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Jhostynxon Garcia

Red Sox, Pirates Swap Johan Oviedo And Jhostynxon García In Five-Player Trade

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The Red Sox and Pirates announced a five-player trade on Thursday evening. Starter Johan Oviedo heads to Boston alongside lefty reliever Tyler Samaniego and minor league catcher Adonys Guzman. Pittsburgh gets rookie outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia and A-ball pitching prospect Jesus Travieso. Boston needed to open a spot on the 40-man roster, so they designated righty Cooper Criswell for assignment. Pittsburgh’s roster count drops to 39.

Oviedo and Garcia are the centerpieces of the deal on either side. The 27-year-old Oviedo is a 6’6″ right-hander who has been a capable back-end starter since the Pirates acquired him at the 2022 trade deadline. He’d been a swingman with the Cardinals for his first couple seasons but has stepped into a full-time rotation role for the Bucs. Oviedo took the ball 32 times and ranked second on the team with 177 2/3 innings in 2023. He posted a 4.31 earned run average with slightly worse than average strikeout and walk rates.

While Oviedo stayed healthy throughout the ’23 season, he reported elbow soreness at year’s end. That proved a precursor to Tommy John surgery that wiped out his 2024 campaign. Oviedo had a shot to return for the start of ’25 but suffered a lat strain while building up early in Spring Training. He was shut down for a few months and didn’t make his season debut until the beginning of August. He took the ball nine times down the stretch, turning in a 3.57 ERA over 40 1/3 innings.

Oviedo’s return was a mixed bag. He recorded a career-best 24.7% strikeout rate while getting whiffs at a solid 11.7% clip. The stuff looked as sharp as it’d been before his successive arm injuries. Oviedo averaged 95.5 MPH on his fastball and got good results on both an upper-80s slider and mid-70s curveball. The slider has been a plus pitch throughout his career and had a little more glove-side movement. His height also allows him to get more than seven feet of extension, so his already above-average velocity should play up.

While there are clearly things to like, Oviedo remains a work in progress. He walked three batters in seven of his nine starts, issuing free passes at an untenable 13.5% rate overall. That inefficiency kept him from working deep into games. Oviedo only once pitched into the sixth inning and didn’t complete six full frames in any appearance. It’s fair to expect some rust in his command after an 18-month absence, but throwing strikes has always been an issue. Oviedo routinely posted double-digit walk rates in the minors and issued free passes at a 10.6% rate over a full season in 2023.

The other question is whether he’ll be able to handle left-handed hitters. His changeup is a clear fourth pitch. Lefties managed a solid .244/.341/.436 line with 14 home runs in 419 plate appearances a couple years ago. Oviedo had much better results against lefties in 2025 (.151/.259/.301), but that came in a small sample with an unimpressive 19:11 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Oviedo has four-plus years of MLB service. He’s under arbitration control for two seasons and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $2MM salary. He still has a minor league option remaining and doesn’t need to open the season on the active roster. He’ll cross the five-year service threshold when he logs another 93 days on the big league active roster or injured list. The Sox would no longer be able to send him to the minors without his consent at that point.

They hope that won’t be a consideration. They liked Oviedo enough to give up one of their top upper minors hitting talents, gambling that they can unlock another level of consistency in the process. That suggests he’s got a good chance to slot behind Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray and Brayan Bello in Alex Cora’s rotation. The Sox should welcome Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval back from injury. Prospects Payton Tolle and Connelly Early debuted late in the season, while former top prospect Kyle Harrison remains in the mix.

Garcia, 23 next week, should get everyday at-bats in Pittsburgh. He didn’t have a clear path to playing time in a crowded Boston outfield but projects as the starting left fielder for the Pirates. The right-handed hitter got a cup of coffee at Fenway Park last August, picking up a hit and two walks over nine plate appearances. He otherwise divided the season between the top two levels of the minor leagues.

Known for his excellent nickname “The Password,” Garcia combined for 21 home runs with a robust .267/.340/.470 batting line across 489 plate appearances. It’s strong bottom line production for a 22-year-old, though the Sox might have had concerns about his approach. The Venezuela native struck out at a 29.1% clip while chasing more than 35% of pitches outside the strike zone over his 81 Triple-A games. The pure hit tool is a red flag, but he has topped 20 homers in consecutive minor league seasons.

Baseball America credited Garcia with above-average power and bat speed in recently ranking him the #6 prospect in the Boston system. BA writes that Garcia is a serviceable defensive center fielder despite having only average speed. He’s probably better suited in the corner opposite Bryan Reynolds but could play up the middle on days when Oneil Cruz is unavailable.

