The Boston Red Sox are scorching hot, playing themselves out of seller territory and right into the thick of the American League playoff race. By virtue of a 14-game winning streak, they're now in the position to grab one of the AL's three Wild Cars spots.
However, even when everything is going right, this team isn't without flaws. The Sox's need for a right-handed power bat has been expounded upon time and time again this year, all of which remains true even now while Willson Contreras, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Caleb Durbin are all playing well at the same time.
It's also impossible not to mention the catching situation, which remains an area of frustration on the roster. Mickey Gasper is back in Triple-A to serve as depth, and while Carlos Narváez (+5 Fielding Run Value) and Connor Wong (111 wRC+) have formed a nice offense-defense tandem, neither has been particularly valuable on their own.
Which brings us to two-time All-Star Hunter Goodman. The Colorado Rockies' backstop is one of the best two-way catchers in the league, and rumors say he's available for the right price this summer. The key word there being "right" price.
Red Sox cannot let 14-game winning streak uproot their long-term plans at trade deadline
Craig Breslow has never had a problem rejecting a trade offer if he thinks the value doesn't favor his club (remember the rumored Ethan Salas + Dylan Cease package for Jarren Duran?). Which makes one wonder what he'd say about Jim Bowden's proposed Hunter Goodman trade in a deadline preview for The Athletic (subscription required).
In that proposal, the Red Sox receive Goodman and nothing else. In exchange, they surrender Connelly Early, Kyson Witherspoon, Marcelo Mayer, and Narváez. Cue the Tim Allen meme.
To be sure, Goodman is an excellent player and would make the Red Sox legitimate contenders in a weak AL. He's hitting .255/.325/.556 with 30 home runs this year as an encore to his Silver Slugger campaign in 2025, and he's somehow been significantly better away from Coors Field (.964 OPS) than at home (.791). Add to that his above-average defensive metrics and the fact that he's not even arbitration eligible until 2027, and you've got a star catcher in every sense of the word.
Even acknowleding all that, Bowden's proposal is just ludicrous. That'e two young, controllable starting pitchers with immense upside, a former top-50 prospect in Mayer, and the Red Sox's current starting catcher in Narváez. Add it all up, and they'd be giving up 21.5 years of team control for Goodman's remaining 3.5.
There's obviously no guarantee that any of the four players in that deal will turn out to be better than Goodman, but that's far too much cost-controlled upside to surrender. Without even acknowleding how difficult it can be to integrate a catcher into a run-prevention program during the middle of the season, the Red Sox would be sacrificing far too much depth to consider this kind of blockbuter just before a lockout.
Goodman is a sensible target and one Breslow would be wise to make an offer for, but if the Rockies demand anything close to Bowden's price, it's best to move on and search for help behind the plate elsewhere.
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