After the Boston Red Sox traded for Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals and Johan Oviedo from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Craig Breslow mentioned that the team would shift its focus to adding offense to supplement their rotation additions.
He did not, however, rule out additional pitching moves. Boston has more than enough pitching and prospect depth to improve its rotation even further, and it could be planning to do just that (subscription required).
Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported that the Red Sox are among the teams expressing interest in a trade for Milwaukee Brewers ace Freddy Peralta (subscription required). Boston has been mentioned as a top suitor for a potential Peralta trade earlier this offseason before its many pitching moves and Rosenthal and Sammon still see the potential.
Unfortunately, the Red Sox are far from the scariest team in the running for a trade with the Brewers. The Mets, Yankees, Dodgers and Braves also rank among the top suitors for a Peralta deal.
Red Sox, Yankees, Mets, Dodgers and Braves are in the mix for a Freddy Peralta trade
Peralta (2.70 ERA, 1.075 WHIP and 204 strikeouts over 176.2 innings in 2025) has just one year of team control remaining on his contract, and although it will still take an impressive package to entice the Brewers into dealing him, it wouldn't be nearly as much as would be required in a trade for Joe Ryan or someone with multiple years of control remaining. The Mets and Dodgers both have better farm systems than the Red Sox while the Braves and Yankees are among the weakest in MLB. Milwaukee reportedly seeks a big league starter as part of the return package, and any team in the running could make that sacrifice.
Both New York teams, LA and Atlanta also all have the money to extend Peralta in the event that he's traded to one of them. Boston does, too, but whether it'll be willing to meet his asking price (in the season before a potential lockout, no less) is another question.
The possibility of a trade to the Yankees is the worst case scenario for Boston — if Peralta joined their rotation that already includes Gerrit Cole, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón and Cam Schlittler, it'd arguably be the scariest group in the league. Peralta going to the Dodgers would also be devastating, as they learned from their 2024 mistakes and fielded a deadly rotation to carry them to the World Series in 2025.
The Red Sox must keep their focus on offensive reinforcements, as adding Willson Contreras in a trade with the Cardinals brought them back (or closer to) square one after Alex Bregman's contract opt out. But if they have the opportunity to land Peralta for a reasonable price while keeping him from division rivals and top World Series contenders, they should absolutely take it (and then sign him to a multi-year extension to make their risk worth it).