The Pirates control Garcia for at least six seasons. He still has a pair of minor league options, so they could send him back to Triple-A without issue if his approach needs further refinement. There are some parallels to last winter’s acquisition of Spencer Horwitz and the 2024 Quinn Priester/Nick Yorke deadline swap (also with the Red Sox). Pittsburgh leverages their rotation depth for a controllable upper level bat. Garcia arguably has the highest ceiling of that trio, and this surely won’t be the only lineup addition of the winter for GM Ben Cherington and his staff.

While it’s mostly an Oviedo/Garcia framework, the teams also swapped a few prospects. Samaniego, who turns 27 in January, might factor into the Boston bullpen next season. The former 15th-round pick tossed 26 1/3 innings of 3.08 ERA ball at the Double-A level this year. He fanned 28% of opponents with a sub-6% walk rate. Pittsburgh selected him onto the 40-man roster last month to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He still has a full slate of options and is probably ticketed for Triple-A Worcester.

Guzman, who turned 22 today, was Pittsburgh’s fifth-round pick out of the University of Arizona over the summer. The right-handed hitting catcher has only played one game in Low-A. Baseball America credited him with plus arm strength and some power to left field in their draft report. He’s a long-term development play behind the dish.

The Pirates round out their side of the deal with Travieso. He’s an 18-year-old righty who signed with Boston as an amateur out of Venezuela in 2024. He’s listed at 5’11” and has yet to garner much prospect attention, but he struck out nearly 32% of opponents over seven games in Low-A late in the season.

Jeff Passan of ESPN first reported that the Red Sox and Pirates agreed to a five-player deal involving Oviedo and Garcia. Robert Murray of FanSided reported the full trade. Respective images courtesy of Charles Leclaire and Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images.

Red Sox Release Walker Buehler

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The Red Sox announced that they have released right-hander Walker Buehler. That the corresponding move for the Sox to select prospect Payton Tolle, a move which was reported yesterday. The Sox also optioned outfielder Jhostynxon García and recalled infielder Nick Sogard. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reported Buehler’s release prior to the official announcement.

The Sox signed Buehler to a one-year, $21.05MM deal in the offseason. That was a bet on a bounceback. Buehler had been an ace earlier in his career with the Dodgers. He finished 9th in National League Cy Young voting in 2019 and then fourth in 2021. However, he required Tommy John surgery in 2022, the second of his career. He was back on the mound in 2024 but wasn’t as sharp, posting a 5.38 earned run average.

He didn’t have a ton of momentum going into free agency but helped his cause somewhat with a decent playoff performance. He tossed 15 innings in the postseason last year with a 3.60 ERA, including getting the final outs in Game Five against the Yankees.

The Sox pushed in some chips with the hope of Buehler being better in 2025 but it didn’t pay off. He made 22 starts for the Sox with a 5.40 ERA, almost an exact match for his regular season work last year. He only struck out 16.5% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 10.8% clip. He averaged 94 miles per hour on his fastball, one tick below last year and a few ticks below his prime, when he was in the 96-97 mph range.

Clearly, the Sox ran out of patience. He was bumped to the bullpen a week ago. He made one long relief appearance on Sunday. They could have kept him around as a long reliever but rosters expand in September, giving every club an extra arm and a bit less need for someone to be on mop-up duty.

By cutting Buehler loose now, they are giving him a chance to land somewhere else. He will be postseason eligible with a new club as long as he joins that new organization prior to September 1st. Given his performance and the roughly $3.4MM left on his contract, it feels unlikely that anyone would claim him off release waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours. It’s unclear when exactly the Sox started that process. If they did it after last night’s game, perhaps Buehler could be a free agent by Saturday night. That would give him about 24 hours to sign somewhere else. If they are just putting him on the wire now, then the timeline is tighter, though it’s likely that his agent will be fielding calls from interested clubs while the waiver process plays out.

Assuming he does clear waivers, the Sox will remain on the hook for what remains of that salary. Another club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated portion of the major league minimum salary, with that amount subtracted from what the Sox pay. For a contending club need to patch a rotation hole, they might be tempted to take a free look at Buehler and hope to strike gold.

For the Sox, they are going into the stretch in decent position. They have a record of 75-60. They are just 3.5 games back of the Blue Jays in the American League East. They have the top Wild Card spot and are 5.5 games ahead of the Royals, the top non-playoff team in the A.L. With still a lot of meaningful games left, they have decided Buehler isn’t one of their horses. They head into the final few weeks of the season with Garrett Crochet as their clear ace, backed up by Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello and Dustin May. They are giving Tolle a shot at taking a spot and also have Kyle Harrison in Triple-A, if needed.

