Red Sox Predicted To Cut Ties With 7-Year Veteran, Admit Defeat On Dodgers Trade

The Boston Red Sox's season was a relentless roller coaster ride, and one of the low points was the trade deadline.

Yes, the Red Sox went on a seven-game winning streak immediately before and after the deadline, but that couldn't obscure Boston's near-total inactivity. And the boldest trade they did make almost instantly backfired.

The Red Sox traded for right-handed pitcher Dustin May, who was on his way to being forced off the Los Angeles Dodgers' roster and eventually could have been designated for assignment. But instead, the Dodgers collected two outfield prospects in Zach Ehrhard and James Tibbs III, the latter of whom was the top minor-leaguer traded to Boston in the Rafael Devers deal.

Is Dustin Mays' time in Boston over?

After just six appearances in a Boston uniform in which he posted negative-0.3 bWAR, May ended up on the injured list for the rest of the season. That was hardly a surpirse, considering A) he had a 4.85 ERA with the Dodgers before the trade, and B) he was already over 100 innings pitched on the season for the first time in his seven-year big-league career.

But is there still some chance the Red Sox bring May back? Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer predicted that was highly unlikely in an offseason preview article on Friday.

"May was one of the shockingly few additions for the Red Sox at the trade deadline, and his tenure in Boston is one that won't be remembered fondly," Rymer wrote. "He posted a 5.40 ERA in only six appearances before elbow neuritis ended his season in early September.

"He'll be a worthwhile target as a reclamation project for someone in free agency, but he probably won't be a priority for Craig Breslow this winter."

The part of the May trade that never made sense was the fact that he was about to be a free agent. Taking a flier on a struggling, injury-prone pitcher is at least defensible if you get an offseason to work with that pitcher.

But the Red Sox knew they might only be getting a few starts from May, even if he had stayed healthy, and to make matters worse, they'd just seen him pitch poorly at Fenway Park the week before the trade.

So while a clean break for May does seem like the most likely (and productive) outcome, the whole situation paints the Red Sox in a negative light. And if Tibbs and/or Ehrhard turn out to be a productive big-leaguer, the optics will only worsen with time.

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