The Red Sox announced the acquisition of right-hander Dustin May from the Dodgers for minor league outfielders James Tibbs and Zach Ehrhard. May will step into the back of Boston’s rotation after the Sox optioned Richard Fitts earlier in the week.
May, 27, has had a middling season. He carries a 4.85 earned run average across 19 appearances. His 21.5% strikeout rate and 9.5% walk percentage are right around league average. May hasn’t missed as many bats or gotten as many ground balls as he did earlier in his career. The former top prospect once looked like a potential top-of-the-rotation starter, but he’s unfortunately never been able to stay healthy. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021 and missed most of that season and the next. He suffered another forearm strain upon his return in ’23, then missed all of last season after requiring emergency surgery after rupturing his esophagus.
This year’s 104 innings are by far the most of his career. May’s velocity has held all season, but he has allowed an ERA of 4.45 or higher in each month since April. The Dodgers seemingly were on the verge of kicking him to the bullpen. GM Brandon Gomes told reporters (including J.P. Hoornstra of Newsweek) that May preferred to start. Gomes stated that May did not demand a trade but suggested the Dodgers were open to accommodating him by dealing him to a team that’d give him a rotation spot if a deal presented itself.
They not only found that team but got a strong return out of it. Tibbs was the Giants’ first-round pick last summer. San Francisco sent him to Boston alongside Kyle Harrison in June’s Rafael Devers blockbuster. His production tanked immediately after the trade, as he hit .205/.321/.268 with only one home run in 29 games for Boston’s Double-A affiliate. Tibbs had put together a much more impressive .246/.379/.478 line in High-A before the trade.
The Red Sox evidently soured on his future extremely quickly. Not only has May not had a particularly good year, he’s an impending free agent. He’s only playing on a $2.135MM salary because the injuries tamped down his arbitration earnings. Still, two months of a fifth/sixth starter isn’t a particularly valuable trade asset. If the Red Sox valued Tibbs anywhere near as highly as they did when they included him in the Devers trade, they would not have made this deal.
Ehrhard was Boston’s fourth-rounder last season. He’s a righty-hitting corner outfielder with a .270/.371/.434 line and 23 steals in 88 games between High-A and Double-A on the year. Baseball America slotted him 29th in the Boston farm system. He has a tweener profile but could be a fourth or fifth outfielder on the strength of his hitting ability.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Red Sox were acquiring May. FanSided’s Robert Murray had Tibbs’ inclusion, while Christopher Smith of MassLive reported that Ehrhard was in the deal. Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post previously reported that the two sides were in talks on a deal involving May. Image courtesy of Neville E. Guard, Imagn Images.
The Sox need some pitching help, but this ain’t it lol.
What a deadline. Matz and May.
Woo hoo! Matz and May. Duck boats in October!
I would have settled for Adrian Houser lol, the Rays got him for literally peanuts and he would have been a much better option than May.
Agreed but we don’t know what the “full throttle” Sox gave up for two months of Mr. May.
I’m eagerly waiting for the return. I’m afraid it’s like Jhostynxon or something else dumb
Edit: it’s James Thibbs lol. That Devers trade is looking so amazing
All’s well .. Analytics is in control
Maybe an AI trade for may
I agree wholeheartedly, Hauser would have been a better get. It will be interesting to see what Boston received from the Dodgers.
I would have settled for Doogie Howser.
Meade is far from peanuts. That was one of Getz’s better trades
I really wonder if Breslow lacks negotiating skills. Seems like some teams did a better job maximizing what they got for their prospects. Granted a few teams really overpaid, but at least you can give them credit for going for it and getting impact players in return. As ESPN pointed out, the Sox were definitely one of the losers of the deadline.
If Matz and May get us into the playoffs, I will gladly admit that I was wrong. Unfortunately neither of them are going to help the offense when it needs a little boost.
They got Houser for peanuts because he’s nothing special. Just a back-of-the-rotation pitcher. May has way more upside than Houser.
Hank – this season: Hauser 1.223 WHIP, 2.10 ERA. May 1.346 WHIP 4.85 WHIP. It really doesn’t matter how much upside May has because he’s a free agent after this season so what’s actually important is how good they are now and Hauser is significantly better.
Pedro – Jen McCaffrey reported that in talks for Joe Ryan the Sox were eunwilling to include a MLB outfielder and the trade packages of prospects seemed to be centered around Jhostynxon. That’s not nearly enough.
The packages start with Duran/Abreu/Rafaela and include a top prospect. Or include Tolle and Arias/Perales/Jhostynxon and other top prospects.
Breslow clearly is in over his head and all those words about getting uncomfortable, trading is hard, etc was just that. Words. They didn’t represent them actually trying to get a top of the rotation arm.
I think Breslow needs to think about what it would take to pry away the top players on his team and offer a similar thing for a guy like Ryan. I guess we saw what it took to let away a top player on his team, and it wasn’t much, so maybe this won’t have the desired effect.
James Tibbs III going to tbe Dodgers. Fine with me.
Yeah, completely fine by me. I don’t really have feelings either way about it.
But for May?!?
Plus one of the Ehrhard brothers (Zach). Seems like an overpay for a guy who will pitch probably 50 mediocre innings before he’s a free agent. Oh well.
He has 100 innings career in the second half, expecting 50 innings over two months seems a bit of a reach. I’m expecting 4 GS for 20 innings, with the Red Sox pulling out a win in one of those four (May with a 0-3 record).
Surprise me. Prove he is better than that.
Dodgers have a horrid outfield defense this year. Its been costing them several games, they should have won a lot more games. With the Red Sox, 3 of our 4 outfielders are excellent defensively, the worst probably Roman Anthony as Yoshida is a full time DH now. May will do better in boston, Bank on it!
I bet with what the Sox have been doing with pitch mix they can make something out of May. Matz…not so much.
The Red Sox didn’t need yet another guy who could be good if he could just figure it out, they needed an SP who is actually good right now to help out the rotation.
I don’t think May is an upgrade over anyone they have thrown this year, well maybe Buehler.
That was the main issue with giving up a top 10 prospect, when he could have been used in the offseason as part of a package for someone who is not a rental. May is not going to have a significant impact on making the playoffs unless someone else is injured.
I guess the main positive with both moves is adding depth, but I was hoping for a 2 or at least a 3 starter, not another number 5.
Hes better than Beuhler, better then Houck, Better than Crisswell, and people think Dick Fitts is better than Dustin May? Not even close, May has way better stuff, just needs some defense behind him.
Houck, when healthy, was a significantly better pitcher than May. Fitts is currently a better pitcher than May. Buehler no, and Criswell no but he’s in the minors so not really a big deal.
If May is so good why did the dodgers, who have been ravaged by pitching injuries and hopes that guys like Glasnow and Snell will stay healthy lol, trade him? It’s like Paxton last year. They were expendable for the dodgers because they’re just not that good.
Yes, May is very similar to Paxton last year.
Did Paxton make the Red Sox better last year? Or did he disrupt the rotation and contribute to throwing the entire pitching staff into a death spiral? Can’t put it entirely on his shoulders, but he didn’t help for sure.
May likely takes a spot in the rotation that could be filled by Criswell or Harrison to better effect.
joemo, May was let go because hes like the 9th starter in Dodgerland, they have quite simply an embarassment of riches. Way better pitching depth than we do.
Houck was an 8 run era this year, ‘May, even with a terrible defense behind him was way better. This year, Houck was trash, no matter what excuse or reason we give, he just was not good.
@waitil2026, We shall see, give the kid a chance and its not like having MORE pitching depth is a bad thing, you need as much as you can get. Look how poor the astos were this weekend without 4 of their guys out.
Do you really think Houston is that bad? They’re not. Pitching depth is always a good thing. Fans cry and moan we do nothing, then when we do we cry about the return.
Houck may have been pitching through an injury when he was doing so poorly. With Tommy John surgery awaiting, we now know how serious it was.
Matz is ok as a Long Reliever, if hes a starter, you’re doomed. As a bullpen arm he has been reliable.
It’s looking like Red Sox ownership designated all the money saved from the Devers trade for the Liverpool roster because none of it went to this deadline.
Black – to be fair they did take on Hicks salary, and Matz is another 4MM (his salary this year is slightly above Chapman for the entire year). So they did replace it, just with pieces that don’t bring nearly as much value.
Purpose should be winning games, not merely spending money. Matz is okay, if overpriced. May is underwhelming.
Ok, add it up then tell me the AAV for Devers
Yes, the Devers trade is looking like a salary dump. Though Harrison has some potential if he can get his slider working consistently.
Hicks salary is 12.5MM for the next 3 years lol. It gets prorated to like 7MM for the Sox. Matz at 4MM. So only like 11MM, but they did take on some. Devers is around 30MM.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not justifying it. Just adding context.
I’m a Cards fan. I know Matz had to go but he had his best year as a Cardinal. He is pitching well so you guys are under appreciating his current value.
He is 5-2 with a 3.44 era. Most of that era was the beginning of the year.
He has his lowest HR % of 1.8% and 0.7 per 9 innings pitched . He is really good against lefties and he gets a lot of ground balls. Left handed hitters are hitting .079 against him with 0 home runs and only 3 extra base hits. Righties have 4 home runs and batting .313. He should do well in Fenway because he isn’t really a fly ball pitcher. Anyways, I wish him the best and good luck to the Sox as well.
Wow. This is depressing. The best Breslow could do was this. Two rentals that are not going to make a difference.
Couldn’t even get a 1B, and plenty of them were available.
Pedro – plain and simple, its called Analysis Paralysis. The Spreadaheet takes 100’s of manhours to digest and understand. Damn the deadline, we need more time to crunch the numbers!!
The extensive planning needed to be done going into the deadline. In a sense they have had most of the season to get much of that done and in the end you focus on the sellers you had on your list. Look at the moves other teams made. This was the year Breslow was going to give the Sox the best potential to make the playoffs. He made some solid offseason moves, but this was not a good deadline.
Paxton and Garcia redux.
Tibbs to Dodgers nice get.
May is better than he’s given credit for. I think he’ll eventually be a high leverage bullpen piece. Likely not this year.
He is a free agent after this season, so largely irrelevant here.
That probably comes across as me being rude, but I am quite annoyed that Breslow managed to fumble yet another trade deadline.
I think the fact that he is a rental was one of the issues. There were other rentals with better stats backing them for the playoffs.
truly sad
Looks like May is as bad as we feared. Ends a 7 game winning streak and can’t get through the 4th inning. Gave up two prospects for someone worse than Fitts and Criswell. Unfortunately it didn’t help that Hicks was equally bad.
The Red Sox need to stop going after pitchers the Dodgers no longer want (Paxton, Buehler, May).
Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times …. ?
Hicks isn’t a FA until 2028, gotta wonder how long of a leash the Red Sox give him. I was ecstatic when they cut Alcala, Hicks should be next if they’re serious about winning
Okay now get a good one
That doesn’t look like Joe Ryan
Ginger Joe Ryan
Redheaded stepchild. Should fit in with 22% of the Boston clientele
Gonna make you forget about Sale and Priester.
Ugh
Alrighty!!!! That’s what I’m talking about! Let’s see that return!
Can’t be much since hes already rental and not exactly killing it
Payton Tolle
It was tibbs
Wow what a gross overpay, Tibbs was the only good piece in the Devers deal and recent 1st rounder..
WTH Craig I am speechless
and May is a Free agent at years end! They were better off standing pat.
WTH?!? Tibbs is nothing special, but they didn’t need to give him away for May. This really sux.
I agree Tibbs is nothing special. So, no big loss. Pitching is very expensive.
They needed good pitching, not Buehler Jr.
Did you see some of the other trades? Look at what the rangers gave up for kelly..sox needed a serviceable starter a tibbs level prospect is the going rate in this market you get what you pay for. Im just glad we didn’t dump the farm for Ryan or trade duran for anyone
I think the Red sox made the Dodger trade just to say they did something?
Tibbs may not have proven much yet since he was just drafter in 2014 but May is not even as good as Fitts,
May has 100 innings in the second half for his CAREER. At his best he is a five inning pitcher. More often he is on the DL.
I would rather give the starts to Fitts or Criswell.
Everyone said Tibbs wasn’t much when Boston got him, now he’s “gross overpay”
Possible for Tibbs to not be much AND for it to be an overpay on May.
This was a bad trade for the sox no matter how you slice it. And if Tibbs was nothing special that’s a further indictment on the return the Sox got for Devers.
To PineTar
Kyle Harrison is an ELITE prospect, sure he struggled initially, but his stuff is not in question, he has traits you simply cannot teach.
Jose bello has a 2 run ERA in the minors and is quite young. Hicks is a busted starter but with May, it could help push him back to the bullpen where he belongs.
Harrison and Bello have a lot of potential, and this team flourished the moment we dumped Fatboy to the Giants, hes been Terrible there and is making 250 million to be a useless fielder hitting .200 ish since he arrived there.
Sox traded him for two really good prospects, one is ELite and we got Dustin May and people still find a way to complain lol. Devers had no value, he cant field anywhere, fans like you need to wake up and realize if you cant play the field in any position, that severely limits your value. Yet, we got the Giants to take his ENTIRE contract AND got prospects back!
If we make the world series, we arent better off standing put. Let’s try and give the kid a break, he’s coming to a team with a much better defensive outfield.
Maybe you want last place again, i do not, i want to contend, sick of failing, we got some pieces who could help.
Yeah, they’d all rather have the mediocrity that is Adrian Houser, lol.
You think May is going to be the difference between making the World Series and being in last place?
I don’t see him as a significant upgrade to the pitchers we have at the bottom of the rotation, but I guess only time will tell.
I don’t want the Sox to be in last place, which is why I wanted them to make more significant upgrades. We did nothing to improve the offense and Matz and May are fine but not major upgrades to what we have. We will see if these two rentals are worth the prospects that they gave up.
May is sub mediocre at this point.
@ Polyglot Are the Red sox better today, than they were 2 days ago? If Dustin May was the missing piece to put the Red Sox in the World Series, then yes I would agree with you. If Dustin May was signed beyond this season, I would probably feel that this was a decent trade as well. However, he is a Free Agent at the end of the season, and he is not the impact SP that he once was, back before he started experiencing arm issues. While Tibbs is a prospect, I don’t think it was worth sacrificing him just for a back or the rotation SP.
Criswell sent back to Worcester so that we can see Buehler and May pitch back to back in the rotation for the next two months… Two of the worst SP in the majors this year (but they don’t appear on the lists because they don’t last enough innings to qualify).
The way Criswell pitched yesterday, I would rather have him stay in the rotation. Buehler is such a huge bust and he couldn’t even finish the 5 inning today.
Since that day he got ejected for yelling at the ump, he has a 6.88 ERA. $20M doesn’t buy what it used to…
I’ve been wondering about Stroman and why not pick him up and put Buhler on the IL with a phantom injury for a break? If Stroman is no better than Buehler, we release him. He will only cost MLB minimum salary.
Stroman is no better than Buehler, and comes with his own issues. The Red Sox *have* better pitchers available, Harrison and Criswell. Heck, even Fitts is better than Buehler at this point. They just need to release Buehler and move on.
Yoshida too. I realize there is a lot of $$$ tied him in him as well, but you don’t improve the situation by carrying deadweight on the roster.
I agree that Stroman has not played any better than Buehler, probably worse. There is a chance that a different pitching coach can get more out of him. With him not carrying an expensive salary, I don’t know that it would be a bad thing to give him a look.
No doubt that Criswell’s performance was considerably better than Buehler. I thought they might trade him as there was likely someone who was willing to give Buehler a shot based on his post season play. Get a prospect, unload some money, and try Stroman at a bargain price. Obviously didn’t happen so he had another chance to wear out the bullpen.
Absolutely crazy!!! I’m so happy with that return
Thank God
Breslow finally did something!
OK — for??
Tibbs… omg what a terrible overpay for May
Yeah, you said that
and he’s right. THat’s a terrible overpay for a bad a starter in a walk year.
How many “good” starters were traded today in thier walk year? Sellers market it is what it is..we needed an mlb pitcher ..we got one.. nobody is happy let’s hope we win this guy won’t factor in in a short series so let’s just get in and win
The sox shouldn’t have been that desperate for an MLB pitcher that they overpaid for a bad one. And I’d argue at least two to three good to mediocre pitchers were traded.
Check the returns on the starting pitchers you’d argue were good that moved today as rentals..I’d bet they went for double what may went for in prospect Capital
Our fan base is so spoiled, its tiresome. If Harrison becomes an Elite closer, all the whiners will be eating their words about the Devers trade.
The kid has filthy stuff, and we got the Giants to take our 300m problem child who cant play defense anywhere off our hands and gave us prospects back.
There is no pleasing 3/4 of our fan base it seems.
I like Harrison, and believe he will become a very good STARTER. He has a live fastball, something you can’t teach. More than velocity.
So why not bring up Harrison to bolster the rotation? Why trade for one of the ten worst pitchers in MLB and hand him the job? May is not an upgrade.
It sounds like they have changed Harrison’s change up grip and added a cutter. Not sure he will figure out how to command them well this season. Agreed he should be a very good starter.
A cutter? I’m reading that as a harder slider. (His previous slider was more of a slurve.) He threw a cutter with the Giants, but hasn’t thrown one since the trade.
May have also modified the changeup. Same velocity, but his spin rate on the changeup has dropped by a third. Makes it a very different pitch.
It is a lot to work through, but he is doing a good job of putting it together and might not be far from contributing at the majors. In the meantime I have as much confidence in Criswell or Fitts as I do in May. Six of one, half a dozen of the other. Pitching May instead of Fitts isn’t the reason you make the playoffs.
Looking further, I can’t find a good source for what Harrison is changing. People seem to be speculating.
Statcast has pitch metrics for AAA as well as the majors. Easy enough to see what he threw with SF vs. BOS and how the pitches have changed shape. Not speculation, just didn’t copy out the full set of numbers. Check it out yourself?
I’ll have to give it a try sometime. Thanks.
Keep going…
Someone check on AA. Good grief this is painful.
Someone send Breslow *to* AA, I’m worried he thinks it’s 2021 with the moves he’s made today.
Alex Anthopolous?
I know that’s who he was referring to. I was making a play on it by suggesting Alcoholics Anonymous.
Why are the Dodgers trading Fraggle Rock May
Ginger isn’t suitable to their tastes.
Because they have too many starters now Glasnow, Snell, Yamamato, Kershaw, Ohtani, & Sheehan. With Wrobleski long man in BP
GET US JOE RYAN TOO, CRAIG!
NO LEAVE US ONE GOD DAMN PLAYER
You can keep, Christian Vázquez but we will take Joe Ryan.
Nah you can take Keirsy the guy hitting 0.99
He really is a “F*^#ing stiff”
Ginger will excel in Beantown,
Last year the Dodgers thought they had excess starting pitching and traded Paxton. I guess we’re doing this again.
2023**
*2024**
there’s an excess at May’s level.
Breslow finally decided to do something
Dont think this counts as a real move
Wow, 2 mediocre-to-lousy pitchers acquired by Boston. Hope nobody of significance is going to LAD.
Haha, apparently the Red Sox did not learn from the Buehler deal the errors of picking up guys the Dodgers were eager to move on from
Lol people don’t like this? Obligatory “depends on the price,” but May has nasty stuff and is still just 27. I love it.
He’s a free agent after this season, and he hasn’t been pitching that well this season so…
Dang, didn’t realize he was a rental at first. Still love his stuff, would rather watch him get shelled than Fitts.
Probably responsible of them not to go huge this deadline, but have to think they could have packaged some combo of Duran, Blaze, Garcia and/or Tolle for Gore.
Rental with control issues….
Full out rental with a 4.83 ERA?!?!?!
Meh, yeah I get it. But I like him in a swing role, power arm. Could blow up, of course. I’m not as attached to Tibbs as others. Blaze for Matz is the real head-scratcher for me
This guy stinks! Breslow has to go! NO GUTS!
Ownership won’t let him add money during the season its pretty obvious
Analysis Paralysis. Im gonna say it 1000x today. All they do is study the underlying metrics and input it into spreadsheets. 30p analysts for this crap?!?!?!?!?!
The Mariners and Rangers are hysterical
Dodgers are basically giving up, playing for 2026.
No, they’re indicating that their first team pitchers are almost back now. They won’t need May in the playoffs.
Or want to see in the postseason.
He’s a long reliever on the Dodgers. In the postseason, even less. We can get any of these arms to give up 3 over 3.
Oh boy, more sloppy seconds from the Dodgers! Why settle for one dead-armed LA castoff when you can have two!
James Paxton and Rich Hill giggling.
And Eric Gagne laughing in French Canadian
Sam Kennedy will be out tomorrow blaming the fans for not appreciating the deadline. Of course that will be after a night of John Henry’s meat in his mouth.
The consolation prize for the consolation prize
That’s not how you spell Joe Ryan
Arms. Innings.
Hayzee- thats the spirit! Let’s all make lemonade. We can drimk it in October while we’re watching the Mariners and Rangers play
Wow why get Joe Ryan when you can get *checks notes* Dodgers failed rotation Dustin May
With all the injuries to the pitching staff. Why would you trade a pitcher away
Because watching him pitch once a week is too painful to bear.
Because nearly all those injured guys are back, now.
The Sox’ front office said they weren’t interested in pure rentals and wanted cost-controlled starting pitching. What did they do? Went out and acquired two rentals, including a lefty reliever because they only had like 17 of them on the roster. And btw, how many Tommy John pitchers can we possibly have on one roster?
Corrado- I happen to know the answer to that. Because Kennedy, Breslow and Cora are all little Beatches who dont know what they are doing and compete against each other to see who can be the biggest sycophant to John Henry
Well who was given up? If it wasn’t a top-tier prospect I like the trade. I know people were looking for something big, I wasn’t one of them. I don’t think the team needed anything huge honestly, it’s just a very young squad outside of Story and Bregman. After Crochet and Bello there’s not much better in the rotation.
James tibbs
@pool I think it was a slight overpay, James was #88 in the mlb pipeline and #5 prospect in the organization by mlb pipeline, #10 by baseball America. We have a log jam in the outfield and he would be ready in 2027 for MLB. May can be a decent #3 he may just need a change.
I think it was an extreme sellers market most of the deals made today look like overpays I like this sox team and think in a short series they can be dangerous this deal gets them through the reg season..
May is another broken-down pitcher, I guess the sox pitcher whisperer will try to mend him like he mended Bueller.
2/5 of the Dodgers rotation from a couple of years ago. Interesting.
2/15 of the Dodgers rotation from 2 years ago.
Bozo to Beantown!
May can be wicked nasty. Problem is he cruises for 2 or 3 innings and suddenly can’t throw a strike that isn’t middle-middle…
he really could end up as a filthy reliever instead, he just hasn’t shown that consistency or stamina (tho to be fair he’s coming back from a long layoff, but the consistency has often been a thing)
that’s why most Dodger fans would have liked to see him out of the pen. wicked stuff absolutely just not a starter. could be more of a RH Hader though.
Front office is a joke. Lead on the fan base. Almost got gore. Almost , almost cease.
Almost Ryan
Tibbs for May?? Friedman continues to show why he is the GOAT
if nothing else, following Tibbs trajectory will now be a Giants fan obsession, heh.
Did you see some of the other trades?..its no wonder the Dodgers didnt buy..Look at what the rangers gave up for kelly..sox needed a serviceable starter a tibbs level prospect is the going rate in this market you get what you pay for. Im just glad we didn’t dump the farm for Ryan or trade duran for anyone
That devers trade return looking even worse now lol.
How ? You got Hicks as a high impact set up guy no dif than helsley.. Harrison has filthy stuff very young and top prospect pedigree and now may who is your rental starter for the stretch..not to mention you got the giants to eat the entire contract lol..looking like a win to me..how’s that working out for the giants? Looks like they sold today
A short term set up guy making significant money, an injury prone rental starter who has been mediocre at best this year and a decent pitching prospect who has yet to establish himself at mlb over 2+ seasons to date is not much of a return for a hitter of devers’ caliber. Harrison needs to hit a very high percentile outcome of his potential for this to be at all a clear positive trade for boston. And by now its pretty well established that Boston did not make a real effort to shop devers and get any real bidding to maximize value on the return. The red Sox ownership and fo have embarrassed themselves this season in how they have handled their roster, the media, and the trade deadline imo.