Photos courtesy of Brian Fluharty, Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

Red Sox To Promote Jhostynxon Garcia, Place Wilyer Abreu On IL

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Enter the Password. The Red Sox are promoting outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia to the majors. Katie Morrison-O’Day of MassLive reported the news. Outfielder Wilyer Abreu is going on the injured list, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Abreu has been battling some calf tightness in recent days.

Garcia, 22, was an international signing out of Venezuela back in 2019. His professional debut was delayed by the minors being canceled in 2020. Since then, he has climbed the minor league ladder, posting gaudy offensive numbers. Though he sometimes has received more attention for his unique name, which led to his delightful “Password” nickname, he has been creeping up prospect lists.

Last year, he split his time between Single-A, High-A and Double-A. He got into 107 games overall, hitting 23 home runs and slashing .286/.356/.536 for a wRC+ of 149. The Sox added him to their 40-man roster in November, to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He has continued hitting this year. He has appeared in 99 games between Double-A and Triple-A with 20 homers, a .289/.363/.512 line and 133 wRC+.

Despite the strong production, the Sox haven’t really had a place for him. Their outfield picture has been cluttered all year, which also kept Roman Anthony down on the farm for a while. Anthony eventually got called up and joined a group that includes Jarren Duran and Abreu. Masataka Yoshida is often in the designated hitter spot but jogs out to the outfield on occasion. Ceddanne Rafaela had been the club’s regular center fielder but he has been spending a lot of time at second base to help the Sox clear the outfield logjam.

That crowding also seemed to push Garcia onto the trading block. His name reportedly came up in talks as the Sox tried to get Joe Ryan from the Twins ahead of the deadline, but nothing got done there. Ryan stayed in Minnesota and Garcia stayed with the Sox. The Sox also gave Garcia some first base reps to expand his versatility but he still only has eight innings of actual game time there. Abreu’s injury has finally opened a path for Garcia to get to the big leagues.

It’s unclear if Garcia is up for good or if it will be a short spell. Abreu’s injury has been lingering for the past few days. Since he wasn’t immediately placed on the IL, that suggests it’s fairly minor. Presumably, the Sox will backdate his IL placement by three days, meaning he could be back in a week. That could squeezed Garcia back down to the minors, though rosters also expand from 26 to 28 on September 1st, which could help him stay.

At this point in the calendar, he likely won’t be able to exhaust rookie eligibility. It’s too late for him to get 45 days of big league service time. He also probably won’t be able to get 130 at-bats. That means he’s likely going to still be a prospect going into 2026, which could be relevant for the prospect promotion incentive.

If Garcia is on two of the three prospect lists between Baseball America, ESPN and MLB Pipeline, then he could be PPI eligible. The Sox would need to call him up early enough in the 2026 season to earn a full year of service. If they did so, Garcia would earn them an extra draft pick by winning Rookie of the Year or by finishing top three in MVP voting during his pre-arbitration years. Garcia is already ranked the #78 prospect in the league by Baseball America and #77 at MLB Pipeline, though he didn’t crack the most recent ESPN update.

That will be a matter for the future. The logjam will still be present going into next season, unless the Sox make an offseason trade sending out someone like Duran or Yoshida. For now, the Sox are in a tight postseason race. They are 68-59, currently in possession of the second Wild Card spot in the American League. The top spot is held by the Yankees. The Sox are a game and a half back and the two sides kick off a four-game series in the Bronx tonight. Garcia will jump right into the middle of all of that and will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game.

Photos courtesy of Rick Cinclair, Imagn Images

Red Sox Notes: Anthony, Garcia, Sandlin

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The Red Sox and Roman Anthony agreed to an eight-year extension worth at least $130MM in guaranteed money earlier this week, fully cementing the young star as a key part of the team’s future.  The two sides had somewhat lightly discussed an extension prior to the season, as The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes that a “true back-and-forth about a framework” never happened, even after three different offers from the Sox shortened what started as “a considerable gap” in asking prices.

It seemed like the negotiations were going to be put on hold until after the season until chief baseball officer Craig Breslow contacted both Anthony and agent Mark Rodgers with a new offer on August 3.  As Breslow explained to Speier and other reporters, the team felt free to revisit talks with the chaos of the trade deadline now in the past, with the caveat that they obviously wanted Anthony’s focus to remain on the field.

