Red Sox Trade Surging Top Prospect For Struggling Former First-Round Pick

Scott Neville | Jul 29, 2024

Salem Red Sox Nick Yorke makes contact in the game against Delmarva Shorebirds Tuesday, May 4, 2021, at Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. Bbm Delmarva Shorebirds Salem Red Sox / Lauren Roberts/Salisbury Daily Times via

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Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has stayed active with Tuesday's trade deadline looming but his latest transaction is a head-scratcher.

The first-time leader of baseball operations moved one of the hottest hitters in the farm system for a former first-round pick who has struggled mightily at the big-league level.

"Trade news: The Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates are finalizing a deal that will send right-handed starter Quinn Priester to Boston and infield prospect Nick Yorke to Pittsburgh," ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Monday.

Priester has a 5.04 ERA with a 31-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .283 batting average against and a 1.46 WHIP in 44 2/3 innings this season. He has a career 6.46 ERA in 94 2/3 innings since making his debut last season.

The 23-year-old was moved from the rotation to the bullpen recently -- where he's allowed eight earned runs in 13 innings.

There is not much positive to point to in the underlying metrics either but he has shown promise in the minors. Priester has a 3.21 ERA with a 36-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .232 batting average against and a 1.07 WHIP in 33 2/3 innings across seven starts for Triple-A Indianapolis.

The good news? Priester is signed through 2030 and will now begin to work with the Red Sox's new pitching development system that has turned around players such as Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford almost immediately.

Breslow clearly believes Boston can mold Priester into an impact player and Nick Yorke was expected to be buried by a slew of middle infielders with the Red Sox.

Yorke had been red-hot since his promotion to Triple-A Worcester and appeared to be a top trade chip for Breslow. The 22-year-old hit .310 with 14 extra-base hits including six home runs, 19 RBIs and a .898 OPS in 38 games for the WooSox.

It's interesting that Breslow used one of his top moveable assets to essentially make a prospect-for-prospect swap when the big-league roster is dying for immediately impactful relief help and a strong right-handed bat.

We'll have to see what else he has cooking before jumping to conclusions.

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Published Jul 29, 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