Red Sox Fleeced By Dodgers? Insider's Trade Scoop Is Tough Look For Boston

The Boston Red Sox put any bad vibes from the trade deadline behind them with a series sweep this weekend, but the dust still hasn't fully settled.

Former Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Dustin May still has yet to debut with the Red Sox; he'll do so against the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday. The 6-foot-6 righty was all but forced out of LA's rotation, so they granted him a trade rather than keeping him and moving him to the bullpen.

Because he has a 4.85 ERA this season, and because he was traded in part to free up his spot on the team, it was a surprise to see that the Red Sox gave up a very legitimate prospect to get May.

Outfielder/first baseman James Tibbs III, the San Francisco Giants' first-round pick in 2024 and a key piece of the return for Rafael Devers in the blockbuster of the year, got shipped to the Dodgers alongside fellow minor league outfielder Zach Ehrhard.

On Sunday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that Major League Baseball executives believe the Dodgers may have fleeced the Red Sox for Tibbs, who struggled at Double-A Portland during his six weeks in Boston, but has plenty of pure hitting ability.

"(The Dodgers) sent Dustin May to the Boston Red Sox simply because he wasn’t good enough to make their rotation, and brought back minor league outfielder James Tibbs, who was the Red Sox’s fifth-ranked prospect, and a key piece from San Francisco in the Rafael Devers’ trade," wrote Nightengale.

"Rival executives believe the deal could be a steal for the Dodgers with Tibbs having a chance to become a star."

May could only have eight or nine starts in a Red Sox uniform, plus the postseason if they're lucky enough to get there. Tibbs, meanwhile, has a tough hill to climb of his own, because the Dodgers' lineup is always reloading with superstar talent at the big-league level.

It's going to be a while until we can confidently determine either side "won the trade," which is frankly an overrated conversation at any rate. But it's certainly a tough look from a value perspective to give up Tibbs in a trade for someone who will never be mentioned in the same stratosphere as Devers.