“The balance that we needed to strike was trying to aggressively extend Rome and recognizing how important he is to our 2025 team and also our future with not presenting or creating a distraction when this team is playing so well…[We were] very clear with Mark and Roman’s camp that we had no interest in allowing this to become a distraction, and that if we could work through this quickly, that would be great, and if not, that was also OK,” Breslow said.

The talks were restarted between the team, Rodgers, and two other Frontline Athlete Management agents.  A couple of smaller details almost held up the proceedings entirely, but a deal was eventually reached.  The end result was the eight-year commitment that might be worth another $70MM, depending on whether or not Anthony hits any of the many escalator clauses attached within his contract.

Anthony is the fifth different Red Sox player to sign an extension since Breslow took over the front office in October 2023, as the executive has made a point of locking up cornerstone players.  Garrett Crochet was signed to a six-year, $170MM deal after being acquired from the White Sox this past offseason, and Boston has also signed homegrown youngsters Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Kristian Campbell, and Brayan Bello to long-term deals.

These contracts are a testament to both upper management’s belief in this young talent and the depth of the Red Sox farm system.  The pipeline isn’t even dry yet, as another intriguing prospect could still be called up to address the team’s need at first base.  Jhostynxon Garcia has been a career outfielder in the minors but he is working out at the position at Triple-A.  Worcester manager Chad Tracy said Garcia could potentially see some game action at first base within the next week.

“If that’s the only way we can speed him up, then we might have to do it,” Tracy told Speier.  “We take into consideration, ultimately, if he makes a mistake and it’s costly, oh well, at least it’s not at Fenway….At the same time, you also don’t want to throw a player out there to the wolves who you feel like is not ready and have him standing out there with his shoulders down feeling like he’s costing the team.”

Hitting-wise, Garcia seems very ready for the Show, as he has batted .303/.370/.581 with 16 home runs over his first 262 Triple-A plate appearances.  Given the crowded Red Sox outfield, a move to first base would allow “the Password” a much smoother path to the bigs before 2025 is over.  The presence of Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro (Boston’s current first base platoon) would provide cover to help alleviate any pressure on Garcia, and his bat could be an intriguing x-factor for the Red Sox in the playoff race.

Along these same lines, starter prospect David Sandlin has been pitching out of the Worcester bullpen with an eye towards a possible relief role on the MLB roster.  Sandlin has made only four appearances total at the Triple-A level, but if he looks good in his new assignment, the hard-throwing righty could be in line for another quick promotion up to the Show.  Speier reports that Sandlin was a popular trade ask for rival teams heading into the deadline, speaking to how much interest the right-hander has generated due to both his pitching arsenal and his results in Double-A in 2025.

Red Sox Notes: Ryan, Alcantara, Prospects, Mayer, Slaten

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It was a relatively quiet trade deadline for the Red Sox, as Dustin May and Steven Matz were the only additions brought onto the roster for the pennant race.  However, the Sox had their eyes on plenty of bigger targets, including the team’s previously-reported pushes for the Twins’ Joe Ryan and the Marlins’ Sandy Alcantara.  WEEI’s Rob Bradford provides some details on those pursuits, saying that the Red Sox were willing to dig deep into the prospect depth to try and secure a deal.

“Anybody and everybody from the Sox’s minor league system” was available to some extent, Bradford writes.  Boston offered multiple packages that included two of Jhostynxon Garcia, Payton Tolle, and Franklin Arias as the headliners, with other names also involved from the top ten names on the club’s prospect rankings.  Since the Marlins and Twins didn’t seem to be prioritizing the addition of big league players, Red Sox officials saw Alcantara and Ryan as particularly good fits since Boston didn’t want to trade from its Major League roster.

A match didn’t happen, of course, and Bradford characterizes the talks with the Twins as somewhat one-sided on Boston’s part.  “Ultimately, Minnesota never acted, not informing the Red Sox chief decision-makers what level of offer would be needed to pull off….a move for a controllable ace starting pitcher,” Bradford writes.  USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that the Twins actually did want some MLB-level talent, as Minnesota wanted either Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu in a Ryan trade package.

As much as the Twins’ deadline fire sale was about shedding payroll, Duran or Abreu are arbitration-controlled through the 2028 season.  Obtaining a controllable starting outfielder would’ve been a sign that the Twins still want to return to competitive baseball as soon as 2026, and Thursday’s stunning set of moves wasn’t the first step of a rebuild process.  The club’s other deadline moves saw multiple players with MLB experience obtained, including such names as Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, and James Outman.