You are taking the most negative stance on everything its obvious you are nota sox fans and just cherry picking in order to trash them. Example sure Hicks makes alot of money but the sox didn’t give him that contract so its not entirely relevant yet you fail to acknowledge the fact he provides the exact same value as many of the high end relievers traded yesterday ..we can go down your list but your anti sox slant is pretty obvious
Dodgers rebuild confirmed.
As if standing (more or less) pat at the deadline wasn’t a bad enough look, immediately flipping the only meaningful prospect of the Devers trade for a back-end rental starter is just… it just feels bad, man. It all feels bad
CRO- YOU KNOW WHAT IT FELLS LIKE? Hey Fans, F’you all!!!
I’d have been happier if they actually stood pat. Like did absolutely nothing. As it is, they wasted prospect potential for lame return rental pitchers.
Agreed, the Tibbs thing stings. Given all the smoke around Ryan, it also makes it feel like letting him walk was a last-minute impulse decision to make it look like they did *something*—because let’s be real, for as angry as fans are about both deals, if they’d only gotten Matz I think there might have been riots. I generally think it’s wiser to either have the courage to give up a lot for something meaningful or the wisdom to hold onto your lottery tickets and commit to a rebuild. This half-measure stuff is why it’s been a half decade of mediocrity in Boston.
I also can’t even begin to imagine what this must feel like for that clubhouse. They’ve fought tooth and nail to stay in contention this year after losing two of their best bats and watching the rotation crumble and were promised they’d get reinforcements come the deadline. Has to be a somber mood in the air even if I’m sure there’s some relief that Duran isn’t gone.
Yeah if Harrison doesn’t figure it out and i mean REALLY figure it out that trade’s gonna age even worse than the mookie deal.
Red Sox, Red head. Makes sense
lol…lmfao..Red Sox Red Head!… 😂
lol…lmfao..Red Sox, Red Head!… 😂 Hilarious!!
Don’t need another back in starter as Sox have 4 of them already.
Bloody
No they dont
That’s a lot for a rental
It’s wild how entitled, dumb, and unrealistic many Red Sox fans are.
Red sox were looking for a 4th or 5th starter for SP depth and some bullpen help.
They did this.
There was never going to be someone coming in better than Crochet, Giolito or Bello.
Cry more,
You’re way off base. They needed a controllable #2 SP, a 1B w power and a couple decent bullpen pieces. They got none of the above and we fans are letting it out.
Enjoy your evening.
Ghost- what in the world are you talking about? A team that has four losing seasons in the last five, currently in the wild Card, we’re not entitled to ask for stretch run reinforcements?
Go troll someone else’s fan base. Or at least be witty or something other than flat out annoying
So essentially we traded Rafael Devers for Kyle Harrison, Jordan Hicks & Dustin May 🤮
And got an attitude problem out of the clubhouse house.
You forgot the $240M the Red Sox offloaded to the Giants.
Say what you want to about California, but, it’s a great place for John Henry to unload bum contracts
Just read the sox gave a second prospect, their #27 as well. Is fitts hurt, or in the doghouse, why would you do this trade?
He has been good in the past but not this year. Not sure I understand this one
At this point, the Red Sox don’t need more pitching, or a first baseman, or any of that stuff on the player front. Season is cooked now. Had chances to improve and totally blew it…
What the Red Sox really need is a front office enema and new owners….
Christ, I’d take Chaim Bloom back over this bozo…
JHW- you know, youre right. I thought I couldn’t hate anyone more than Chaim, but, truth is I wish he was running the team again.
Dustin May is a bigot and a loser. I don’t care if he comes in and pitches well, I can’t stand him.
What he do ?
Nothing. Some people like to make stuff up.
He’s an avowed Trump supporter. Whether that makes him an avowed bigot is probably contingent on your own political views. I have no interest in expressing what my own views are in this venue, but to put it as neutrally as possible, that is what the accusation is based on.
The type of stuff he posts on his Instagram stories would make even Alex Jones blush. Perpetuating false narratives and stereotypes. For the record, I hate all political systems in America.
Avowed, when? Where?
It’s all over his Instagram. Again, I’m not interested in debating my own thoughts about that on mlbtraderumors.com, but even a cursory Google reveals that he’s been pretty open about his own political beliefs. Some Dodgers fans were hot about it on Reddit. It’s a thing.
I mean, didn’t they have a bunch of drag queens mocking catholic nuns in a pretty insulting way sanctioned by the team and invited to perform at the stadium, or something like that?
You expect some tolerance in both directions with moves like that as far as free expression goes.
I personally think looking to professional athletes or professional athletic organizations as political role models is likely to be a losing game regardless of what your politics are. I don’t care if you’re more aligned with Dustin May or Colin Kaepernick—at the end of the day I think you’ll be sorely disappointed if you’re expecting them to start disseminating expert knowledge of statecraft. But I do understand individual fans rooting for individual players who represent their worldview; that’s not much different from rooting for the guy from your hometown. And to my mind, nobody’s forcing May to post political memes on his Twitter, so if he loses some fans for it, on his own head be it. He’s still a millionaire and the Red Sox still suck and the powers that be are still the powers that be.
I made a more than cursory search and found very little. What fans blab about and what matters (or is true) is often miles apart. Maybe it’s best to stay away from social media unless you want your knickers to be in a permanent twist. And that’s the only thoughts I am prepared to share.
Not asking him to be a political role model, just a decent human being.
Wow, didn’t even know that. I guess I just care about what he does between the lines. And that’s not to be snarky or anything. I really didn’t know. But with a group of 26 players you’re always going to get so many different type of human beings with different values and thinking. That’s the beauty of a team coming together no matter the differences.
css 2
Dustin May is a bigot and a loser. I don’t care if he comes in and pitches well, I can’t stand him.
==========================
I looked, as did Blueskies, and I found nothing. Care to let us know what offends you?
He’s a whiny liberal crying about a baseball player’s Instagram.
EVERYTHING offends him. Guaranteed.
well judging a guy on basically nothing doesn’t speak too well of your decency. what does it have to do w his ability to help your team?
