is, again, in the division. He also can’t hit lefties. That provides some platoon ability with Romy or Kristian Campbell. But his track record is also not great. The Sox have a platoon and maybe a Casas replacement in Campbell.
Just last year the Guardians had both Naylors. And then there were none…This one plays first base and gets on base. While his career OBP is just .327, since 2022 it’s averaging .340. He hits from the left side, is 28, and is signed to a one-year deal. So he could stick around as a legitimate option in 2026 should Campbell displace Casas.
There’s also a DH option: Marcell Ozuna of the Atlanta Braves. But the Sox just traded a guy who could only hit. Seems unlikely they’d want another.
The question is how do they acquire these players? And maybe a reliever. Well, first we have the Rule 5 draft. Boston has a lot of players who will need to be added to the 40-man roster or left unprotected this winter. This is how Breslow acquired relief help last year…he emptied some of the overstock.
Blaze Jordan will either need to be protected or traded. And he’s having himself a nice rebound year for prospect status.
Or how about Mikey Romero? He’s more highly rated in the system (10 by SoxProspects, 15 by FanGraphs) and there might not be infield room with, potentially, Bregman, Story, Mayer, and Campbell cementing themselves with at least the next two years somewhere across the diamond.
No one wants to trade Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu. You can possibly move one and have Roman Anthony take over there but that really had to be done before and without trading Rafael Devers. There has to be someone who played in 2024 on the roster. Plus that’s an area of (relative) strength. Don’t make it a weakness that might need patching if even one other thing goes wrong.
So there are some options. The Sox can be aggressive. Not all prospects pan out. Not all pitchers (ahem Crochett) are healthy and excellent every year so you may not want to waste that. They are, very optimistically, another good run like they had through the Yankees Series away from being right back in this thing. And starting two games under .500 instead of six would put them in a better position than that last run did.