Red Sox Linked to $62 Million Cy Young Winner to Bolster Starting Rotation

Getty The Red Sox are looking like buyers at the July 30 trade deadline. Could they find a way to land Blake Snell for the rotation?

The San Francisco Giants had a busy offseason, leading to hopes of competing in 2024. They haven’t met preseason expectations, entering July 27 games with a 50-55 record. If reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell is available, do the Boston Red Sox make sense as a landing spot?

Jim Bowden of The Athletic answered deadline-related questions from readers on July 26. One question asked what a Cardinals-Giants trade involving Snell could look like. The former general manager shared his thoughts on the southpaw’s best landing spots.

“As far as your question about a potential Snell trade to St. Louis, I think the initial return would start with one of the Cardinals’ pitching prospects such as Gordon Graceffo or Brian Holiday, and perhaps include one of their minor-league table-setters like outfielder Travis Honeyman, who was a third-round pick in 2023, along with the aforementioned PTBNL,” he answered. “I think the Astros, Twins and Red Sox make the most sense as landing spots for Snell, if he’s dealt.”

The Red Sox Have Played Their Way Into Contention

It’s been a bit of a roller coaster for Boston throughout the first few months of the 2024 season. While they were 17-13 by the end of April, things were looking bleak at the start of June. Manager Alex Cora’s club went 12-16, but that’s when the turnaround happened.

On the morning of June 1, the Red Sox were 10.5 games out of first place in the American League East and 2.5 games behind the final AL Wild Card spot. After proceeding to go 26-18 over their next 44 games, Boston is now 5.5 games out of first place and one game behind the final postseason spot on July 27.

This has also increased the club’s chances of making the postseason. According to FanGraphs, the Red Sox had a 22.9% chance of reaching October before Opening Day. Those odds are now sitting at 40.2%.

Does Snell Still Make Sense for Boston?

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had three items on his initial to-do list for the trade deadline. He wanted to supplement the rotation and bullpen while also adding a right-handed hitter on offense.

Even if they were seriously interested in Snell, it’s undetermined if that’d still be the case after they acquired James Paxton from the Los Angeles Dodgers. FanGraphs’ Roster Resource lists six hurlers available for Boston’s rotation: Paxton, Tanner Houck, Cooper Criswell, Nick Pivetta, Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford. It doesn’t look like there’s a fit for Snell in Beantown now. But that could depend on what the Red Sox must do to accomplish their other deadline priorities.

Snell would be intriguing to inquire about because of his recent performance. The southpaw is in the first season of a two-year, $62 million deal that he can opt out of in November. He’s struggled to a 5.83 ERA in 41.2 innings. However, that number is down at 1.00 over his last three starts (18 innings pitched).

Adding Paxton to the rotation mix makes a Red Sox pursuit of Snell less likely than it already was in the first place. However, plenty can happen over the next few days to change that.