Spring training is already underway, but that hasn’t stopped people from floating questionable trade ideas involving the Boston Red Sox. The Sox still has time to make a move before Opening Day to address a few lingering roster questions.
Despite trading a rotation's worth of starting pitchers this offseason, Boston still has a wealth of depth there. The outfield continues to have a surplus of starters, and rumors about a trade with the Houston Astros have resumed. The front office didn't get a true power threat for the middle of the lineup this offseason, either.
With all that being known, Bleacher Report came up with a mock trade to help fix some of those problems, but it's ridiculous. In their “Win-Win MLB Trade Ideas Before 2026 Opening Day” article, they mocked a deal between the New York Mets and the Sox that’s more lose-lose for Boston. In the deal, the Sox would acquire Mark Vientos and Sean Manaea, and send Masataka Yoshida and Connelly Early to Queens.
Everything is wrong with this Red Sox–Mets trade proposal
Connelly Early continued his strong case to start the season in Boston’s rotation with 3.2 scoreless innings today
— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) March 6, 2026
His tendency to weave in his assortment of pitches provide him a solid floor which is further heightened by the quality of his fastball and changeup pic.twitter.com/cKWAxWoLvE
The biggest thing wrong with this trade is using Early to get off of Yoshida’s contract. The 23-year-old lefty showed true middle-of-the-rotation upside last year. The Red Sox have already shown an unwillingness to trade him because of his potential, and in no world would he be tagged onto Yoshida to get rid of his bad contract.
Then, there’s the actual return of the deal. Boston shouldn't be using a top-three prospect in their system to buy low on Vientos. While Vientos showed big power in 2024, in 10 more games in 2025, his slugging percentage dropped 100 points. While he certainly fits the need for right-handed power, he’s not worth Early. He also wouldn't have regular at-bats. Even after trading Yoshida, the Sox still project to use Jarren Duran as the DH, so Vientos, at best, is a platoon DH/third baseman — and he's bad at third (-7 OAA in 2025).
On top of Vientos, they take on Manaea and his massively deferred contract ($2.325 million for 10 years starting in 2035, totaling $23.25 million). He’s a higher luxury tax hit than Yoshida ($22 million to $18 million), and he's still under contract for two years, just like Yoshida. Taking Manaea would also put him into the No. 5 spot in the rotation, forcing Payton Tolle and Johan Oviedo to Triple-A, even though they both have higher upside.
For Boston, this trade makes no sense. Vientos doesn't truly fix any of the logjam problems, just alters them. Manaea adds money to the Sox books while taking away significant upside. On top of it all, they trade away a pitcher in Early who is likely a staple on Fenway’s mound for a long time.