Red Sox's Craig Breslow Breaks Silence On Unexpected Brewers Trade

It was initially a surprise to hear that the Boston Red Sox had traded right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester, but when the price tag was revealed, it made complete sense.

Priester, 24, was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday for 19-year-old outfield prospect Yophery Rodriguez, a Compensation Round A pick in the 2025 draft (No. 33 overall) and either a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Priester was desperately needed because the Brewers have put virtually their entire starting rotation, excluding ace Freddy Peralta, on the injured list. But it was also somewhat surprising that the Red Sox deemed him expendable, just eight months after acquiring him in a different trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After the trade, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow dished on the reasons the team felt Priester was worth giving up, as reported by MassLive's Sean McAdam.

"Anytime you give up controllable starting pitching, there’s massive risk on both sides that go along with that," Breslow said. "But I do think it speaks to us being in a different position, just in terms of the quality of depth that we have that we think is capable of contributing in the short term.

“It made sense for us to (acquire Priester) at the last deadline where Nick Yorke is a really good player, but maybe didn’t have the clearest path to contribute here. And then based on some of the transactions that we made over the winter, some of the steps forward guys have made here, we felt like this was an opportunity for us to add future value that we couldn’t ignore."

Priester threw five innings for Milwaukee on Thursday, allowing one earned run in five innings and earning a no-decision against the Colorado Rockies.

Rodriguez, meanwhile, had a double and a triple in his Red Sox debut earlier this week. The real wild card in the deal is the draft pick, as there could be a future star waiting for the Red Sox at number 33 overall.