He might not think much of you either.
The Red Sox trade deadline was an absolute joke. They could have done so much better than just Matz and May. They easily could have beaten the Rangers offer for Merrill Kelly.
If it helps any, Dodgers fans aren’t exactly popping any trade deadline champaign corks.
In fairness, @BlueSkies, the Dodgers can afford to make minimal moves and still contend because they’re actually *good* hahaha. And I personally think Tibbs is a steal for a rental who’s been struggling as much as May. It’s probably roughly equivalent to the Red Sox landing Hope or Sirota for Walker Buehler. Total fleece.
Compete, yes. Win, not so much. The bullpen is basically a disaster, a postseason killer if not a season-killer. May became surplus with the return of Snell, so anything they got for him is what it is. But the point being, everybody knew they needed serious bullpen help now. They were expected to get it. But they just didn’t get it.
Yeah, I hear ya. I’m torn between crushing disappointment and mild relief that the Sox didn’t empty the farm for relief help. The price the Mets paid for a rental of Tyler Rogers—who I’d hardly call “elite”—made me fall off my couch.
If anything, with prices where they were imagine a world the red Sox threw in the towel on their wild card hopes and really *cashed in* on their expiring rentals.
A few SP and a couple arms like Chapman, toss in an OFer and were talking a haul you wouldn’t know what to do with
Couldn’t agree more, @GA. The fanbase would have been furious, but if the market’s any indicator we could have gotten a ridiculous return for Chapman alone. Now he’ll pitch 20-25 more times for a team that will likely crater over the next several months (if history is any indicator) and then walk for nothing.
You simply cannot half-measure a deadline. You buy big or you sell big. I have never seen an in-between approach work.
Uhhh…How about NO. The Rangers gave 3 excellent pitching prospects for a 2 month rental.
Just keep him away from all the lettuce in Boston
Shouldn’t be difficult.
May has pitched no more than 56innings in a whole season ever. Lets hope he can give us 50 the rest of this year
Meant 50 more since she’s already at a career high this year.
Some say on a very few occasions in the year he’ll become The Sinker/Slider Death Dealer and ring up double digit Ks close to 100 mph making men look foolish 2 or 3 times yearly
Mostly just a 4.50 ERA and upwards pitcher that’ll get closer to 5 innings than any mortal soul has ever tried every start.He has a wiffleball slider tho but leaves it center cut tooooooo much.We thought this dude was gonna be a bad man.Like Buehler I wish him all the luck in the universe
I’m squinting and can’t quite see it??? Are they looking for just someone to cover the innings Garrett won’t be able to throw in the 2nd half?
They are 4th in runs scored, so maybe they are thinking this guy can cover the extra innings and they can try to out score everyone when he is on the bump?
That’s all I got…..
Tibbs and Ehrhard. It’s really not a great trade on paper for us. Can’t seem to make it make sense. I do think May could be better than he has been and will benefit from getting more attention from the coaching staff than he did in LA, with their rotation… but man oh man. Not pleased.
In the comment section of every Red Sox article their fans get their torches and pick forks out 🤣
No kidding. Whenever I bring this up I’m told it’s a Boston thing, I wouldn’t understand. Yeah, right…
They’ve been consistently mediocre since running Dombrowski out of town. A team with the resources of the Red Sox shouldn’t go that long without being competitive.
You interpreted my comment as tho I was gettin my pitchfork out? Naw. Just not pleased with the trade on paper. Struggling pitcher traded for 1st round pick from 2024 and an additional OF prospect with some value.
They really should. This has been a bad trade season for boston.
Very mixed reactions on this one. It feels typical for the Sox at this point.
this is exactly the kind of knee jerk move I feared the Sox would make.
I still say they should’ve sold at the deadline, but I also said that if they don’t sell, then just stand pat.
the market for starters was very small, but very deep. the Twins (who ended up having a garage sale) and Pirates were in full control over what they could command for their aces, and it showed.
no real aces were dealt today, and the moves to bolster bullpens ruled.
who knows- maybe May can sort things out in the classic “change of venue” move, but honestly- the Dodgers are in dire need of starting pitching, as well, and yet traded a starter. That speaks volumes.
sometimes, the best moves are ones you don’t make.
while in reality, all trades made today should be graded “incomplete” until the season ends, on paper, I give the Sox a “D” for the deadline, but if May and Matz catch fire, then we can revisit.
Dodgers rotation is getting healthier, and May was bout to get bumped to the pen. The FO asked if he’d be willing to make the move, but he declined. Dude is playing for a contract and needs to show the league what he can do. So the team did him a solid and accommodated him….
Where did you get that information?
i didn’t hear he declined but preferred to start so they wanted to accommodate him as well. he wasn’t going to be a starter much longer you’re right. also correct he’s playing for his next contract and has a young family. the Dodgers were very considerate as they typically are which is why players want to be there.
Yeah, I guess “declined” may be a strong word. But that’s what he basically did when he told them he preferred to start….
How many pitchers don’t prefer to start?
Still wondering where you got that information.
Initially from a JP Hoornstra tweet. But you can search for the post-deadline Gomes presser that’s all over the net now….
Also if he was “all-in”, he wudda said, “Yeah, whatever you need me to do.” But understandably in a walk year, he looking to get starter, not reliever money….
Yeah, I know — but Gomes didn’t say that May declined anything, only that they allowed him to go somewhere where he could pitch as a starter. I’m not sure he did himself any favors, but we shall see.
Well when they tell him he’s going to the pen, and he responds with “I prefer to start”, he’s basically said, “Uhhh yeah, I’m all good”….
None of us were flies on the wall for these discussions, so we can only judge what went down by the public statements. Like I said, every pitcher wants to be a starter, but none are in position to decline an assignment to the bullpen. Feels like you are trying to read too much into this.
Well, I’ve already said “declined” was a strong word in a previous post. He wudda done it, but what’s the point of keeping someone if every time he’s coming outta the pen, he’s thinking “This isn’t what I wanna be doing”. Sorry bout the semantics, bro….
No problem. Honestly, I suspect the Dodgers were looking for a reason to move on from May. He is the odd-man out no matter how you figure it (and semantics aside).
