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Red Sox Rumors

Giants Notes: Devers, Eldridge, Payroll

By Darragh McDonald | June 19, 2025 at 1:48pm CDT

The baseball world was stunned by Sunday’s Rafael Devers trade and further details have continued to spill out in subsequent days. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Red Sox asked for prospect Bryce Eldridge in trade talks but the Giants quickly rebuffed that.

Eldridge is clearly a talented prospect, making it understandable that the Sox would ask about him, and that the Giants preferred to keep him. The 16th overall pick of the 2023 draft, he has since taken 845 plate appearances in the minors, hitting 39 home runs with an 11.5% walk rate. His 26.5% strikeout rate is a bit on the high side but he’s also been facing far older competition basically the whole time. He’s now in Triple-A even though he’s still only 20 years old.

He started this year at Double-A and mashed, putting up a line of .280/.350/.512 in 34 games. That got him quickly promoted to Triple-A, where his production has stalled a bit. He is hitting just .160/.232/.340 at the top minor league level so far with a 33.9% strikeout rate. But it’s a small sample of 13 games and, as mentioned, he is extremely young for the level.

By keeping Eldridge in the fold, the Giants may have a bit of a squeeze in the first base/designated hitter mix over the long run. It appears that Devers’ days of being a third baseman are effectively done. Matt Chapman is one of the top defensive third basemen in the league and is signed through 2030. Devers is now learning first base and could be a viable option at that spot in the coming weeks.

Whenever Eldridge earns his way up to the majors, he and Devers will have to share the first base and DH spots, though that may not be a short-term problem if Eldridge still needs some time to develop against Triple-A pitching. The Giants are presumably fine with the long-term fit, since they seemingly took a hard line against even considering Eldridge being included in the deal.

Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area also reports on the Sox asking for Eldridge and notes that players like Hayden Birdsong and Carson Whisenhunt also came up at times during the talks. It’s unclear if the Giants were opposed to dealing those guys or if the Sox just preferred Kyle Harrison and James Tibbs, who ultimately were included in the completed deal.

Beyond the players, money was a key component of this trade, with Devers having about $250MM still to be paid out over the eight and a half years remaining on his contract. Jordan Hicks is still owed about $30MM in the two and a half years remaining on his deal, which offsets that somewhat, but the Giants still took on roughly $220MM in the swap. Considering the largest contract the Giants have ever signed in the history of the franchise is the $182MM free agent deal for Willy Adames, absorbing the money in the Devers trade was no small matter.

With that kind of financial commitment changing hands, ownership would naturally have to be involved. Giants chairman Greg Johnson spoke to John Shea of The San Francisco Standard, noting that he and Red Sox CEO Sam Kennedy spoke about the pact fairly early in the process, at the urging of Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey.

“I talked to [Kennedy] at the (owners’) meetings (in early June) in New York, and I talked to him this week. Just put the message in that we’re serious. It’s not just chatter. Nobody wants to do all this work and then say, ’Oh, now we’ve got to sell it to our owners.’ We wanted to let the other owners know ’these guys are serious. They want to get something done.’ That changes the urgency. Buster was very smart to recognize that point. That goes back to his sense. He’s got a good nose for how people think and operate. It’s one of his strengths.”

RosterResource currently estimates the Giants to have a competitive balance tax number of almost $223MM, roughly $18MM below the $241MM base threshold. That should leave the club plenty of wiggle room to continue adding to the roster ahead of the deadline, whether they plan to avoid the tax or not.

Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron, Imagn Images

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Boston Red Sox San Francisco Giants Bryce Eldridge Carson Whisenhunt Hayden Birdsong Rafael Devers

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MLBTR Podcast: Reacting To The Devers Trade And Aaron Civale

By Darragh McDonald | June 18, 2025 at 10:08am CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The shocking trade sending Rafael Devers from the Red Sox to the Giants (1:15)
  • The Red Sox drama that led to the trade (4:25)
  • The constant shuffling of deck chairs with the Red Sox over the past decade (7:40)
  • The pieces the Red Sox got in return: Jordan Hicks, Kyle Harrison and James Tibbs (20:00)
  • The fit with Devers and the Giants (recorded before the news of Devers getting work at first base) (30:55)
  • Aaron Civale asking the Brewers for a trade and getting flipped to the White Sox for Andrew Vaughn (45:20)

Check out our past episodes!

