3 Red Sox trade partners to call about an outfielder for a starting pitcher swap

3) Red Sox should call the Twins about a win-now trade for both teams

Then there are the Minnesota Twins. Their starting pitching staff has been one of the best in baseball this year. The offense, meanwhile, has struggled to hit their own weight.

It’s a bit ironic that this is the club that sent .400 chaser Luis Arraez to the Miami Marlins in the offseason. They sure could use a guy like him on the roster, but Pablo Lopez hasn’t been a slouch for them either. He is 5-5 with a 3.89 ERA in 18 starts.

As far as who to target in a trade goes, we’d have to expect Kenta Maeda to be the most available of the Twins starters. However, at only 2-5 with a 5.18 ERA in 7 starts, he’s not so appealing. Lopez, who is signed through 2027 and about to make over $21 million starting in 2025, probably isn’t going anywhere either.

Years of control on Bailey Ober and Joe Ryan make them difficult to pry away from the Twins. This leaves us with Sonny Gray, a free agent at the end of the year. He’s the most seasoned MLB starter in their rotation pitching well this year. He’d be a great fit for the Red Sox rotation and it would cost them Verdugo for sure. A trade between the Red Sox and Twins to help out both clubs might require a little more than a one-for-one swap.

Maybe it’s Duvall and Nick Pivetta for Maeda and Michael A. Taylor that balances things out the most. We won’t find out until one front office hits the other up with a call.