Wish he did accept a pen role. We need the arms badly, and an inning or two of his electric stuff wudda been great. It is what it is….
For what it’s worth I wasn’t thrilled with Steve Pearce addition in 18… that’s why I put cans on a shelf and am not a GM…
the Steve Pearce story is one I always highlight. My favorite deadline tale… unfortunately at the expense of my Dodgers… but it’s why I always lean towards “the smart move” and especially on the hometown guys.
olm- good point. the Bobby Kielty signing in ’07 was similar, as well.
this is a terrible trade for the sox and waste of resources.
Are we better? Yeah, these additions will help. Did we give up anything? No, doubtful.
Will this be an impactful “better” meh, tbd but maybe we get lucky. 50/50 odds.
Reminds me of the trade for that trash orioles pitcher we did a few years ago.
The Red Sox had 3 needs, Starting Pitcher, Reliever and 1b. They addressed two of the three needs. Is any of them Elite? No, but Matz is reliable out of the pen and Sox have a ton of SP injuries, we traded a guy who was going backwards in the minors for a 4.5 era starter, hes at least league avg with some young upside. Im happy, people will complain, but Tibbs is kind of a trainwreck im very happy to get May and 2 of our 3 needs met, this is a win win, the Devers trade jus keeps getting better.
For you Boston fans, I’m a Dodgers fan. May has fantastic stuff, but he has a lot of trouble commanding it. You’ll get some great innings, maybe one seven inning gem, and plenty of heartbreak to go with it.
I love his potential, my only gripe is no more control after this season, that sucks. I think your outfield defense has cost him a few times, he will come to a much better defensive outfield. Good luck with Tibbs, he needs some work to get goin back in right direction, but you have a quality orginization with great coaches, should be able to get him back on track.
All i need is competitive fire and a guy who leaves everything he has on the field. He does that, I’m behind him as a player.
If what he had wasn’t good enough, that’s a management problem.
To add on to my previous post, The Dodgers outfield is trash right now, two of the worst fielders in the bigs in Conforto and Teoscar, and even Pages has been an underwhelm for all his hype. With a much better defensive outfield, i like the chances of May ERA falling in Boston, i like his chances a lot, even in a smaller ball park. Cedanne is ELITE defensively, Abreu and Duran both near elite. Roman Anthony is at worst, league avg.
you’re right and Pages seems to just lose focus here and there w disastrous results. Teo is what he is but i’m sure Boston will give him better D w out too much problem. i don’t know how much that hurt him specifically recently but it killed CK’s last start. he’s a hard working kid and hopefully he can get it together ultimately. Dodger fans are rooting for him and i’m sure you will too!
If the Sox were penny pinching now and planning for a better year next year, then trade Chapman, Duran, and Bregman at the deadline for prospects and reload.
If the Sox wanted to compete this year, then trade multiple prospects to acquire short-term quality and go for it.
I’m okay with Jordan for Matz yesterday based on the assumptions that Blaze would be gone in Rule 5 and that additional deals seemed likely today. However, Tibbs for May at the last minute makes no sense. Why bother taking on the extra salary of May when it’s clear that you’re not committed to winning? If it was to dump Tibbs because his singing in the shower was annoying to his teammates (or because you figured that he too would be lost in Rule 5), then flip him to the Twins or Pirates for an 18 year-old lottery ticket.
I cannot make sense of this timid deadline. How can anyone currently on the roster not see it as a lack of commitment to winning this year and simultaneously a lack of commitment to winning in the future.
If you’re not going to try Grissom again in Boston (perhaps the right decision), then trade him while he’s raking at AAA. If you want to create playing time for the young outfielders coming up, then package Yoshida’s salary with other spare parts and take back a pitcher with a slightly less underwater contract (Severino?) to plug a hole for the rest of this season.
As much as I disliked Dave Dombrowski’s scorched earth approach of burning the farm system and overpaying in prospects for veterans, it was a clear direction.
Craig Breslow, even if he is being financially micromanaged, needs to lean into a direction. The dwindling number of Sox fans can see right through the current course of pretending to want to win but not spending enough in cash or prospects to actually do it now or in the future. If we have to save $ and be mediocre for another two seasons so that we can time the arrival of young, controllable, talented hitters, fielders, and pitchers at the same time (like the Orioles did at this deadline) just do it. Please, just stop the Matz and May charade.
Neither Tibbs nor Ehrhard is Rule 5 eligible yet.
aards- amen. couldn’t have said it better myself. that’s why I kept calling for the Sox to be sellers at the deadline.
maybe they got rid of Tibbs because they got sick of calling him Mr. Tibbs.
Can anyone present a persuasive case that acquiring May makes a difference in the Sox’ chance of winning the World Series this year? If not, then why take on the salary and give up prospects for a pending free agent?
It makes a difference, but how much is yet to be determined. The thing is, other than Crochet and Bello, there isnt much, maybe Giolitto but hes an oft injured guy at this point. Buehler has like a 6 run era, Houck a 8 run era, Dobbins and Kutter Crawford both out on DL. Sox really needed someone to eat some innings. We gave up a guy who has no future in boston and people still cry and whine about every deal we do.
If Tibbs had no future in Boston, then why did they acquire him in the Devers trade? What’s changed about him in the last six weeks? I agree that they needed at least one starter in order to make a push this year. If the prices for good starters were too high (perhaps unfairly I don’t see May as having been a good starter) then why not decide that this is just not the year to invest in making a push? Several other potential contenders pushed prospect chips into the middle of the poker table, gambling on this year. Why shouldn’t the Sox then wait until the winter to reload, when trade prices may come down and free agents mean additional opportunities to strengthen the team?
The Red Sox have 6 outfielders at this point if you count Refsnyder (bench guy) and Yoshida who is mostly a DH. Duran, Roman, Ceddane, and Abreu are the main 4 outfielders.
Sox have a BIG logjam of outfielders with Jhostnxon Garcia and Tibbs and Bleiss some guys have to go, we simply do not have the room for all these guys.
We took Tibbs for exactly the reason we got him, hes a highly rated prospect we could flip for a pitcher, which we did. It helps us Win now if May can hold the fort down till some guys get healthy. Hes not the key piece, just a nice 4-5 starter for Depth to eat some innings and hopefully help us win a game or two.