  • White Sox Ownership, Roman Anthony, And The Diamondbacks’ Rotation – listen here
  • Jarren Duran Rumors, Caglianone And Young Promoted, And Pitching Injuries – listen here
  • Bregman Injured, Marcelo Mayer Called Up, And Pirates Talk – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of D. Ross Cameron, Imagn Images

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Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox MLB Trade Rumors Podcast Milwaukee Brewers San Francisco Giants Aaron Civale Andrew Vaughn James Tibbs Jordan Hicks Kyle Harrison Rafael Devers

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Devers Trade Fallout: Breslow, Deadline Plans, Clubhouse

By Anthony Franco | June 16, 2025 at 11:59pm CDT

The baseball world remains focused on last night’s stunning blockbuster that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco. There’ll surely be more from the Giants once Devers reports to the team tomorrow, but there’s already been plenty of note out of Boston.

The trade was obviously driven by the deterioration of the relationship between Devers and the Red Sox. That stemmed from the three-time All-Star’s frustration with being moved off third base when the Sox signed Alex Bregman. Devers initially indicated he was unwilling to change positions before begrudgingly agreeing to serve as the designated hitter. He was more adamant in refusing to even take pregame reps at first base after the Sox lost Triston Casas to a season-ending knee injury. He went public with his displeasure with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow after the team approached him about considering it.

Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe posted last night that the team felt that Devers’ franchise-record $313.5MM contract came “with responsibilities to do what is right for the team” which the infielder had not met. More specifically, Sean McAdam of MassLive writes that the Sox feared that Devers’ frustrations with the position changes would send a poor message to their younger players — especially their talented rookie trio of Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell.

Breslow alluded to the clubhouse culture in a Zoom call with reporters this evening (YouTube link to 38-minute conversation). “It’s the willingness to step up and sacrifice at times of need and essentially do whatever is necessary to help the team win,” the former MLB reliever said when speaking generally about successful teams of which he’d been a part. “I think that’s the identity, this relentless pursuit of winning, that we’re looking for.” He declined to directly answer a follow-up question from ESPN’s Jeff Passan as to which areas Devers was not meeting those standards.

CEO Sam Kennedy and Breslow repeated multiple times on the call that the team and Devers could no longer “find alignment.” Breslow indicated that Devers did not formally request a trade, though he added that “there were times during the course of conversations with Raffy’s camp where they had indicated that perhaps a fresh start would be best for both sides.”

This was evidently under consideration for a while. Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey told the San Francisco beat last night that they’d been in conversations with the Sox about Devers for a few weeks (relayed by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area). While Breslow did not provide any specifics on the talks, McAdam reported this morning that the Braves, Blue Jays and Padres had also inquired about Devers’ availability.

Ultimately, those teams weren’t willing to top the Giants’ offer. San Francisco assumed the remaining eight and a half seasons and more than $250MM remaining on Devers’ contract. They sent back starter Kyle Harrison, two prospects (including last year’s first rounder James Tibbs III), and righty Jordan Hicks. There’s some element of salary offset with Hicks’ inclusion, as he’s under contract for $12.5MM annually through 2027. San Francisco signed Hicks with an eye towards stretching him out as a starter, but he failed to hold a rotation role in either of his first two seasons. They’d moved him back to the bullpen before he landed on the injured list with toe inflammation early this month.

Breslow described Hicks as “a dominant late-inning reliever,” suggesting they don’t intend to build him back out for another rotation attempt. Harrison was optioned to Triple-A Worcester but figures to get a rotation look later in the season. It seems clear the Red Sox accepted a significant downgrade in the short term, though Breslow tried to make the case that “there is a real chance that at the end of the season, we’re looking back and we’ve won more games than we otherwise would have.”

While that seems unlikely, Hicks and Harrison are potential short-term contributors. “We needed to create a more functional roster and give certain guys more playing time, be able to rotate through the DH spot and potentially match up there,” Breslow said. “This is a roster that certainly has some needs — starting pitching, bullpen help — and we think that we addressed some of those in the return. Additionally, I do think that it gives us some resources as we head toward the deadline.”

