Red Sox $18M Trade Candidate Could Be Option for Rockies: Insider

Which teams will have an interest in the southpaw?

Jul 6, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; General view of a players cap and glove of the Colorado Rockies during the ninth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Ah, the second luxury tax threshold.

As the Boston Red Sox have scrambled to assemble a roster ahead of spring training, the projected collective bargaining tax payroll has hovered right around that $264 million mark, which comes with steeper penalties than Boston already incurred last year as a first-time offender.

Because they're entering spring training a couple million dollars over the threshold, the Red Sox are expected to field interest in starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval, who comes with a $9 million CBT hit this year and is returning from missing all of last season due to Tommy John surgery.

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Will Rockies get involved for Patrick Sandoval?

Boston Red Sox pitcher Patrick Sandoval (43) throws the ball during warm ups in the first day of Spring Training on Feb 12, 2025 in Lee County, FL, USA. Chris Tilley-Imagn Images | Chris Tilley-Imagn Images

As starters come into spring training with injuries or fall victim early on in their workouts, there will undoubtedly be teams who are forced to scramble to find arms like Sandoval's. But according to MassLive insider Chris Cotillo, there's already a team on the hunt.

On Tuesday, Cotillo reported that the Colorado Rockies were looking for veteran starting pitching options, while speculating that Sandoval could be a fit for the returning last-place squad from the National League West.

"A team poking around looking for veteran starting pitching: Colorado, per sources," wrote Cotillo on X. "The Red Sox-related note here: wonder if they (the Rockies) could be involved in trade talks for Patrick Sandoval as a buy-low, then-flip-at-the-deadline guy."

Being traded to Colorado could be brutal for Sandoval as the 29-year-old tries to re-establish himself as a viable major league starter -- especially because he'll be a free agent again this winter, and whatever he does this year will be his only sample for teams to judge him since mid-2024.

However, the Red Sox are in the business of winning this year, and for the front office, that might mean moving Sandoval's salary quickly so they have room in whatever budget ownership has handed down to make meaningful additions at the trade deadline.

It's a fit worth monitoring, but one has to imagine the Red Sox might soon have multiple takers.

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