Red Sox Trade Idea To Catch Yankees, Promote Roman Anthony

The Red Sox should be thinking outside of the box right now...

Boston's top-three prospects in Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony stand for the national anthem ahead of a Spring Training breakout game on March 13, 2025. | WooSox Photo/Ashley Green / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox have some work to do and it starts in the starting rotation.

Boston has the 24th-ranked starting rotation ERA at 4.45. Pitching in general has been a weakness for the Red Sox so far this season -- outside of Garrett Crochet -- and the team's overall ERA over the last week is ay 6.50, which is ranked at No. 27 in baseball.

The rotation was supposed to be a strength for Boston, but that hasn't been the case so far. Injuries have played a role and the team hasn't been fully healthy yet this season, but something needs to be done. That's where the Miami Marlins could come into play. Before continuing, this is purely hypothetical.

The Red Sox could use some more pitching and it also wouldn't hurt to open up a space for top prosepct Roman Anthony.

Here is a mock trade that would accomplish both of these things for Boston:

Red Sox Acquire: Right-Handed Pitcher Sandy Alcántara

Marlins Acquire: Outfielder Wilyer Abreu, Left-Handed Pitcher Connelly Early (No. 9 Red Sox prospect)

Trading away Abreu would obviously hurt. He's been of the team's best overall offensive pieces this season, but maybe that could help sweeten a deal. Abreu won't be a free agent until 2030 and has been great offensive and defensively this season. Early is a left-handed prospect projected to debut in 2026.

It would be a high price, but Alcántara is a former Cy Young Award winner and two-time All-Star at 29 years old. He's struggled this year to the tune of a 7.99 ERA, but he's coming off a serious injury. The reason why a price tag for him would be high despite the bad ERA is that he's under team control for the next two seasons at an affordable price beyond 2025.

The Red Sox are going to have to make a tough outfield decision at some point. A trade right now would open the door for Anthony to make the jump to the majors while also infusing the rotation with another ace-level starter. Right now, the Red Sox are five games behind the New York Yankees in the standings and need to figure something out. Something like this would at least infuse some buzz into the team.

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