RosterResource now calculates the Sox’s luxury tax number right around the $241MM base threshold. Cot’s Baseball Contracts has them slightly below the line at roughly $238MM. Any tax payment would be minimal since they didn’t pay the CBT last season (and therefore aren’t subject to repeat payor penalties). The decision whether to exceed the threshold could have an impact on next year’s payroll and compensation if they sign any free agents who decline a qualifying offer.

Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported this morning that the Red Sox continue to view themselves as deadline buyers. Breslow didn’t commit to a direction six weeks in advance of July 31, but he stated that this trade ” is in no way signifying a waving of the white flag on 2025. We are as committed as we were six months ago to putting a winning team on the field, to competing for the division and making a deep postseason run.”

The Sox entered tonight’s series opener in Seattle with a 37-36 record that has them half a game back in the Wild Card race. They’d been riding high, winning five straight and coming off a sweep of the Yankees. While the trade had seemingly been coming together for weeks, making the deal after arguably the Sox’s best series of the season (culminating in a game in which Devers homered off Max Fried) was certainly jarring.

Tim Healey of The Boston Globe was among those to chronicle the reactions from Sox players before tonight’s game. “Probably just as shocked as everyone else. That’s the best way to describe it, didn’t really see it coming,” Trevor Story told reporters. “The timing of it comes at a weird time. We thought we were playing really good.” Jarren Duran and Garrett Crochet also acknowledged being taken aback, with Crochet calling it “a shock for sure, after the run we just had this past week.”

Nevertheless, the prevailing sentiment was that the team is confident about the players who remain on the roster. Crochet and Walker Buehler each stated that the front office did not owe the clubhouse an explanation. “From the outside perspective, that would seem like a logical thing,” Buehler said. “But this is part of the business. We have no reason to get an explanation. They made a decision. Our job remains the same.”

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Boston Red Sox San Francisco Giants Jordan Hicks Rafael Devers

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Giants Acquire Rafael Devers

By Nick Deeds | June 15, 2025 at 10:59pm CDT

In a shocking mid-June blockbuster, the Giants have acquired star slugger Rafael Devers from the Red Sox in exchange for right-hander Jordan Hicks, left-hander Kyle Harrison, outfield/first base prospect James Tibbs and right-handed pitching prospect Jose Bello. The teams subsequently announced the trade, and the Red Sox optioned Harrison to Triple-A Worcester. The Giants will absorb the remainder of Devers’s contract in its entirety as part of the deal.

It’s a stunning move that will have massive implications for both franchises as they both pursue their first playoff appearances since 2021 this year. The Red Sox, 37-36 after sweeping the division-leading Yankees this weekend, part with a player they signed to be the next face of their franchise just two years ago. The relationship between the two sides broke down quite publicly over the past few months, however. Devers has long made clear that he wants to play third base on a regular basis, but the Red Sox clearly had other plans this offseason as they sought to add a big right-handed bat to their lineup. After discussing a deal that would’ve sent Nolan Arenado to Boston with the Cardinals earlier in the winter, they ultimately pivoted and signed Alex Bregman to a three-year, $120MM pact that affords him the opportunity to opt out following the 2025 and ’26 seasons.

That proved to be the end of Devers’ time at third base, and though he initially resisted the move he eventually took up his new role as Boston’s regular DH. That seemed to settle the controversy at first despite reports that indicated Devers considered asking for a trade after the Bregman deal, but tensions erupted once again when Triston Casas was sidelined by knee surgery that will likely end his 2025 season. At that time, Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow asked Devers to move to first base to cover for the loss of Casas, a move that would have opened up DH at-bats for another player such as top prospect Roman Anthony. Devers refused and expressed frustration with team leadership for asking him to move to an unfamiliar position in the middle of the season, ultimately leading to a private meeting between Devers, manager Alex Cora, and club owner John Henry last month.

