Craig Breslow has developed a reputation that makes him a popular trade partner around the league: he's no prospect-hugger. In just the past two years, he's moved Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, James Tibbs III, Zach Ehrhard, Brandon Clarke, Luis Perales, Yhoiker Fajardo, Marcelo Mayer, Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon, and Enddy Azocar. That is a gobsmacking amount of young talent no longer in the organization.
Hence, it's no surprise that Franklin Arias has found his name frequently floated in trade talks recently. Heck, the team was even reportedly dangling him during the trade deadline, ultimately pulling him out of talks once they decided that Adley Rutschman was their top target.
However, it might be time to pump the brakes a little. Arias is viewed as "untouchable" by the organization, according to the Boston Globe's Alex Speier, who has made it clear that the top prospect is only getting moved if a true superstar becomes available. We would have to assume that would only be Elly De La Cruz.
Some in the Red Sox organization view Franklin Arias as “almost untouchable,” per @alexspeier.
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) November 6, 2026
He believes it’s unlikely that Arias is kept off-limits in trade talks, but he’d only be moved for a star with multiple years of control pic.twitter.com/pT6VGyCm7m
Roman Anthony gamble provides blueprint for Red Sox to follow with Franklin Arias
One of the only top prospects who hasn't been traded by Breslow in recent years is Roman Anthony, who instead received an eight-year extension shortly after making his MLB debut. What do he and Arias have in common? Both were/are top-five prospects in all of baseball.
As highly regarded as guys like Teel and Eyanson were, they weren't considered to be in the highest echelon of prospects (i.e., the tier reserved for future MVP and Cy Young candidates). Anthony, however, did fit into that narrow group; at the time he was called up, most outlets had him pegged as the No. 1 or No. 2 prospect in the sport.
Guess where Arias is sitting right now? Each of MLB Pipeline, FanGraphs, and Baseball America has him at No. 2 on their respective Top 100 lists, behind only fellow shortstop Jesús Made of the Milwaukee Brewers. He's more than earned that kind of company as well, coming off a season in which he hit .323/.400/.557 (145 wRC+) while ascending to Triple-A as a 20-year-old.
“CJ Abrams or Zach Neto would cost Franklin Arias, who could find himself at shortstop for Boston in 2027, so those are likely out of the question.”
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) November 11, 2026
-@JeffPassan on the likelihood of a CJ Abrams or Zach Neto trade to the Red Sox. pic.twitter.com/pAXa8kPcbY
As the heir apparent to Trevor Story at short, the only logical reason to move Arias would be if he brought back an even better middle infielder in return — hence why he and De La Cruz have been mentioned in the same sentence so often over the past few months. And even in that situation, it might behoove the Red Sox to hang onto the younger, cheaper player rather than depleting their farm system even further.
Because Breslow is so trade-happy, we can't officially rule out an Arias deal this winter. But as a member of the same elitist club Roman Anthony once occupied, it feels like a safer bet than usual that he'll stick around in Boston.
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