The Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox have seemed like ideal trade partners for more than a year now. The Pirates have a surplus of arms and a major need for bats. The Red Sox have a surplus of bats and a need for arms.
The two teams came together on Thursday night and completed a five-player trade that is headlined by starting pitcher Johan Oviedo going from Pittsburgh to Boston, and prospect Jhostynxon Garcia going to the Pirates.
Pirates, Red Sox both taking some risk with this trade
It is a trade that definitely makes sense for both teams, but it is also not a slam dunk to work for either team.
From the Red Sox’s perspective, Oviedo is an intriguing arm. He has tremendous stuff, great size and swing-and-miss ability. If everything clicks for him, he could be an outstanding middle-of-the-rotation starter and perhaps even as high as a No. 2 starter. The issues, however, are that for as good as his stuff can be, he has at times had major control issues and significant injury concerns. He has started just nine games since the start of the 2024 season.
The Red Sox are banking on him being healthy and that they can harness some of his control issues.