Red Sox may be having Yankees trade remorse amid recent depth pitcher injuries

UPDATE: Anddddd it gets worse for the Sox.

When Opening Day rolled around, it seemed as if the Boston Red Sox had an embarrassment of riches in their starting rotation. Connelly Early's hot spring forced surprise trade acquisition, Johan Oviedo, to the bullpen.

Oviedo was one of three significant external additions to the unit, along with Sonny Gray and Ranger Suárez, who, when combined with rehabbing arms like Patrick Sandoval and Kutter Crawford, as well as top prospect Payton Tolle, gave the club both high-end talent and loads of depth. Or so it seemed.

Here we are just a few weeks later, and things could look completely different. Injuries have piled up, with Gray and more concerningly, Oviedo hitting the injured list. The timelines for Sandoval and Crawford to return to action have been pushed back as well. Meanwhile, the guys who have stayed healthy have largely been ineffective, as Boston's starters rank 25th with a 4.88 ERA through 25 games.

Moreover, the depth has significantly thinned. Even a guy like Tyler Uberstine, who got an ever-so-brief look at the beginning of April, is now down with a sore shoulder. One more injury to a starter and Boston will quickly be grasping at straws, and that had us thinking about a young hurler who would have provided the perfect blend of depth and upside, former Red Sox farmhand Elmer Rodriguez.

The Red Sox might want a do-over on the Carlos Narváez-Elmer Rodriguez trade with the Yankees

The rare trade between arch-rivals is fascinating on many levels. The two clubs don't link up often for deals, and when they do, nothing of consequence is ever really exchanged. That's what this seemed to be, as the Yankees had a surplus of catching depth, while the Red Sox saw Rodriguez as a lottery ticket that had just reached High-A.

However, it appeared at first that the Sox were the big winners. By the beginning of June last season, Narváez was one of the top-30 players in baseball by fWAR and a rare two-way force behind the plate. By the All-Star break, he was slashing .273/.347/.439.

However, the backstop came crashing down to earth over the second half, posting a .187/.233/.387 line over his final 166 plate appearances. Meanwhile, Rodriguez was rising. He started at High-A for New York, posting a 2.26 ERA over 83 2/3 innings. He'd then go on to Double-A and have largely the same type of success, recording a 2.64 ERA in 61.1 frames, before making his final start of the year at Triple-A.

The Red Sox hoped over the offseason that Rodriguez's rise in 2025 would light a fire under Narváez and get his bat back on track. That hasn't happened. Narváez has hit just .240/.269/.280. Instead, Connor Wong has been the one to start hot, and if his rebound continues, he may begin stealing more playing time from Narváez.

Rodriguez made one very impressive appearance for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic and turned heads during the spring at Yankees camp. Now he's beginning the year in Triple-A on fire, posting a 1.27 ERA over his first four starts.

Now New York's No. 3 prospect, Rodriguez has become a well-rounded pitcher with a plethora of breaking and off-speed pitches to support a fastball that can touch the high-90s. Narváez seems like he's regressing into a role as a decent backup catcher.

Where this hurts the most is that the 22-year-old starter is on the verge of being big league-ready and could make an immediate impact once he gets there. That seems like it would be worth much more to a Red Sox team that has an underperforming and battered rotation to go along with depleted depth.

With that said, perhaps Narváez can rebound and once again become that star-level catcher he was in the first half of 2025. At the same time, as good as Rodriguez looks as a prospect, he's proven nothing at the big league level.

This is a trade where the scales have tipped many times, and opinions may fluctuate several times more. Eventually, we'll know who won the trade, and the Red Sox better hope that it isn't the Yankees.

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