The Boston Red Sox could look to add a pitcher to replace Tanner Houck, who’s struggled mightily this season.
MLB analyst Jon Vankin of Newsweek believes the Red Sox should look to bolster their rotation through a trade. Outside of Garrett Crochet, Boston’s starters have struggled, especially Houck, who allowed 11 earned runs over 2.1 innings last time out.
Following Houck’s outing, which was the outing by a Red Sox starter in their history, Vankin believes Boston should look to acquire Pablo Lopez from the Minnesota Twins.
“So what do the Red Sox do? They are waiting for the return of injured starters Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito, as well as rotation depth pieces Richard Fitts and Kutter Crawford,” Vankin wrote. “But if those comebacks fail to provide the rotation the boost it needs, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow may be forced to make a move.
“Perhaps the leading candidate to join the Red Sox rotation would be Minnesota Twins 29-year-old righty Pablo López, who before landing on the 15-day injured list himself with a hamstring issue was cruising along with a 1.62 ERA and 14 strikeouts against a mere two walks across 16 2/3 innings,” Vankin added.
Lopez is in the second year of his four-year, $73.5 million deal, so Boston would get him for nearly three full seasons.
Lopez would be Boston’s second starter behind Crochet and add another star arm to the rotation. Although he’s currently injured, when healthy he is a great option. Lopez is a one-time All-Star.
Analyst Details What Red Sox Would Have to Trade for Lopez
With Lopez being under control for a couple more seasons, the cost to acquire him would be high.
If the Red Sox do pursue a trade for him, Vankin believes it would cost multiple of Boston’s top prospects.
“Nonetheless, the price for López is likely to be steep. Chances are, the Twins would ask for one of Boston’s remaining big two prospects, No. 1 Roman Anthony, an outfielder, or No. 2 Marcelo Mayer, a shortstop,” Vankin wrote…
“The Red Sox have another highly regarded infield prospect in 19-year-old Franklin Arias, signed in 2023 out of Venezuela for a $525,000 bonus and now ranked as the minor leagues’ 72nd top prospect, and fourth in the Red Sox system,” Vankin added. “Arias plus another lower-ranked prospect may be enough to extract López from the floundering Twins. Of course, the Red Sox are hoping they will never have to find out, and that Houck will rediscover the form he exhibited in the first half of last season.”
Ultimately, if Boston is going to address their bullpen, the Red Sox will need to part ways with multiple prospects to acquire a top starter.
Houck Not Sure What Happened in Rough Outing
Houck had a historically bad outing against the Tampa Bay Rays on April 14.
After the outing, Houck said he wasn’t sure what went wrong but was going to try and figure it out.
“I’m not sure,” Houck told reporters. “We’ll figure it out tonight and come back tomorrow and discuss… Delivery is kind of been struggling in spring training. But not going to go into it too much right now. We’re going to take the night, come back tomorrow and figure it out.”
Houck was an All-Star in 2024.
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