Since then, neither Devers nor Red Sox brass have spoken to the media about the situation beyond to affirm that Devers would remain the club’s DH going forward. That’s remained the case even in the weeks since Bregman went down with a significant quad strain that figures to sideline him until late July at the earliest. The discord between the sides over the past few months surely served as a catalyst for today’s shocking blockbuster from Boston’s perspective. Although Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that Devers did not ultimately request a trade, Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that the slugger is said by friends to be pleased with the change of scenery. For a club that’s under-performing expectations this year but remains on the periphery of the AL Wild Card race, moving on from a star player who was clearly unhappy could serve to improve morale going forward.

Of course, there are plenty of on-the-field justifications for making this trade as well. Boston is in dire need of pitching help, and the additions of Harrison and Hicks will go a long way to patching those holes. The two hurlers have pitched both out of the rotation and in relief this year as dictated by the needs of San Francisco, so it’s not entirely clear which roles they will take up now that they’re headed to Boston. Harrison, 24 in August, projects as a starter long-term and has a 4.91 ERA with a 4.22 FIP across four starts in the majors this year. Hicks, meanwhile, spent most of his career as a reliever in St. Louis before signing with the Giants as a starter in free agency. His time with the Giants has been fairly mixed as he’s bounced between the rotation and bullpen, and this year he has a 6.47 ERA across 48 2/3 innings of work despite fantastic peripherals including a 3.59 FIP.

Regardless of what roles those arms end up playing for the Red Sox, it could be a considerable boost to a Boston pitching staff that has struggled to find much stability outside of southpaws Garrett Crochet and Aroldis Chapman this year. Hicks could fill the role of right-handed, late-inning complement to Chapman that the Red Sox were rumored to be seeking over the winter before settling for a combination of Liam Hendriks and Justin Slaten (both of whom are presently on the injured list) to support Chapman. Harrison, meanwhile, is headed to Triple-A in the short-term but is a high-upside depth option who Boston could turn to if anyone in their current rotation mix gets injured or begins to struggle.

While neither is likely to help the Red Sox in 2025, the value of the two prospects in the deal cannot be ignored either. Tibbs, 22, was San Francisco’s first-round pick in last year’s draft and has looked excellent at the High-A level this year with a .245/.377/.480 slash line that features nearly as many walks as strikeouts. Ranked as San Francisco’s #4 prospect prior to the trade according to MLB Pipeline, Tibbs has above-average hit and power tools and was lauded for his swing decisions at Florida State, where he slashed a comical .363/.488/.777 in 66 games last year. As for Bello, the 20-year-old is unranked at MLB Pipeline after making just one stateside appearance last year but signed with the Giants out of the Dominican Republic prior to the 2023 season and has struck out an eye-popping 41.8% of his opponents across 18 innings in rookie ball this year. The pair should be a major infusion of high-upside talent for a system that has been depleted over the past few months by the Crochet trade and the graduations of Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer to the big leagues.

For the Giants, acquiring Devers is a franchise-altering decision that doubles as a major vote of confidence in a 41-30 ballclub that has exceeded all preseason expectations to this point. A career .279/.349/.509 hitter who’s still just 28 years old, Devers is an elite hitter who’s still in his prime. This year’s move to a full-time DH may even be bringing out the best in the slugger, as he’s posting a career best 145 wRC+ so far despite a deep slump earlier in the season after spending most of Spring Training working his way back from a shoulder injury. Since May 1, Devers has posted an even better 170 wRC+. That makes him the eighth-best hitter in the entire sport since that date, and it goes without saying that sort of offensive production could be transformational for a San Francisco team that ranks 20th in the majors this year with a 95 wRC+.

Adding a bat of that caliber to a somewhat middling offense is virtually a no-brainer for San Francisco, particularly when the acquisition cost is a pair of prospects still far from the majors and two pitchers who have posted below-average results this year. Harrison and Hicks, valuable as they could be in the future, were ultimately luxury items for a Giants pitching staff that currently ranks as the third-best in baseball by ERA and should receive reinforcements in the relatively near future when Justin Verlander returns from the injured list. Arguably, the most substantial cost of the trade from San Francisco’s perspective is the financial burden they’re assuming in the deal. Cot’s Baseball Contracts notes that Devers is due to a $2MM assignment bonus from the Giants, though that’s obviously a drop in the bucket compared to the roughly $250MM the 28-year-old is owed across the eight-and-a-half years remaining on his contract, which is set to expire following the 2033 season. A portion of that money is deferred beyond the lifetime of the contract, but it’s still a massive financial burden for the Giants to take on going forward.

