Red Sox Linked To Dodgers Two-Time All-Star Starter In Extremely Rare Type Of Trade

Boston continues to be mentioned as candidates to make strange deadline moves

Scott Neville | Jul 1, 2024

Mar 12, 2022; Mesa, AZ, USA; Chicago Cubs assistant general manager Craig Breslow arrives during a spring training workout at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

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For the third straight year, the Boston Red Sox enter the month of July without a clear path to take at the trade deadline.

For Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, he'll attempt to have more success than his predecessor -- who deployed a buy/sell approach two years in a row and failed to improve the big-league roster -- though his trade of Christian Vázquez for outfielder Wilyer Abreu and second baseman Enmanuel Valdez back in 2022 has made a huge impact on the 2024 campaign.

With that in mind, you'd think Breslow would take a defined path this summer -- which would entail either meaningfully adding to the big-league roster or selling off all impending free agents. However, multiple media members have tossed out the idea of making a buyer-to-buyer trade deadline deal that would fall in line with the middling approach of the last two unsuccessful deadlines.

"For all the talk of moving Kenley Jansen, the Red Sox should only do it if they can find a team willing to trade a potential free-agent starter for a potential free-agent reliever," The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal wrote Monday.

"The (Los Angeles) Dodgers’ Walker Buehler, coming off Tommy John surgery and currently out with right hip inflammation, might not be the right fit, but that would be the idea. An even better idea would be to keep Jansen and trade for a starter in some other way. If the Sox are serious about contending, they should not trust Liam Hendriks, coming off Tommy John surgery, to close."

This suggestion is coming off the heels of The Athletic's Jim Bowden tossing out the same framework of a buyer-to-buyer trade centered around Jansen.

Buehler would be an interesting buy-low option the Red Sox could be intrigued by this summer. The 29-year-old has a 5.84 ERA in 37 innings across eight starts this season. However, the two-time All-Star with a pair of top-10 National League Cy Young finishes to his name entered 2024 with a career 3.02 ERA (136 ERA+), 27% strikeout rate, 6.3% walk rate, .212 batting average against and a 1.04 WHIP in 638 1/3 innings across 115 games and six seasons.

Should the Red Sox consider taking a shot on Buehler? Absolutely. Having a former frontline starter in his prime for pitching coach Andrew Bailey to mold back into shape would make a lot of sense for a young and hungry roster contending for an American League Wild Card spot.

However, it makes no sense to deal Jansen in the process. Boston needs to stop screwing around at the deadline and make a real decision. The buy/sell nonsense is a fun way to make a lot of moves and end up in the same spot they started in or more likely, worse.

Either go out and get an impactful starter and some ancillary pieces or trade every impending free agent on the roster -- Tyler O'Neill, Nick Pivetta, Chris Martin and Jansen. Failure to choose a clear path will result in another last-place finish without the farm system benefits of a true fire sale.

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Published Jul 1, 2024

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu