Red Sox's Newest Trade Acquisition Could Provide Notable Boost To Bullpen

Boston will have some more firepower to deploy next season

Scott Neville | Nov 18, 2023

Red Sox's Newest Trade Acquisition Could Provide Notable Boost To Bullpen /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are on the board after a few weeks of inactivity to start the offseason.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has made his first trade at the helm of the organization, and it appears to be a win.

"(Seattle) Mariners are sending right-handed pitcher Isaiah Campbell to the Red Sox in exchange for infielder Luis Urías," the Seattle Times' Ryan Divish reported Friday.

Campbell made his big-league debut in July and was prepared for the opportunity. He went 4-1 with a 2.83 ERA, 33-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .210 batting average against and 1.22 WHIP in 28 2/3 innings.

The 26-year-old has dominated since going No. 76 overall in the 2019 Major League Baseball Draft. Prior to his call-up, Campbell logged a 2.01 ERA with a 106-to-25 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .194 batting average against and 0.97 WHIP in 89 1/3 innings across 61 career minor-league appearances.

The hard-throwing righty has a 95 mph fastball with a .263 batting average against, a devastating slider and a promising "sweeper" -- which is just a variation of a slider.

If Campbell continues to produce at a similar level, he'll be a weapon for Boston, likely jumping into a high-leverage role down the line alongside Chris Martin, Kenley Jansen and possibly Tanner Houck.

The rookie is still in the pre-arbitration process and will be under team control for the foreseeable future. Breslow acquiring Campbell for Urías -- who will be a free agent at the end of 2025 and was about to be non-tendered due to an inflated contract -- is quite impressive.

Trades should not be over-evaluated in the moment but with the information we have, it looks like Breslow is off to a very strong start.

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Published Nov 18, 2023

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