That financial outlay will leave plenty of pressure on Devers’s bat to remain among the best in the league going forward, particularly given that he’s unlikely to return to his old stomping grounds of third base in the long-term. Incumbent third baseman Matt Chapman is currently on the injured list due to a sprained right hand that’s expected to sideline him for at least a few weeks, but as one of the sport’s best defenders at the hot corner it’s difficult to see Devers getting any more than occasional time at his longtime position once Chapman is back in the lineup. First base is relatively open for the time being, but between Devers’s known reluctance to learn the position on the fly and the looming presence of top prospect Bryce Eldridge at Triple-A it’s hard to see him making a home for himself at that position in San Francisco, either.

Even if Devers seems ticketed to spend the next eight-plus years as a pricey DH for the Giants, it’s difficult to criticize the move from San Francisco’s perspective. After all, the organization’s difficulties wooing offensive talents are well-documented. Failed attempts to court players like Giancarlo Stanton, Bryce Harper, Carlos Correa, and Aaron Judge to the city over the past decade have created a reputation surrounding the club that they struggle to attract top offensive talents, and while recent deals for Chapman and Willy Adames have helped to put that narrative to bed somewhat it’s still understandable that president of baseball operations Buster Posey would turn to the trade market to land a middle-of-the-order force rather than pursue a top free agent and risk coming up empty. That’s especially true given that Devers’s contract looks fairly reasonable compared to some more recent deals, even for a player with limited defensive value. Setting aside Juan Soto’s $765MM megadeal with the Mets from this past winter, even Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 14-year, $500MM contract extension with the Blue Jays earlier this season makes Devers’s deal look like a steal by comparison.

With Devers presumably settling into a DH role for the Giants, that leaves some combination of Wilmer Flores, Dominic Smith, and Jerar Encarnacion to handle first base for San Francisco going forward. Flores had been acting as the club’s everyday DH this year with Smith and Encarnacion in a platoon at first base, but Flores has plenty of experience at first himself and the Giants are unlikely to be interested in dropping his 112 wRC+ bat from their lineup. As for the Red Sox, it’s unclear how they will replace Devers in their lineup in the short-term. The eventual return of Wilyer Abreu from an oblique strain should allow them to move Anthony to DH in Devers’s place, but it’s at least theoretically possible the club could turn to Masataka Yoshida to fill the short-term gap. Yoshida has spent the entire season on the injured list as he recovers from shoulder surgery that has not impacted his ability to hit but has left him unable to throw. That made him a tough fit for a Red Sox lineup that had Devers entrenched at DH, but perhaps the star’s departure could open the door for Yoshida to return earlier than previously expected.

Robert Murray of FanSided first reported that Devers had been traded to San Francisco, as well as the inclusion of Hicks and Harrison in the deal. Julian McWilliams of CBS Sports reported that two minor leaguers would be headed to Boston alongside Hicks and Harrsion, as well as that the Giants would take on Devers’s contract. Murray later identified those as Tibbs and Bello. Hunter Noll of Beyond The Monster first reported that Harrison was being optioned to Triple-A.

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Boston Red Sox Newsstand San Francisco Giants Transactions James Tibbs Jordan Hicks Jose Bello Kyle Harrison Rafael Devers

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Minor 40-Man Moves: Lucchesi, Penrod

By Nick Deeds | June 15, 2025 at 10:52pm CDT

While fans of the Giants and Red Sox were focused on the blockbuster deal that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco earlier this evening, the clubs made a pair of related transactions that may have flown under the radar amid a busy evening of news around the league. A look at those moves:

  • The Giants selected the contract of left-hander Joey Lucchesi, who took both the active and 40-man roster spots of Kyle Harrison after he was dealt to Boston as part of the Devers trade. In an unusual wrinkle, the transaction was made official before the start of tonight’s game against the Dodgers but was not announced until Lucchesi had already begun warming up in the San Francisco bullpen and taken the mound for his first appearance as a Giant. The 32-year-old signed a minor league deal with San Francisco back in January on the heels of a four-season run with the Mets where he served mostly as minor league depth. He pitched to a 3.78 ERA (109 ERA+) with a 4.02 FIP in 95 1/3 innings of work during his time in Queens, a slight improvement on the matching 4.21 ERA and FIP he posted in 299 1/3 innings of work with the Padres across his first three seasons in the majors. Lucchesi profiles as a swing man or back-end rotation piece, though in his first outing with the Giants he surrendered two runs on three hits while recording just two outs.
  • Meanwhile, the Red Sox designated left-hander Zach Penrod for assignment this evening. Penrod’s departure makes room for the addition of Kyle Harrison to the club’s 40-man roster, after Jordan Hicks took Devers’s own 40-man spot. The southpaw made his big league debut for Boston last year and pitched to a 2.25 ERA across seven relief appearances, though he walked (four) more batters than he struck out (three) while also hitting a batter and throwing a wild pitch during that brief cup of coffee. He’s not yet made an appearance at the big league level this year and has a 3.38 ERA in 5 1/3 innings of work at Triple-A this season. Boston will now have one week to either work out a trade involving Penrod or attempt to pass him through waivers. Should he wind up clearing waivers, the Red Sox will have the opportunity to send him outright to the minors as non-roster depth.
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Boston Red Sox San Francisco Giants Transactions Joey Lucchesi Zach Penrod

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Reds Acquire Brian Van Belle

By Mark Polishuk | June 14, 2025 at 11:51am CDT

The Reds and Red Sox have each announced that right-hander Brian Van Belle has been traded to Cincinnati in exchange for cash considerations.  Boston designated Van Belle for assignment earlier this week, and he has now been assigned to Triple-A Louisville.

It has been a busy six days for Van Belle, who joined a big league roster for the first time on Monday when the Sox selected his contract from Triple-A.  Van Belle’s cup of coffee in Boston came and went without an official in-game appearance, so the 28-year-old is still awaiting his Major League debut.  Since Van Belle has experience as both a starter and a reliever, his first MLB game might well come with the Reds in a number of different roles if the club makes the call to Louisville.

Van Belle began his pro career with the Red Sox as an undrafted free agent in 2020, though he almost surely would’ve been selected if that year’s draft hadn’t been shortened to five rounds due to the pandemic.  Working his way up to Triple-A Worcester by the 2023 season, Van Belle has a 4.48 ERA, 21.7% strikeout rate, and 6.97% walk rate over 205 career innings at the Triple-A level.  He has started 29 of his 55 Triple-A games, working primarily as a reliever in 2024 and getting most of action as a starter in 2023 and 2025.

On paper, Van Belle might fit best in the majors as a multi-inning reliever, though Cincinnati will probably consider him for at least spot-start duty should a need arise within the rotation.  Ace Hunter Greene is on the 15-day injured list and seems likely to miss the rest of June while dealing with a groin strain and back/hip tightness, leaving the Reds a bit short on rotation depth now that Wade Miley has joined the starting five in Greene’s place.

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Boston Red Sox Cincinnati Reds Transactions Brian Van Belle

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White Sox Claim Ryan Noda, Designate Joshua Palacios For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | June 13, 2025 at 4:55pm CDT

The White Sox announced that they have claimed first baseman Ryan Noda off waivers from the Red Sox and optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte. Boston had designated him for assignment a few days ago. Outfielder Joshua Palacios has been designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot. Infielder Brooks Baldwin has been recalled to take the active roster spot of Palacios. There was also a swap on the pitching side, with left-hander Tyler Gilbert reinstated from the injured list and righty Owen White optioned as the corresponding move.

Noda, 29, has an extreme profile. He strikes out a lot but also draws plenty of walks and has some pop. He has done that all throughout his minor league career and then showed it at the big league level in 2023 after the A’s grabbed him from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 draft. He got into 128 games and stepped to the plate 495 times. He struck out in 34.3% of those plate appearances but also walked at a massive 15.6% clip and hit 16 home runs. That all added up to a .229/.364/.406 line and 122 wRC+.

