It’s Not About Who the Red Sox Gave Up, It’s Who They Kept

The dust is settled on the trade deadline for the Boston Red Sox. This was by far the best trade deadline that Craig Breslow has had in his tenure for the Red Sox. He stepped way outside of his comfort zone and got a game changing player at a position of need. The move was so good you saw John Henry sitting in the stands among the people and prior to the game a cigar in hand. Talk about vibes being at an all time high.

With every trade you are able to dissect what the price was to give up for the guys coming in. Giving up Marcelo Mayer for a lefty reliever might be a tough pill to swallow, but the Red Sox have a lefty reliever under team control and you can see the writing was on the wall to move on. Truthfully, the package for Adley Rutschman was a hefty prospect loaded package. You do have to give go get at the trade deadline. Parting with Anthony Eyanson is a tough one, as he has been great ascending through the minors, having a 1.39 ERA. The rest were pieces you could afford to part with, but end of the day you do what you have to do to get your guy. What stands out to me about what Breslow did here at the deadline was not about who he parted ways with though, but who he kept.

Red Sox top prospect Franklin Arias warms up at Polar Park ahead of his first game with Triple-A Worcester on July 25, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Breslow did trade the two pitchers in the pipeline with the higher ceilings. However, he’s proven to have this pitching factory where you do have faith that he will build up the next up and coming pitchers. What he did do was hang onto the top hitting prospects in the system and this is what does matter for the future outlook.

One thing as a fan I am thankful for is that the Red Sox didn’t part ways with Franklin Arias. While they were searching for a shortstop, they opted not to move him. Smart move. Even more so, Breslow did say at the end of the trade deadline that he isn’t ruling out bringing Arias up to help them down the stretch. Given what he’s done to this point, it’s well worth it.

Arias has shown tons of growth and promise this season, so much that the power surge is very much real. Arias dominated Portland this season, slashing .318/.407/.587/.994 and hit 19 home runs. That alone was more than he had all of last season and by a wide mile. Furthermore, is ISO (isolated power) was .111 last season and has sky rocketed to .264. Seeing the notable power surge has been huge and what he’s done this year has turned heads. Not just in the Red Sox organization, but the baseball landscape. In fact, Baseball America ranked him ahead of Leo de Vries, who has been a top five prospect in the sport over the last calendar year.

Arias remains the shortstop of the future for this team, but they’ve played him at second base too. It’s good to give him looks there and be able to figure out what his role is going to be. Since being promoted to Worcester he hasn’t skipped a beat. In nine games he has three home runs and his home run Wednesday night was a scorcher to deep center field. That power is REAL. He’s had two three hit games in a row and is hitting .333 with a 1.015 OPS. The more he continues to put it consistently together, the louder the call up for the playoff push gets. What this team also has in their pipeline is the power bat of the future.

Hanging onto prospect Justin Gonzales is huge for this organization. This is not the same conversation as Arias, as Gonzales is still just 19 years old and is a ways away from being part of this team. However, for an organization that is starving for power they do have a prototypical power bat in house. Let him cook and give it time, but hanging onto him was smart.

Everything about him is very fascinating, from his 6’5, 210 pound frame, to his approach at the plate. Gonzales has been a walks machine, walking 13.7% of the time and also not striking out alot (18.7%), which is good for 83rd percentile. There isn’t a lot of swing and miss in his game as well and the numbers have been off the charts.

He has spent the entire year in Greenville and is slashing .265/.389/.454/.843. He’s hit 15 home runs, which is as many as he’s had the last two years combined. Not to mention, he’s on quite the heater right now. He has hits in seven of his last nine games, four of them being multi hit games. He’s been an extra base machine, with three home runs and three doubles. Gonzales had a monstrous July, hitting .306 with a 1.007 OPS. Gonzales is young and there is still lots of time to develop, but the upside is very much there.

Trading away Azocar stings due to the fact he was performing and was a bright spot within this system. However, the Red Sox have something very special with Franklin Primera.

Primera started the year in rookie ball and tore up that level, hitting .427 with a 1.267 OPS. He’s walking more than striking out, getting his extra bass hits in, and simply performing. The defense is top tier, which is massive for the Red Sox overall outlook. Thankfully we have Adley Rutschman, but this is a player the Red Sox can smoothly develop and groom overtime. The Red Sox defense behind the plate has been very spotty, so this is great to have in the pipeline.

Primera has been promoted to Salem. He got off to a Rocky start adjusting to the new level. He was hitless through the first four games, but now that he’s adapted to the level he has put together very consistent at bats. Since July 17, he has hits in 11 of the 13 games he’s played in. Four of those games have been multi hit games and he has seven extra base hits in this stretch.

He’s already got the same amount of doubles in Salem as he had in rookie ball. Primera is slashing .309/.456/.469/.925 and once again is walking more than striking out. If fans are searching for a player to monitor and pay attention to, this is one of them.

Breslow got uncomfortable, which is what we all wanted to see. But he did keep key pieces that could be building blocks in the near future. Exciting times and it’s okay to attach yourself to some of these prospects in the system.