Turning to the injury front, Nightengale writes that Marcelo Mayer could be facing a season-ending wrist surgery, as the rookie infielder’s “sprained wrist is more serious than the Red Sox initially envisioned.”  Mayer was placed on the 10-day IL a little over a week ago and he recently received an injection in his wrist to help with the healing process.

Speaking with MassLive.com’s Sean McAdam and other reporters, Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow didn’t rule out the possibility of surgery.  For now, the hope is that the injection “gives him the best chance to be back on the field this season.  It’s a credit to him to try to do anything he can to get back.”

Mayer has hit .228/.272/.402 over his first 136 plate appearances in the Show.  While not a standout performance, it isn’t unexpected for a player to need time to adjust to the majors, plus it helps that a healthy Mayer would be a luxury at this point for a crowded Red Sox infield.  Now that Alex Bregman is back from the IL and Ceddanne Rafaela has moved into regular second-base duty, the team’s everyday lineup is pretty set, so Mayer might only be in line for a bench role if he is able to get back to action.

One player whose return seems a little more likely is Justin Slaten, though Breslow warned that “it’s hard to put a timetable on it given the topsy-turvy nature of the recovery to date.”  Slaten hasn’t pitched since May 28 due to right shoulder inflammation, though as the reliever told Bradford and company, he was also dealing with a nerve issue related to his transverse bone.

That problem has now been corrected, and Slaten’s restarted throwing progression hit another checkpoint with a bullpen session on Saturday.  The Sox will continue with a more gradual build-up and a minor league rehab assignment will surely be necessary given how much time Slaten has missed.  If all goes well, Slaten feels he’ll be back by September, and ready to continue building on what is becoming an impressive resume.  Slaten has a 3.09 ERA over 78 2/3 relief innings since making his MLB debut last season.

Red Sox “Not Even Close” In Late Joe Ryan Trade Talks

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11:09PM: The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey provides a few more details on the Ryan negotiations, and top-100 outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia “was in the mix to be in the deal.”  Overall, however, the Red Sox weren’t willing to give up more of their highest-rated prospects, and weren’t willing to trade any outfielders from their Major League roster.

5:10PM: Ryan isn’t heading to Boston, as MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo hears from a source that the two sides were “not even close” to completing a trade.

4:42PM: After missing out on Merrill Kelly, the Red Sox are making a late push for Minnesota’s Joe Ryan, reports Jon Morosi of MLB Network. Francys Romero suggests the Twins are seen as likely to deal the right-hander amidst what has become a shockingly big sell-off.

Aside from the usual rental players, the Twins have dealt one of the game’s best relievers in Jhoan Duran and their most expensive player in Carlos Correa.  With less than 20 minutes remaining until the deadline, could they move one of the game’s better starting pitchers in Ryan?  The 29-year-old owns a 2.82 ERA and 23.8 K-BB% in 121 1/3 innings and is under team control through 2027.

The Red Sox shockingly traded Rafael Devers to the Giants in June, but they’re still in position to secure a Wild Card spot.  Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow has taken a few big swings but has thus far only landed Steven Matz.

Red Sox To Select Hunter Dobbins, Jhostynxon Garcia

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The Red Sox are adding a pair of players to their 40-man roster ahead of tonight’s Rule 5 protection deadline. Right-hander Hunter Dobbins is having his contract selected, per Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier adds that Boston will also select outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia. Those are the only two players the Sox are adding, per Speier. They’ll need to open a pair of 40-man spots in order to make them official.

Boston selected Dobbins, now 25, with their eighth-round pick in 2021. He started 21 Double-A games and another four in Triple-A this past season, logging a combined 3.08 ERA with a 22.9% strikeout rate and 9.2% walk rate. Dobbins was the organization’s minor league starting pitcher of the season and ended the year ranked 26th among the team’s farmhands, per Baseball America. He’s 93-94 mph with his heater on average and pairs the pitch with a slider, splitter and curveball.

The 21-year-old Garcia (first name pronounced yos-TIN-son) split this past season between Low-A, High-A and Double-A. He laid waste to pitchers at the former levels (.258/.365/.517, five homers in 104 plate appearances in Low-A; .311/.371/.627, 16 homers in 229 plate appearances in High-A) before posting more modest results at the most advanced of his three stops (.263/.320/.386, two homes in 126 plate appearances).

Garcia is a power-over-hit prospect who’s played center field but seems likelier to settle into a corner. He walked in just 7.2% of his plate appearances this season against a 21.7% strikeout rate. That marks an improvement over the 30.4% strikeout rate he logged in 2022 and the 25.5% mark he posted in 2023, but the increased contact has come at the expense of his formerly plus walk rates.

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