Last year, he got out to a rough start and ended up getting optioned to the minors for most of the year. The A’s put him on waivers at the end of the season, with the Angels putting in a claim. He was designated for assignment about a month ago and got flipped to the Red Sox in a cash deal. Both the Angels and the Red Sox kept him on optional assignment.

His minor league numbers have continued along with Noda’s usual style. Dating back to the start of last year, he has 655 Triple-A plate appearances with 29 homers, a 20.2% walk rate and a 30.4% strikeout rate.

The White Sox came into this year with Andrew Vaughn as their primary first baseman. He struggled badly enough to get optioned to the minors a few weeks back. Earlier today, the Sox flipped him to the Brewers for Aaron Civale and cash. Tim Elko has been getting a lot of the playing time at first lately but is hitting .155/.222/.379. If that continues, perhaps the Sox will make a switch.

Palacios, 29, signed a minor league deal and then was added to the roster in April. He has 145 plate appearances so far this year with a .203/.292/.305 line. That now gives him a career .223/.287/.349 batting line and 75 wRC+.

Since he’s out of options, he can’t be easily sent down to the minors. He’ll now be in DFA limbo, which can last for at most a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Sox could take five days to try to line up a trade. He cleared waivers back in March and hasn’t done much to improve his stock since then, so the level of interest should be low. If he clears waivers, he will have the right to elect free agency.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

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Boston Red Sox Chicago White Sox Transactions Brooks Baldwin Josh Palacios Owen White Ryan Noda Tyler Gilbert

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Red Sox Acquire Jorge Alcala

By Nick Deeds | June 12, 2025 at 7:20am CDT

June 12: The trade is now official, with both teams formally announcing the move late last night.

June 11: The Red Sox are acquiring right-hander Jorge Alcala from the Twins, as first reported by Phil Miller of the Star Tribune. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that infield/outfield prospect Andy Lugo is headed to Minnesota in return for Alcala’s services. The Athletic’s Dan Hayes reports that no cash is being sent from the Twins to Boston in the deal. Both teams subsequently announced the deal officially, and Boston designated right-hander Brian Van Belle for assignment to create room for Alcala on the 40-man roster.

According to The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman, the Twins were planning to designate Alcala for assignment in the coming days, and after the club claimed southpaw Joey Wentz off waivers earlier today it’s fairly easy to surmise that the decision to part with Alcala was motivated by a desire to make room for Wentz on the active roster. By trading for Alcala preemptively, the Red Sox were able to bypass the waiver process in order and add the right-hander to their bullpen more directly. Even if the Twins were planning to part ways with Alcala prior to this trade, it’s clear that the Red Sox were very interested in the 29-year-old righty given that they gave up a low-level prospect to acquire him and took on the remainder of Alcala’s $1.5MM salary for this year despite the fact that most trades of DFA candidates wind up being cash deals.

Looking just at Alcala’s surface-level numbers, it may be hard to see why the Red Sox would be enamored with him. Across 22 appearances with Minnesota this year, he’s pitched to an 8.88 ERA with a 5.42 FIP and an elevated 13.2% walk rate. Those numbers are certainly concerning, but Alcala’s 24.6% strikeout rate has remained quite good even in this down season and he entered the year with a career 3.64 ERA and 4.33 FIP. His 2024 campaign was even better, as he posted a 3.24 ERA and 4.14 FIP in 58 1/3 innings of work during a season where his walk rate sat at a much more manageable 8.5%. Alcala’s .369 BABIP allowed and 52.6% strand rate are both certain to improve over a larger sample size, and if the Red Sox can help restore his command it’s not at all difficult to see them making him into a viable option for the middle innings of even a setup role.

That would be a fantastic development for Boston if it were to come to fruition, as they’re without Justin Slaten and Liam Hendriks while both are on the injured list. That’s left them a bit weak from the right side, with Garrett Whitlock and Greg Weissert forced to step into high leverage roles. Zack Kelly is currently in the club’s bullpen despite a 6.61 ERA, and the club has zero full-time relievers who throw from the right-hand side on the 40-man roster in the minors at the moment. The depth Alcala could provide to the bullpen if he manages to get right is considerable, and it was enough of an upgrade that the Red Sox opted to DFA Van Belle just one day after adding him to the roster. The Red Sox will have one week to either trade Van Belle, who has still not yet made his big league debut despite his brief call-up, or put him through waivers.

