Tomase: 10 players most likely to be traded by the Red Sox this winter
Chaim Bloom isn't afraid to deal. He proved that at the trade deadline by shipping out 20 percent of his active roster, turning closer Brandon Workman, setup man Heath Hembree, first baseman Mitch Moreland, outfielder Kevin Pillar, and left-hander John Osich into five prospects, some international bonus money, and a make-or-break right-hander.
That was just the appetizer, however, in advance of a looming winter smorgasbord. The Red Sox desperately need an infusion of talent at all levels of the organization, and that's going to require wheeling and dealing.
Some fixes will come in free agency, but don't be surprised if even more arrive via trade. Even though the Red Sox aren't blessed with surplus talent to dangle, they do possess a handful of moveable assets. Here are the 10 players most likely to be offered as the rebuild takes shape.
Vazquez hits the sweet spot of positional scarcity, contractual affordability, and offensive productivity to make him one of Bloom's most intriguing chips. The 30-year-old may not be Pudge Rodriguez, but he's an excellent pitch framer with a strong arm, and his 23 homers last year were eight more than the average starting catcher.
The Red Sox reportedly asked the moon for Vazquez at the trade deadline. They'll need to be more realistic about his value this winter, but with two years of reasonable team control ($6.25 million in 2021, $7 million team option in 2022), he's the player most likely to bring some pitching in return, since there are far more starting catching jobs than legitimate starting catchers.
It's unclear how much teams will hold Barnes' uneven 2020 against him, given the generally screwed-up nature of this truncated season, but what's unassailable is how broad interest has been in the right-hander in general in recent years.
Because Barnes features a classic late-innings power mix of a 95-mph fastball and biting curveball, it's easy for rival clubs to envision how he'd fit in their bullpen. He's entering his final year of arbitration, so only one season of control remains, but clubs like the Rays have shown the value of cycling through relievers in one-year stints, provided they hit on the right year.
Too high for the biggest disappointment of 2020? Think again. Benintendi is the classic change-of-scenery candidate whose horror show of a season still only amounted to 14 games. That's hardly enough to write off a talent who once seemed like a surefire All-Star.
While it's true the Red Sox won't exactly be selling high, that should only encourage clubs to make a bid in the hopes of unlocking Benintendi's potential. Add his contract -- he's due $5 million in 2021 before returning to a final year of arbitration eligibility in 2022 -- and the 26-year-old is the kind of player worth pursuing.
Reports of the Red Sox and Rangers discussing a swap of bad contracts between Eovaldi and Rougned Odor provide the framework for the exact kind of deal that could involve Eovaldi this winter: to facilitate someone else's contract dump.
At this point we should just accept Eovaldi for what he is: an oft-injured right-hander whose results -- outside of a magical two-week stretch in October of 2018 -- never match his stuff. For all the talk of how he anchored the 2020 rotation, we're still talking about an ERA pushing 5.00. Eovaldi has two years and $34 million remaining on his contract. The only way that money becomes palatable is if the Red Sox offload it while assuming an even worse contract, but with a prospect included to make up the difference.
If the Red Sox were willing to explore such a deal in August, it stands to reason they'll do so again this winter. It's a way to use their financial resources to add talent.
Unlike pretty much every other player on this list, the Red Sox could actually sell high on Dalbec, whose power surge -- with eye-popping home runs to all fields -- comes at just the right time. The only way to acquire young pitching is by sending back young talent, and the slugging Dalbec has opened eyes.
He's also expendable in the sense that prospect Triston Casas might only be a year or two away, and there remain questions about Dalbec's ability to make consistent contact. Put another way: if the Red Sox could've traded Will Middlebrooks after his breakout 2012, they wouldn't have had any regrets. Might they end up feeling the same about Dalbec?
Now we enter the land of players who will either produce only marginal returns, or are unlikely to be dealt at all. Chavis falls in the former category. After a 2019 debut that saw the former first-round pick blast homers seemingly every other night, Chavis hit a wall.
He has yet to demonstrate an ability to catch up to high fastballs, which means that's pretty much all he sees. He'd be on pace for over 200 strikeouts in a normal season, and his power has plummeted after last year's 18 homers in 347 at-bats. Still, with some positional flexibility around the infield, as well as a new foray into the outfield, his power could make him an intriguing throw-in.
Relievers get traded all the time, and Brasier, a late bloomer, has rediscovered some of the magic that had him throwing key postseason innings in 2018. After opening the season with an ERA over 10.00, Brasier suddenly started throwing 95 mph again, leading to 10 appearances when he allowed only one run while striking out 13.
A team paying attention to its scouting reports could easily identify Brasier as a candidate for a strong 2021.
Peraza was non-tendered by the Reds last year and he's probably headed for a similar fate now. Since going 4 for 5 in the opener, he has provided zilch offensively. His early successes in Cincinnati -- a .324 average in 2016, 14 home runs in 2018 -- feel like distant memories.
But since the Red Sox will probably move on from him anyway, it only makes sense that they'll try to get something first, which will admittedly be a tall order.
Now we reach the never-say-never portion of our list. Bloom has made it clear that he'll listen on anyone, though it's hard to imagine he'd trade shortstop Xander Bogaerts (who has full no-trade protection now, anyway) or third baseman Rafael Devers.
An interesting question is if Martinez opts in to the final two years and roughly $39 million remaining on his deal, will Bloom consider moving him, perhaps to a National League team, to address other deficiencies? It sounds crazy to eat some money on a productive player who could just as easily anchor the Red Sox lineup for another five years, but Bloom might see an opportunity to save salary and add an impact prospect.
With the pitching staff in shambles, we should note there's one tradeable young player on the roster who could be used to acquire a legitimate arm. It's hard to believe the Red Sox would trade the centerpiece of the Mookie Betts trade so quickly, but Verdugo has played like an All-Star in his own right, leading the American League in doubles while posting an OPS in the .900 range.
Add his tremendous arm -- he needed only 38 games to record a career-high seven assists -- and infectious energy, and there would clearly be a market for Verdugo if the Red Sox made him available.
He's almost certainly not going anywhere, but we shouldn't completely dismiss the possibility.
