Story by
Sean McAdam: Red Sox continue to stockpile starters, creating a surplus that could lead to more deals
- Story by
- Sean McAdam: Red Sox continue to stockpile starters, creating a surplus that could lead to more deals
Within the last week, a person in the industry came away from a conversation with the Red Sox with the distinct impression that, even after landing Sonny Gray , the Sox weren’t done in their efforts to bolster their starting rotation.
Sure enough, for the second time in the last two weeks, the Red Sox made a trade with a National League Central team for a starting pitcher, obtaining Johan Oviedo and two prospects from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia and righthanded pitching prospect Jesus Travieso.
Advertisement
The deal is the second trade between the clubs in the last year and a half. In another hitter-for-pitcher trade just prior to the 2024 trade deadline, the Red Sox shipped infielder Nick Yorke for Quinn Priester . The Sox then moved Priester to Milwaukee last April.
Oviedo joins veteran Sonny Gray as two additions to the Red Sox’ rotation since the end of the season.
Unlike Gray, an established and accomplished pitcher, however, Oviedo is more of a project. Thanks to injuries, he’s made only nine starts over the last two seasons, having missed all of 2024 recovering from Tommy John surgery and being limited this past season by a lat injury.
Oviedo is a big-bodied (6-foot-6, 275 pounds) specimen, who has only once made more than 13 starts in a major league season. Even at 27 — he’ll turn 28 in March – there’s a lot of unknown here.
Advertisement
An element of Oviedo’s game that intrigues the Red Sox is his extension on his delivery, which reaches an average of 7 foot four inches, placing him in the 98th percentile in that category. Given his bulk, that can be an intimidating look for opposing hitters.
He also enjoyed a 31 percent whiff rate on his fastball, hinting at the potential for dominance.
But first, he’ll have to demonstrate the ability to throw strikes — his walk rate of 13.5 percent last year was a career high, though likely impacted by layoff and injuries — and prove that he can be durable for an entire season.
If the Red Sox were looking for someone to slot in between ace Garrett Crochet and Gray, Oviedo isn’t it, though it’s conceivable he could soon grow into that sort of role.
Advertisement
The deal does, however, give the Red Sox a surplus of starters and could free them to move one of their young arms to address another roster need. The Sox are still in desperate need of at least one if not two power bats in the lineup and the abundance of starting pitching candidates could allow the Sox to bypass — for one move, at least — the expensive free agent market.
At the very least, the surplus of starters puts the Sox in an enviable position as the Winter Meetings gets underway in Orlando this weekend. It would seem that Crochet, Gray, Oviedo and Brayan Bello are untouchable, but nearly any other of the team’s young controllable arm could put the Sox in a position teams can only dream of
Or, the Red Sox might be aiming to stockpile more starting options than they might ever need after their experience in the second half of the 2025 season. Injuries thinned the rotation enough in September that the Sox had two starters – Tolle and Early – make their major league debut and had Early start Game 3 of their wild card series against the Yankees .
For the season, the Sox used 15 different starting pitchers, though admittedly, a few of those were relievers being utilized in opener assignments. Nevertheless, the attrition they battled up to the end was a harsh reminder of the importance of starting pitching depth.
Advertisement
In dealing away Garcia, the Red Sox are sacrificing another desired a highly-valued commodity in the modern game: a righthanded power bat.
Garcia was the team’s No. 3 overall prospect — and a Top 100 prospect across the industry — but had little path to playing time on the current Red Sox roster.
An above-average defender who can play both center and the corner outfield spots, he compiled an .810 OPS between Double A Portland and Triple A Worcester with a total of 21 homers.
But with an outfield, for now, of Jarren Duran , Ceddanne Rafaela , Wilyer Abreu and Roman Anthony , there was no place for him to play. The Sox got him some work at first base at Worcester with an eye toward using him there in Boston toward the end of the season, but given his athleticism and defensive skills, that would be a waste of his talents long-term.
Advertisement
Blocked at the major league level, he thus became a valuable trade piece.
More Red Sox coverage
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
