Red Sox could be active on the trade market (report)
The Boston Red Sox are still in search of starting pitching. They agreed to a deal with Lucas Giolito, but have also traded away veteran left-hander Chris Sale.
“The Boston Red Sox could use either left-hander (Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery) after shipping Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves, though they're presently spending more time exploring the trade market and could be active.” ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote on Wednesday.
Passan didn’t mention any specific names or teams that the Red Sox have explored but he linked Boston as one of the teams that could be a fit for Marlins left-hander Jesus Luzardo.
“Miami, under new general manager Peter Bendix, is in listening mode on all of its players except wunderkind right-hander Eury Perez. Luzardo is almost certainly the most valuable among them…and whether it's the Red Sox, Orioles or either of the New York teams, Luzardo would look mighty good in their rotation for the next three seasons.”
Luzardo had a 3.58 ERA last season over 178.2 innings. The southpaw also racked up 208 strikeouts. The price is sure to be expensive but Luzardo would be a controllable arm that Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke about wanting to acquire.
The 26-year old Marlins starter is arbitration eligible for the next three seasons. MLB Trade Rumors project Luzardo to earn $5.9 million in arbitration for the 2024 season.
This is not the first time that Luzardo has been connected to the Red Sox this offseason. The Bleacher Report also reported at the end of December that the Marlins and Red Sox could be a match.
"They already missed out on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Aaron Nola, Eduardo Rodríguez, and Sonny Gray, but they could still land Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery," BR’s Kerry Miller said. "If they're able to get either of those lefties, they're probably not going to also unload a top prospect (and more) to bring in Jesús Luzardo. But given the state of their rotation and the desire to get out of the (American League) East basement, this is probably the team most desperate to trade for Luzardo.
"Marcelo Mayer is a huge ask in this trade. He was Boston's No. 4 overall pick in 2021, though he hasn't had the meteoric rise through the minors that the Red Sox were hoping to see. In fact, he had just a .609 OPS at Double-A Portland last season and might still be at least two years away from the big leagues."
Boston has been connected to Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery as well this winter. If the Red Sox elect to pivot from the free agent market, Luzardo makes sense from a trade standpoint.
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