Red Sox On World Series Starter's Radar With Yankees, Mets

As rumors have picked up steam ahead of the 2025 Major League Baseball trade deadline, most of the chatter around the Boston Red Sox has centered around the possibility of the club adding another starting pitcher into the mix.

Boston recently optioned Richard Fitts down to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox and brought Cooper Criswell back up to the big leagues in response. With Fitts down, that spot in the rotation clearly could use an arm.

Boston is fortunate to have Garrett Crochet, Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello, and Walker Buehler, but there are questions from there. Especially because Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford are both injured. The trade deadline is the perfect opportunity to add an arm, but Boston likely will have overspend. There aren't a ton of options out there and plenty of teams looking for starters.

It would be great to land a superstar, but even the secondary arms are going to have plenty of suitors. For example, the New York Post's Jon Heyman mentioned the Red Sox as an option for two-time All-Star and two-time World Series champ Charlie Morton, but also mentioned the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, and Tampa Bay Rays as options.

"Some of the more coveted starters aren’t having their best years — including Zac Gallen (5.60 ERA), Charlie Morton (5.48) and Sandy Alcantara (6.66)," Heyman said. "But with strong track records (and a playoff résumé in Morton’s case), plus a weak starter market, all are drawing significant interest.
Gallen and Morton should go somewhere, but with Alcantara under control next year, the Marlins may hold him. The Red Sox, Mets, Yankees, Astros, Padres and Rays are among possibilities for Morton."

This isn't the first time Boston has been linked to Morton and likely won't be the last either.