When he was asked during the recent MLB General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas to prioritize his team’s most pressing offseason priorities, Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow did not hesitate. “Starting pitching,” he replied.
“Particularly someone we feel can start alongside or slot in behind Garrett (Crochet) and start a playoff game for us,” Breslow continued.
A new trade proposal by a popular Boston sports media commentator directly addresses that need â and does not require the Red Sox to surrender any of their prized prospects, or any prospects at all, if Breslow was able to pull this one off.
The reference to starting a playoff game was most likely prompted by the Red Soxâs situation in the American League Wild Card Series this year against the New York Yankees, when the Red Sox were able to start Crochet, their 18-game winning lefty ace, in Game 1, allowing them to win that game 3-1 and jump out to a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
But in Game 2, the Red Sox had no alternative but to go to Brayan Bello, who lasted just 28 pitches over 2 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk.
In the deciding Game 3, manager Alex Cora was down to rookie Connelly Early, who would make only his fifth Major League start in the most important game of the season for the Red Sox. Boston ended up losing that game and the series, though in fairness it wasn’t all Early’s doing. The Red Sox offense was shut out for only the fifth time all season as the Yankees won 4-0.
The Red Sox playerâs name who has come up most frequently in trade speculation this offseason is outfielder Jarren Duran, who earlier this month avoided going to arbitration with the team by agreeing to a one-year, $7.7 million contract.
While various trade proposals circulated in the media and online have linked Duran to deals for such aces as the Cincinnati Reds‘ Hunter Greene, the Minnesota Twinsâ Joe Ryan, and even two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers, a host of a popular podcast affiliated with WEEI Radio in the Boston area â the station that carries radio broadcasts of Red Sox games â has now brought up another name as a potential trade acquisition for Duran.
According to Play Tessie podcast host Nat “Gordon” Gordon, the Red Sox should be looking to deal Duran in a one-for-one move for “an infrequently mentioned frontline starter.”
That would be Cleveland Guardians 2021 first-round draft pick, right-hander Gavin Williams.
“I have no idea if Cleveland would ever trade Gavin Williams,” wrote Gordon on Friday. “But they ranked 29th in OPS last year and as we saw had plenty of starting pitching. Gavin as the No. 2 would feed families.”
For Cleveland, Duran would provide an immediate offensive upgrade to the Guardians’ outfield. No Cleveland outfielder who appeared in more than six games for American League Central Division winners managed an OPS above .705. That one belonged to four-time Gold Glover Steven Kwan.
Though Duranâs offensive output was down somewhat in 2025, he still put together an OPS of .774 with 16 home runs and a league-leading 13 triples.
As for Williams, at age 26, the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder seemed to hit his stride in his third season, throwing 167 2/3 innings with a 3.06 ERA.
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