The Boston Red Sox have turned their season around in dramatic fashion, quickly going from one of the league's most obvious MLB trade deadline sellers to one of the most talked about buyers.
In control of a Wild Card spot and sitting two games above .500 for the first time all season, all eyes are on Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow to see what moves can be made to bolster the lineup for a postseason push. We are now just two weeks away from the August 3 deadline and several big names have been linked to the resurgent club.
One such name came from insider and former general manager Jim Bowden's latest trade deadline prediction piece for The Athletic, in which he proposed a hypothetical trade that would send Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman to Boston.
In the deal, Bowden has the Red Sox sending a haul to get the two-time All-Star that includes three young big-leaguers in Connelly Early, Marcelo Mayer, and Carlos Narváez and one top prospect in Kyson Witherspoon.
From the Rockies' perspective, it would be tough to stomach a trade that ships out a 26-year-old slugger in the middle of just his fourth big league season. With 30 home runs in 92 games this year and controllable until 2029, it would be shocking to see Goodman moved while he continues to show signs of stardom.
But in this case, it would be hard to turn down such a rich package coming in from Boston. Headlining the deal would be the 24-year-old Early, who has already proved his merit as a legit major league starter. While the lefty hurler may have a ceiling of a No. 3 starter, he holds an impressive 3.24 ERA across a 21-game big-league sample size and projects to be a solid rotation piece for several years.
Along with a safe bet in Early, the Rockies would be getting a high upside option in 21-year-old right-hander Witherspoon. The 2025 first-round pick is currently ranked as the organization's No. 4 overall prospect and figures to be just a couple of years of adjustments away from becoming a frontline starter.
From Boston's perspective, moving these two young arms would be a hefty price tag, but one that can be justified with strong depth. Looking a bit down the line, the Sox are currently looking at a potential future rotation that features five lefties in Garrett Crochet (27), Ranger Suarez (30), Payton Tolle (23), Jake Bennett (25), and Early (24).
In this sense, Boston would be dealing from a surplus of young left-handers and would also be getting away with holding onto their top right-handed pitching prospect in Anthony Eyanson.
Similarly, the club would be making this move under the assumption that top prospect Franklin Arias, not Mayer, is the future at shortstop. This is a reasonable bet, though trading Mayer now while he is injured and coming off of a tough start to his major league career would be a poor use of value from a former No. 4 overall draft pick that is still only 23-years-old.
There is no doubt that adding Goodman raises both the floor and the ceiling of this red-hot Sox lineup. Batting .257 with an .886 OPS this year, he would bring a strong right-handed swing to Fenway Park with the ability to both catch and DH.
For a rental, Bowden's projected price would simply be too much for the Red Sox to consider. But the fact that Goodman is under team control until 2029 and arb-eligible next year makes it very likely that any team interested in his services would have to overpay to get them. Not to mention that the Rockies will be dealing in a seller's market where only a handful of teams are committed to selling and a number of teams are interested in adding a catcher, including AL East rivals the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bidding against these teams vying for the top spot in the division could make negotiations get very uncomfortable for Breslow and Co., in which case a possible pivot at catcher could be Minnesota's Ryan Jeffers.
