Inside The Red Sox

The Trade Red Sox Must Make To Complete Perfect Offseason After Alex Bregman Deal

Don't stop now, Craig...
Jackson Roberts|
Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

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Boston Red Sox

If the Boston Red Sox make no other moves before their season opens in Texas at the end of March, they will have had a very good offseason.

But good is the enemy of great. Why not make one more splash?

With the addition of two-time All-Star Alex Bregman, who projects to be the starting second baseman, the Red Sox have one of the American League's scariest lineups. Thanks to the offseason arrivals of Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler, they also have one of the scariest rotations.

Only the bullpen, which plagued the Red Sox throughout the second half of the 2024 season, looms as a question mark at this point. To put a perfect bow on the offseason, Boston should go out and trade for San Diego Padres closer Robert Suárez.

The 33-year-old Suárez was an All-Star in 2024, pitching to a 2.77 ERA in 65 innings and saving 36 of 42 opportunities. He's one of the hardest throwers in the sport, and entering the final guaranteed year of his contract, the Padres should be motivated to move him.

Suárez will be paid $10 million this season, then has a unique two-year player option for 2026-2027. He can accept an $8 million salary for both seasons, or he can decline that proposition and become a free agent.

The Padres are right up against the luxury tax threshold and have struggled all winter to make free-agent signings. Just before the Red Sox's Bregman deal on Wednesday night, San Diego nabbed former Boston starter Nick Pivetta on a funky four-year deal that only includes a $1 million tax payroll salary for this season.

Trading for Suárez shouldn't cost the Red Sox much in terms of prospect capital, because they'd mostly be granting the Padres some salary relief to make other moves. San Diego already has Jason Adam and Jeremiah Estrada as options to assume the closer role if Suárez exits.

For all the jokes and spiteful commence about the Red Sox failing to go "full throttle" in the past, a trade for Suárez would complete an A-plus offseason. It's not about silencing the haters at this point; it's about trying to win a World Series.

More MLB: Red Sox Star Garrett Crochet Sounds Off On Boston's Marquee $120 Million Signing

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Jackson Roberts
JACKSON ROBERTS

Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Boston Red Sox On SI, please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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