1/17/2024

Yankees and Red Sox, trade again?


Last December, the Boston Red Sox sent outfielder Alex Verdugo to the New York Yankees and acquired Richard Fitts, Nicholas Judice and Greg Weissert from the Yankees. The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is one of the most famous rivalries in the world of sports. However, these 2 teams would agree to a deal, sometimes. While reading the news that Verdugo was traded to the Yankees, I was just thinking about the trades between the Red Sox and the Yankees.

 

When I checked on the great baseball reference website, well, there are not so many trades between these 2 teams. Nonetheless, it occasionally happened in this century.

 

Trades (Yankees & Red Sox, 2000~)

Year

 

Yankees

Red Sox

2014

Acquired

- Stephen Drew

- Cash

- Kelly Johnson

2021

- PTBNL

- Adam Ottavino

- Frank German

2023

- Greg Allen

- Diego Hernandez

2023

- Alex Verdugo

- Nicholas Judice

- Greg Weissert
- Richard Fitts

 

Firstly, in 2014, the Yankees sent Kelly Johnson to the Red Sox and acquired Stephen Drew and cash. Before the trade, Kelly Johnson played 77 games for the Yankees, hitting .219/.304/.373 with 6 home runs and 22 RBI in 2014. Meanwhile, Stephen Drew played 39 games for the Red Sox in 2014, slashing .176/.255/.328 with 4 home runs and 11 RBI. After the trade, Johnson played only 10 games for the Red Sox and then he was traded to the Orioles. Moreover, Stephen Drew batted .150/.219/.271 with 3 home runs and 15 RBI over 46 games in pinstripes. Furthermore, he played 131 games for the Yankees in 2015, hitting .201/.271/.381 with 17 home runs and 44 RBI.

 

In addition, before the 2021 season began, the Yankees sent Adam Ottavino and Frank German to the Red Sox. Ottavino made 69 relief appearances for the Red Sox in 2021, posting a 4.21 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP over 62 innings. Frank German was a prospect in 2021 and made his MLB debut in 2022. He tossed 4 innings for the Red Sox in 2022.

 

Thirdly, last May, the Red Sox traded Greg Allen to the Yankees and the Yankees sent Diego Hernandez to the Red Sox. Before the trade, Greg Allen didn’t play any games for the Red Sox. After the trade, Allen played 22 games for the Yankees in 2023 and slashed .217/.333/.478 with 1 home run and 1 RBI. Furthermore, Diego Hernandez is now 19 years old and he’s currently in the Red Sox farm system.


It's quite interesting to see the trades between the Yankees and the Red Sox. They didn’t often make trades. And when we look at the previous 3 trades, perhaps, for the Red Sox, acquiring Ottavino from the Yankees was a good decision to enhance the bullpen. Ottavino allowed just 1 run over 4 innings in the 2021 postseason. In 2023, Alex Verdugo slashed .264/.324/.421 with 13 home runs and 54 RBI over 142 games in the Red Sox uniform. In the meantime, Greg Weissert made 17 relief appearances for the Yankees, posting a 4.05 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. It will be worthwhile to see if Verdugo can hit well in the Bronx in 2024. Additionally, can Weissert contribute to the Red Sox bullpen? However, as Nicholas Judice and Richard Fitts are still in the minors, in the short term, it won’t be clear to tell if this trade is a win-win one.

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