It was bound to happen but the feud between Boston Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo and manager Alex Cora has come to an end as the enigmatic outfielder has been traded to none other than the New York Yankees. The Yankees were looking for a left handed bat that can take advantage of the short porch in right field and the Red Sox needed pitching depth. It looked like both teams got what they wanted.
So who did the Sox get in return? 23 year old right handed pitcher Rich Fitts was taken by the Yankees in the 6th round of the 2021 draft 17 slots after the Red Sox picked Daniel McElveny. He was 11-5 with a 3.48 ERA for Double A Somerset, which is better numbers than Portland's Hunter Dobbins (another 2021 draft pick) put up when Hunter went 5-5 with a 4.27 ERA. The Sox needed pitching depth and getting a guy like that who can start the year in Worcester is part of what they need. This was definitely the centerpiece of the trade so new Sox GM Craig Breslow better be right about this.
The Sox also got a proven major leaguer as they also got 28 year old right handed relief pitcher Greg Weissert. Weissert pitched in 29 games for the Yankees the last two years posting a combined 4.60 ERA. Best case scenario is he's a reliable bullpen option for a bullpen that's broken down three years in a row due to overuse of starters.
The final piece is the Yankees 2023 8th round pick, right handed pitcher Nicholas Judice out of Louisanna-Monroe University. Judice is a 6 foot 8 monster but only throws in the low 90's. Worst case scenario is he's the right handed version of Henry Owens but you never know. He did strike out 66 batters in 53 innings so this is definitely a crap shot pick. The Red Sox selected Trennor O'Donnell in the 8th round and he hasn't pitched since he got drafted either.
Now if the Sox choose to keep these guys, they got themselves a potential future starter, a proven major league bullpen piece and a wild card that may or may not be good. They may not keep them though. One of the moves Breslow could make is trade for a stud starter just like how Jed Hoyer traded for Josh Beckett and Dave Dombrowski traded for Chris Sale. Sacrificing Fitts, Judice and other prospects to get a Dylan Cease could be on the table. Verdugo was also due to make 9 million dollars this year and now that comes off the books. The Sox are now free of Corey Kluber's 10 million, James Paxton's 4 million and Adalberto Mondesi's 3 million so that's a grand total of 26 million with those four gone. The prospects could help land them Cease in a trade and the 26 million could help land Yoshinobu Yamamoto if the Sox can outbid other teams. If that's Breslow's endgame, I'm all for it.
In other news, the Boston Red Sox landed the 12th overall pick in the MLB draft lottery tonight. Two notable selections the Sox have picked at number 12 in the past were Jay Groome back in 2016 and a fella out of Georgia Tech in the 1994 draft named Nomar Garciaparra. Not saying the Sox are going to draft a future major leaguer like Groome or a stud like Nomah' but its possible.
As it stands right now the Sox lineup looks like this:
CF - Duran
RF - Abreu
1B - Casas
3B - Devers
LF - Yoshida
SS - Story
2B - Rafaella
DH - ???
C - Wong
Bench - McGuire, Valdez, Refsnyder
I'd love to see the Sox sign a good defensive third baseman and shift Devers over to DH to cut down on errors but it doesn't seem likely. Still, as it stands now the Sox have some pop and speed in their lineup, money freed up to sign a top flight starter and plenty of prospects to trade for a top flight starter. Get it done Breslow.
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