Brent Rooker has been rumored to be a Red Sox target ahead of the trade deadline. (AP Photo/John McCoy)
The Red Sox made their first notable addition before Friday’s trade deadline, re-acquiring James Paxton in a trade with the Dodgers, and Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow hinted the team could make further moves.
With just days left until Tuesday’s trade deadline, the Red Sox don’t have much time to make any new moves, but several players have been rumored to be in the running on the trade market.
Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal, White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet, Blue Jays pitcher Yusei Kikuchi and Athletics left fielder/designated hitter Brent Rooker are among the top names rumored to be in possible trades ahead of the deadline.
Of those four players, the Red Sox have the best betting odds to acquire Rooker and Kikuchi. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Red Sox at +550 to be Rooker’s team at the trade deadline, which is the third-best odds. Only the Athletics (+380) and Mariners (+400) have better odds.
Rooker would provide the Red Sox some much-needed help in the middle of the lineup, right-handed. The 29-year-old is having the best year of his career, batting .288 with a .948 OPS and 25 home runs and 72 RBIs. If the Red Sox were to acquire Rooker in a trade, he would ideally be the team’s primary designated hitter, a role he has filled for the majority of the last two years in Oakland.
The Athletics may not be keen on moving Rooker because he is under team control until the end of the 2027 season. In fact, Oakland has told teams it is reluctant to move Rooker before the deadline, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Saturday.
Kikuchi, meanwhile, seems a much more likely candidate to be traded than Rooker. The left-hander made his final appearance before the deadline on Friday, sharing an emotional moment with Blue Jays fans as he left the mound at Rogers Centre.
DraftKings Sportsbook has the Red Sox at +650 to be Kikuchi’s team after the deadline. Those odds are the seventh-best, but not far behind the Orioles, who have the best odds at +450.
Kikuchi is doing well for the Blue Jays this season. He’s 4-9 with a 4.75 ERA this season, but has been a bit unlucky with a 3.64 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitcher).
More importantly, Kikuchi is a reliable mound starter, having started a major league-high 22 games and pitched 115 2/3 innings, and his arrival would add another left-handed pitcher to the Red Sox’s starting rotation, something they were missing before the Paxton trade.
The 33-year-old Kikuchi is in the final season of a three-year, $36 million contract he signed to join the Blue Jays in 2022, so the price tag to acquire him will likely be much lower than it would be to acquire a pitcher like Skubal.
As for Skubal, the Red Sox are unlikely to acquire him. They have the fifth-best chance of being Skubal’s team after the draft deadline, but DraftKings has them at +2,000. Skubal is priced at -310 to remain with the Tigers.
It’s widely speculated that Skubal is unlikely to be moved before the trade deadline. The 27-year-old Skubal has two more years of team control and is arguably the best pitcher in the American League since returning from injury midway through last season, with a 2.34 ERA and 11-3 record in 2024.
Finally, the Red Sox are also unlikely to acquire Crochette. They have the seventh-best odds of being a team that pitches at the trade deadline at +1200 on DraftKings, while the White Sox are the favorites to be a team that pitches at the trade deadline at +110.
Crochette has been impressive this season with the White Sox, going 6-7 with a 3.07 ERA and an MLB-leading 157 strikeouts. The 25-year-old won’t become a free agent until after the 2026 season, but would reportedly be looking to sign a contract extension before the playoffs if traded.
Of course, Rooker, Kikuchi, Skuval and Crochet aren’t the only names on the trade market ahead of Tuesday’s deadline, as the Red Sox have also been linked to several other players around the league, including Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon.
But they’ll have to make some moves to avoid losing to their division rivals. The Orioles acquired pitcher Zach Eflin from the Rays on Friday, and the Yankees are reportedly in the process of acquiring second baseman/outfielder Jazz Chisholm in a trade.
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