Craig Breslow on new Rule 5 pick Justin Slaten: ‘We’re excited to get him into camp’

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The Red Sox did not select a player during the Major League portion of the Rule 5 draft but they did trade for a pitcher who was selected.

The Red Sox acquired right-handed reliever Justin Slaten from the Mets, in exchange for left-handed pitcher Ryan Ammons and cash, according to a team announcement on Wednesday.

The Mets had drafted Slaten from the Rangers as part of the Rule 5 draft. Due to being selected in the major league portion of the draft, the same Rule 5 regulations apply to the righty. He must stick on the Red Sox’ active roster or injured list, if hurt, for the entire 2024 season.

Slaten was added to the 40-man roster, which currently stands at 38.

Ahead of the Rule 5 draft, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters that the right-hander was the team’s top target.

“We’re really excited about bringing him on board,” Breslow said Thursday to reporters. “It was the marriage of the data, the raw pitch characteristics, the performance, the scouting group, everyone aligned. And with this budding pitching infrastructure, we were able to get additional perspectives. When there’s alignment across all of those groups, it makes for a fairly easy decision.

“He’s a guy with huge swing-and-miss stuff and profiles as a back of the back of the bullpen-type arm. So we’re really excited to get him here and see what he can do.”

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Slaten posted a 2.87 ERA with 86 strikeouts in 40 games between Double-A and Triple-A last season in the Rangers farm system.

“We have a lot to learn about him,” he said. “Obviously the big-league environment is going to be new for him. We’re excited to get him into camp, to give him a chance to compete to make the team and obviously he’s a guy that we have high hopes for. That’s the reason that we went through this process. But probably unfair to speculate exactly what role he may fill. I think we’re kind of more just thinking about, what does the stuff look like and how do we think it could impact our bullpen.”

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