Red Sox Have Win-Win $9 Million Trade Chip On Their Hands

The Boston Red Sox have a few weeks to go until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.

Truck day is coming up for the organization on Feb. 3 and pitchers and catchers will report on Feb. 12. For the organization, their first full squad workout will be held on Feb. 17, Boston will face the Northeastern Huskies on Feb. 20, and then the first big league Spring Training game will be held on Feb. 21 against the Minnesota Twins. Baseball is coming and the Red Sox have a bit more work to do.

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Boston struck in free agency on Wednesday by signing All-Star starting pitcher Ranger Suárez to a five-year deal. Over the next few weeks, the Red Sox's priority should be adding one more bat to try to mitigate the loss of Alex Bregman. Boston is loaded with pitching depth at this point and arguably the best path forward would be trying to acquire a bat by flipping pitching. While discussing the club's financial standing, MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo mentioned starting pitcher Patrick Sandoval as a potential trade chip and "worthwhile lottery ticket."

The Red Sox need another bat

"Any team would love to offload players with inflated salaries who do not have clear roles," Cotillo wrote. "The Red Sox have their fair share. In Masataka Yoshida ($18 million), (Jordan Hicks) ($12 million), and Sandoval ($9.125 million), the club has three veterans who are clear salary dump candidates. Hicks likely has little to no value after a disastrous stint in Boston after coming over in the Devers trade. Yoshida’s albatross deal would be hard to move.

"Sandoval, though, is a worthwhile lottery ticket for another club looking for a high-upside starter, as long as he’s healthy. The Red Sox might be able to move him, which wouldn’t hurt much in the big picture because of all of the rotation depth on the roster, and clear his entire salary. Boston might need to attach a prospect to Hicks or Yoshida, or include them in a larger deal, to get them off the books."

If the Red Sox could flip Sandoval in a larger package for a bat, that would be a best-case scenario for the team. As Sandoval pointed out, he has some legit cash attached to him. If the Red Sox could offload his deal, that would make things a bit easier salary-wise, especially if the club brings in a big-time bat.

Sandoval has big upside, but he missed the 2025 season. He has a career 4.01 ERA in 107 career big league appearances. In 2024, he struggled with a 5.08 ERA in 16 starts. But this is a guy who had a 2.91 ERA in 27 starts in 2022 and logged a 3.53 ERA in 72 total appearances from 2021 through 2023. With the Red Sox having a surplus of talented pitching even before the Suárez deal, now there are expendable arms in the system.

The Red Sox also have plenty of outfield talent. If the Red Sox want to add a legit bat -- like Ketel Marte, for example -- could a package including an outfielder, Sandoval, and a young pitching prospect -- like Connelly Early or Payton Tolle -- get a deal over the finish line? That's speculation, but the Red Sox clearly have the pieces to get some sort of deal done for a bat while also cutting costs. But, who could it be?

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