The Boston Red Sox are set up nicely to repeat as World Series champions in 2019, but that is apparently not stopping them from exploring the possibility of trading away some of the players who just helped them enjoy their best season in franchise history.
Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the Red Sox are trying to clear some salary so they can add to their biggest area of need, which is their bullpen. They are said to be listening to offers for starting pitcher Rick Porcello, and teams believe they would be willing to trade Xander Bogaerts or Jackie Bradley Jr. as well.
The Boston #Redsox, trying to clear salary space for bullpen help, are openly listening to offers on Rick Porcello, and rivals insist also are willing to talk about Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 11, 2018
Porcello, who is set to earn $21 million in the final year of his contract next year, went 17-7 with a 4.28 ERA last season. He threw some key innings in the playoffs and was a huge reason why the Red Sox won a championship, as were Bogaerts and Bradley.
Bogaerts made just over $7 million in 2018 and has one more year of arbitration left before he becomes a free agent. Bradley, who won his first Gold Glove Award is under team control for two more seasons, but both players are due for significant arbitration raises.
Trading any of the aforementioned players seems unlikely for the Red Sox. They probably aren’t going to bring back Craig Kimbrel, but teams typically don’t need to make major moves to find bullpen help. Boston was able to win the World Series last year despite having an extremely questionable bullpen, so Dave Dombrowski probably isn’t going to panic about that area heading into 2019.
