Longtime Boston Red Sox prospect Luis Guerrero has been through a lot already this offseason. The Red Sox designated him for assignment to make room on the roster for players reinstated from the injured list and he oped to remain with the organization where he was outrighted back to the minor leagues.
Now, Guerrero has been traded. The Red Sox on November 18 dished the righty to the Tampa Bay Rays, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive. Boston received infielder Tristan Gray in return for Guerrero and designated Nathaniel Lowe for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
Lowe has been tossed around as a potential non-tender candidate to get the Red Sox out of the second season of his contract and to make room for prospects they wish to protect from December's Rule 5 Draft. MLB Trade Rumors also predicted that Lowe would earn a $13.5 million salary in arbitration, which is surely more than Boston would be willing to give him. The Red Sox have been linked to Pete Alonso by multiple sources, and now Lowe's contract isn't in the way of a potential upgrade at first base.
Red Sox trade homegrown reliever Luis Guerrero to Rays, designate Nathaniel Lowe and Josh Winckowski for assignment
Guerrero, 25, was a curious choice to be DFA'd to activate players from the IL. The young reliever was drafted by the Red Sox and grew up locally, he can touch the high 90s with his fastball and he's had some success in a Red Sox uniform in the past. He didn't allow a run over his first 10-inning stint in the big leagues in 2024, but let up eight runs on nine hits over 17.1 innings with Boston in 2025.
Despite his struggles with command (1.33 WHIP, 0.71 strikeout-to-walk ratio with the Red Sox in 2025), Guerrero has the makings of a solid closer. The Rays have the staff and the history to turn him into a pain in the Sox's side for quite some time.
The Red Sox also designated reliever Josh Winckowski for assignment, per Ari Alexander of WHDH 7News. He and Lowe will be non-tendered before the November 21 non-tender deadline.
Winckowski pitched to a 3.86 ERA with nine strikeouts and five walks over 11.2 innings with Boston in 2025. He was optioned to Triple-A on April 24, 16 days after the Red Sox called him up, and he was placed on the IL with an elbow injury less than a month later, and he didn't pitch again for the rest of the year.
Losing Guerrero could hurt the Red Sox, especially if the Rays let him make the best use of his fastball and help him fix his command. Non-tendering Lowe and Winckowski allows the Sox to make room for top prospects on the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft, like David Sandlin and Shane Drohan, for example.