The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been two of the most aggressive teams this offseason, both in free agency and on the trade market. In the aftermath of losing out on the Juan Soto sweepstakes, both the Yankees and Red Sox have shifted their attention towards the pitching market — with the former signing Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract and the latter going all-in on a trade for ace Garrett Crochet.
But somehow, the two sworn rivals have found their way to each other on the trade market, with the two swinging a low-key deal with each other amid all the offseason noise on Wednesday night. As per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, the Yankees acquired right-handed pitcher Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international bonus pool space while sending catcher Carlos Narvaez to the Red Sox.
With the Red Sox dealing away one of the best young catchers in their pipeline, Kyle Teel, who ranks among the best prospects in the entire MLB, there was a bit of a need for Boston to acquire some catching depth. Narvaez is a rock-solid Triple-A catcher who profiles as a backup in the big leagues; last season, he played six games for the Yankees’ big-league team.
Meanwhile, Rodriguez-Cruz could be a worthwhile pitching lottery ticket to take on; the newest Yankees pitcher made it to High-A last season and put up an ERA of 3.77 across seven starts (28.2 innings pitched). However, the 21-year-old right-hander has some significant command issues, walking 5.65 batters per nine innings in his short stint for the Red Sox’s High-A team last season.
This is a minor trade that will have no major repercussions whatsoever for both teams’ big-league roster, although additional international bonus pool space could be helpful for the Yankees.
Yankees and Red Sox are not yet done making moves
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Considering that the Yankees and Red Sox were among Juan Soto’s chief suitors before he signed with the New York Mets, their grand offseason roster remodeling isn’t remotely close to being finished.
For the Red Sox, adding another starting pitcher to join Crochet atop their rotation could be in the cards. The Yankees, meanwhile, will have to scour the free-agent and trade market for another quality bat or two to help make up for the lost production in the aftermath of Soto’s departure.
This move may not be too significant, but this is simply the calm before the two teams make impact moves to boost their contending hopes in 2025.