Red Sox Fallout: Full Trade Details Revealed, Steven Matz Role

The Boston Red Sox made two trades ahead of the 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline.

Boston wanted bullpen and starting rotation help and got it with Steven Matz and Dustin May. The Matz trade popped up late Wednesday night. He has been a starter all throughout his career but has come out of the bullpen this year. Immediately, questions popped up about his role in Boston. The Red Sox will use him out of the bullpen, though, per MLB.com's Ian Browne.

"In a late Wednesday night trade, the Red Sox bolstered their bullpen by acquiring veteran left-hander Steven Matz from the Cardinals," Browne said. "Boston is sending Minor League infielder Blaze Jordan (No. 17 prospect) to St. Louis in the deal. Though Matz has made 172 starts in his career, including two this season, the Red Sox plan on deploying him out of the bullpen."

The May trade popped up right before the trade deadline. Initially, the entire package wasn’t revealed. Once it was, it was somewhat surprising, also per Browne.

"The Red Sox pushed the market to acquire a starting pitcher before the Trade Deadline, and it went down to the wire. Ultimately, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow finalized a deal just in time to acquire righty Dustin May from the Dodgers in exchange for outfield prospects James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard...Trade details: Red Sox receive: RHP Dustin May. Dodgers receive: OF James Tibbs III (Boston's No. 5 prospect), OF Zach Ehrhard (No. 27)."

You may recognize Tibbs' name specifically. He came over in the Rafael Devers trade and now is quickly leaving the organization. It was a surprising few days, to say the least.