All the noise coming out of Boston this week is that it is full steam ahead at the 2025 trade deadline. A 10-game winning streak heading into the All-Star Break put the Sox right back into the thick of the Wildcard and AL East races. Both ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal said during the break that Boston is going to be very aggressive this year.
If the smoke becomes fire and they truly do go all in, some major moves could be made. There were already rumors surrounding a trade involving Minnesota's Joe Ryan and Jarren Duran that have since fizzled, but rumors like that give some semblance of where the Sox are looking in terms of quality. With high-quality acquisitions come high-quality prospects (or established players), so which players could Craig Breslow be dangling to other teams?
5 realistic trade chips the Red Sox might dangle at the 2025 deadline
Jarren Duran
Duran seems to be the only established player who has truly been involved in the rumors since the Rafael Devers trade. The outfield has gotten increasingly more crowded since the return of Masataka Yoshida, with six looking for regular at-bats and only four spots to play them (Duran, Yoshida, Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Rob Ryfsnyder).
While Duran may not be the most valuable of the lot, the Sox are unlikely to trade Anthony or Abreu with so much control left, and Yoshida and Refsynder are not nearly as valuable in a trade. It would be hard to see him go, but if the Sox want to clear the logjam, he seems like the likely candidate.
Jhostynxon Garcia
The Password will be Boston's top outfield prospect once Roman Anthony graduates, and he sits in the top five in the system. Due to the logjam in the Sox's outfield, there isn't a place to play the 22-year-old righty. He's currently MLB Pipeline's No. 98 prospect, showing he'll be a valuable asset to move. His spot on the 40-man roster will probably force him out the door more, when that could easily go to the player that they trade for.
Franklin Arias
The 19-year-old middle infielder has been a quick riser through the Red Sox farm system the last two years, starting last season in the Florida Complex League and making his way through Low-A Salem and to High-A Greenville this season. Signed as an international free agent in January 2023, he is currently ranked No. 38 by MLB Pipeline. He is likely the highest-ranked prospect Boston is willing to move off of because he projects to stick at short by the time he reaches the big leagues, and when he is ready, the hope is Marcelo Mayer has that position locked down.
Brandon Clarke
A fifth-round draft pick in 2024 out of the junior college ranks, Clarke has quickly moved his way up the Red Sox prospect boards. He has been a shining example of how well the Red Sox's pitching development program is working under Breslow, Andrew Bailey, and Justin Willard. At 22 years old, the lefty still has time to grow and develop, but following the 2025 draft, where Boston drafted 15 pitchers all out of college, he could very easily become expendable.
James Tibbs III
It's a similar story for Tibbs as it is for Duran and Garcia; there probably isn't playing time readily available for him anytime soon. He was a first-round draft pick out of Florida State by the Giants in 2024 (one pick after the Sox took Braden Montgomery, who was a part of the Crochet trade) and came over in the Devers deal. The 22-year-old is currently in Portland, and there have been a lot of rumors of the Sox flipping him to a new team in a trade this deadline.