Heading to Minnesota in return for Alcala’s services is Lugo. The 21-year-old has been in the Red Sox organization since 2022 and is currently hitting .265/.327/.430 across 44 games at the High-A level. He’s split time between first base, third base, and left field throughout his pro career to this point, but is unranked on MLB.com’s Top 30 Red Sox Prospects list. That’s not necessarily a shock given his age and the fact that he’s not yet reached to the Double-A level, but it’s not impossible to imagine him getting called up to Double-A by the end of the year now that he’s in the Twins organization, so long as he can continue hitting fairly well in his new organization.

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MLBTR Podcast: White Sox Ownership, Roman Anthony, And The Diamondbacks’ Rotation

By Darragh McDonald | June 11, 2025 at 11:57pm CDT

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • The White Sox getting a new owner, at some point in the future (1:10)
  • The Red Sox promoting Roman Anthony (13:25)
  • Corbin Burnes undergoing Tommy John surgery and where that leaves the Diamondbacks (23:20)
  • The Mariners designating Leody Taveras for assignment (34:10)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Do the Mariners need a left-hander in the rotation? (40:45)
  • What will the Braves do with the rest of the season and would they trade Chris Sale? (45:30)
  • With the Mets seemingly having too many young infielders, who stays and who goes? (53:35)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Jarren Duran Rumors, Caglianone And Young Promoted, And Pitching Injuries – listen here
  • Bregman Injured, Marcelo Mayer Called Up, And Pirates Talk – listen here
  • The Disappointing Orioles, Dalton Rushing, And The Phillies’ Bullpen – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

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Red Sox Outright Robert Stock

By Nick Deeds | June 11, 2025 at 7:28pm CDT

The Red Sox announced today that right-hander Robert Stock cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A. He was designated for assignment by the club earlier this week.

It’s the second time the 35-year-old has been outrighted to the minors by Boston this year. He previously threw two innings for the club in an appearance earlier this year and was outrighted off the 40-man roster shortly thereafter. It was a similar story this time around, as he spent just two days on the roster and made a single appearance before being cut from the club’s roster.

Drafted by the Cardinals in the second round of the 2009 draft, Stock didn’t make his big league debut until he was with San Diego in 2018. Stock was nothing short of excellent in his first taste of the majors with a 2.50 ERA and 2.71 FIP across 39 2/3 frames. Unfortunately, he’s never come close to that in the majors in the years since. While pitching for the Padres, Red Sox, Cubs, and Mets from 2019 to 2021, he surrendered a 7.36 ERA and 5.50 FIP in 33 innings of work. Following the 2021 season, Stock departed affiliated ball to pitch as a starter for the KBO League’s Doosan Bears throughout the 2022 campaign.

That stop in South Korea went fairly well for Stock, as he posted a 3.60 ERA in 165 innings of work. Even that solid figure pales in comparison to the top imported arms in the KBO league, though, so it wasn’t exactly a shock when he didn’t return to the Bears for 2023. Instead, he wound up pitching for the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks and the Mexican League’s Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (along with a brief stint in the Brewers’ minor league system) in 2023 and ’24 before he settled back in with the Red Sox at Triple-A Worcester this year. He’s posted a 3.09 ERA for the WooSox in 55 1/3 innings of work across 12 appearances last year, nine of which have been starts.

Those strong results at Triple-A obviously haven’t translated to results at the big league level, where Stock has surrendered three runs in 2 2/3 innings of work this year while walking four batters and striking out just one. Lackluster as Stock’s results have been at the big league level, however, there’s always a place for a versatile veteran capable of eating innings out of either the rotation or bullpen as necessary on a club’s minor league depth chart. Given that, it’s hardly shocking that the Red Sox decided to outright the right-hander to the minors and keep him in the fold as an emergency depth option who they can call back up to the majors when they need an extra arm to provide some length out of the bullpen or an emergency starter. Until that happens or the 2025 campaign comes to a close, Stock figures to remain a member of the Triple-A pitching staff who provides non-roster depth for Boston going forward.

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