The Red Sox promoted Tibbs to AA after they acquired him where he has struggled to a .586 OPS and striking out 28% of ABs.
I’m very frustrated with the deadline I’ve said they should move any prospect not named Tolle and get what’s needed this season to have a legitimate chance. This didn’t happen and I don’t know why. Is it because Breslow just didn’t want to part with Arias, Garcia, Clarke or is it because other teams didn’t want those guys I don’t know but something happened to get to this underwhelming trade deadline. I’d like to know more detail before condemning Breslow.
As for Tibbs I watched him a ton in Portland. I really enjoyed watching Portland due to the outstanding pitchers they have but I got to watch a lot of Tibbs. I gotta tell you he takes a decent at bat he has a good eye but when he got in the much tougher Portland hitting environment he just struggled offensively. If you watched you would quickly notice Castro was better than Tibbs he also has a decent eye but he impacted the ball better and he was clearly the better defender and he was younger. Tibbs isn’t a big loss he might turn out to be something but I doubt it. Castro the guy on no one’s radar was the better hitter and defender.
Now will May turn out to be anything for Boston if he can stay healthy maybe. He was once a high end prospect but just hasn’t been able to stay healthy. He still has good stuff health is the key they just need him to stay healthy and eat some innings they didn’t give up much for him.
Bruin: Agreed that we need more info to understand what happened.
Agreed that Tibbs comes with major question marks. His defense is deficient in the OF, and he doesn’t bring enough thump to merit consideration at 1B. He’s not a big loss.
My problem with the trade is that May is one of the ten worst starters in MLB this year, and is sliding. He is one of their “rehab specials”, in his first year back after missing a full season. He is already at a career high in innings, and the evidence suggests that he is running out of gas. I expect a 5+ ERA going forward, with a limited number of 5 inning starts before he finally goes down for the count.
I expect May to replace Criswell or Harrison in the rotation. You saw Criswell last night, and while he can’t throw his way out of a wet paper bag, he understands pitching and is good at limiting hard contact. Harrison is still mastering his new (harder) slider, but the overall results from his last four starts have been promising – still needs to touch up the command but he is missing bats and limiting hard contact.
Dustin May doesn’t make this team better,
I actually like this move. May is gone at the end of the year so we got “something for nothing.” We needed him to be a reliever for the rest of the year and it wasn’t fitting. The return may sound underwhelming but Tibbs was a pick under the Farhan regime and undoubtedly, our “special advisor” had something to do with this move. Not betting he’ll be our starting LF in a couple years, but I am saying we’ll look back on this favorably 🙂
Waited all of those years for him to get healthy, only to trade him as soon as he does lol.
As a fan I want a trade deadline to come and say “Hell yeah, we got our guys, Let’s Go!!!”
If it has to be explained why its a useful maneuver for organizational management, or underlying metrics or savings or whatever, odds are its probably not gonna move the needle.
Unlike the 300 analysts currently employed by the Red Sox front office I dont have an Ivy League degree. All I want is someone in the front office who I feel like wants to win as much as I do. Haven’t felt that since D.D. left
Harry Fraze 2.0 is nestling on that warm 300 million dollar pillow the Giants gifted for Devers.Little john Henry will reinvest it into team needs just like harry effing did 100 hundred years ago.john Henry is an embarrassment at best and a newly coined swear word !!! 70 years of tolerating front office/owners rampant bigotry incompetantcy and the insulting excuses to cover their collective asses is the final straw. Send me Henry’s obit and I might believe justice is served
Doing what the Red Sox and Breslow do best. Acquiring pitchers who have major injury problems and have had major surgeries. All Breslow does is take flyers on guys. Just sad, the whole front office isn’t even attempting
Meh. WE didn’t get much and didn’t give up much. Matz should improve the BP/6th SP. May should improve our #5 SP slot, but we really needed a #3, and I could easily have argued for two SPs instead of one..
Woohoo Dustin May, here we come October… Well in 2026 maybe. Apparently the Sox didn’t want to give up Duran or Abreu for better pitching. Can’t say I blame them. But with the current rotation I don’t see them going far into the playoffs. Apparently the throttle cable broke.
Fellow Nation Fans… I get it.. not exactly what I also had in mind… but I give you a few examples of you don’t know till you know… Bobby K … 2007… Steve Pierce… 2018… oh yeah a last minute pick up in 2004.. what’s his name????
Orlando Cabrera! Ocab filled in nicely for the then recently traded Nomar and we won it all with him.
Yes… but I mean really last minute… Gosh I can’t believe I’ve forgotten him already…LOL!!
Dave Roberts?
Bingo!!!( wink)
The literal only positive to take away from this trade deadline day, is that they didn’t trade away Duran.
Ok……. I know u guys are a little disappointed and trust me at first I was to, but listen to this ( and look )
Giolito: 3.80 ERA, 77 strikeouts, 1.25 WHIP, 7 wins, 2 losses
Crochet: 2,23 ERA, 175 strikeouts, 1.09 WHIP, 12 wins, 4 losses
Bello: 3.19 ERA, 83 strikeouts, 1.28 WHIP, 7 wins, 5 losses
Buehler: 5.72 ERA, 71 strikeouts, 1.54 WHIP, 6 wins, 6 losses
May: 4.85 ERA, 97 strikeouts, 1.35 WHIP, 6 wins, 7 losses
Note that Dustin May is having his best season this year and the past and recent ten games have been incredible.
Plus matz is having a great season this year too so instead of blowing games we can trust someone besides chapman to save or hold those games.
Buehler is clutch in the playoffs, Dustin May is also just naturally clutch.
if those two guys continue to step up, then we will have a 7/10 or 8/10 chance of playoffs this year or the next ( and that includes matz and the incoming Pablo Sandoval and Houck) .
anyway when Houck returns it will be him minus Buehler or a six man starting pitching staff
so u know have some hope guys have some hope
Sorry forgot to add Richard Fitts
Fitts: 4.83 ERA, 34 strikouts, 1.32 WHIP, 1 win, 4 losses
He will probably be demoted once Houck returns though
I already miss the guy, he was a great piece for the Dodgers. Sad to see him go