Red Sox-Pirates Trade Explained: Why Boston Gave Up No. 3 Prospect For Johan Oviedo

When chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said early last week that he wasn't sure if the Boston Red Sox were done adding starting pitchers, he meant it.

Nine days after picking up three-time All-Star Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals, the Red Sox acquired a much cheaper, younger, and less proven starting pitcher from another team in the National League Central.

According to multiple reports, including ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Red Sox are in agreement to acquire right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo in a five-player trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates. It's a three-for-two swap, with Boston sending No. 3 prospect Jhostynxon Garcia back to the Buccos.

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Why fan-favorite was traded for Oviedo

Per Passan, the full deal sees the Red Sox acquiring Oviedo, left-handed pitcher Tyler Samaniego, and catcher Adonys Guzman. Garcia and right-handed pitcher Jesus Travieso are headed to the Pirates.

Oviedo, 27, could be a low-cost mid-rotation starter for the Red Sox this season, and perhaps more if he hits his immense ceiling. The 6-foot-6, 275-pounder has a 4.24 career ERA in 361 innings with the Cardinals and Pirates. This year, he returned from Tommy John surgery to make nine starts, posting a 3.57 ERA and striking out 42 in 40 1/3 innings.

Take one look at Oviedo's Baseball Savant page, however, and you'll see what the Red Sox love about him. He has 98th percentile extension at 7.4 feet, and his fastball, slider, and curveball all produced expected batting averages of .207 or lower.

The downside, if there is any, is that Oviedo is only under team control for the next two years. While the belief is certainly that he can be good right away, they don't have time to wait for him to develop. Fortunately for Boston, he shouldn't add much to the payroll, as Spotrac projects his arbitration salary at $2 million.

All in all, the Red Sox saw the big-bodied Oviedo as a worthy risk to take, while Garcia, who had become a fan favorite power-hitter in the minors, was blocked in the outfield in every conceivable way.

Other players included

Obviously, there could be a lot more to the trade in the future as the younger players in the deal develop. Boston did a two-for-one swap in that regard, but Travieso could be a legitimate future starter. He pitched to a 3.06 ERA in 64 2/3 innings this season and struck out an impressive 90 batters in rookie ball and Low-A.

Samaniego is 26, so he's a candidate to make his major league debut this season, and the Red Sox may view him as a replacement for pitchers like Chris Murphy and Brennan Bernardino, who were dealt to clear space on the 40-man roster. He had a 3.99 ERA with 44 K's in 38 1/3 minor-league innings this year.

Guzman, meanwhile, was the Pirates' fifth-round pick out of Arizona this year, so much like Luke Heyman, the catcher they got from the Seattle Mariners a couple weeks ago, we have yet to see much of anything from him in the pro ranks.

At the end of the day, this trade was about dealing from a surplus to get the Red Sox one more high-upside rotation option. But when all the players involved are as unproven as this, there's endless potential for how we could end up viewing it.

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