Five More Starting Pitchers the Red Sox Could Target After the Sonny Gray Deal

Looking to improve their rotation behind Garrett Crochet, the Boston Red Sox acted quickly and decisively with their acquisition of St. Louis Cardinals ace Sonny Gray last Tuesday. 

The 36-year-old right-hander will come to Boston with a well-earned reputation as one of the most consistent and effective starters in baseball.

Gray has turned in seven consecutive seasons with a Fielder’s Independent Pitching (FIP) below 4.0 and, along with Tarik Skubal, is one of only two pitchers to pitch at least 150 innings and walk fewer than 40 batters in each of the last three seasons.

Unlike many pitchers with impeccable control, Gray also has above-average swing-and-miss capabilities. He is one of only five pitchers to strike out at least 200 batters in each of the last two seasons, and has struck out over a batter an inning in six of his last seven seasons. 

There is little question that Gray makes the Red Sox rotation substantially better than it was prior, but it’s worth questioning whether he can still be a number two starter for a team with championship aspirations. 

Gray has seen his average fastball velocity decline by over a mile and a half over the last two seasons, and while he has been able to adjust by leaning more heavily on his elite sweeper, the margin for error becomes razor-thin when your fastball is barely exceeding the 90-mph threshold. 

This is especially true in the stacked American League East, where Gray will face significantly better offenses than he faced during his last five seasons in the AL and NL Centrals.

Gray’s only experience in the AL East came during a brutal year-and-a-half-long stint with the New York Yankees, headlined by a 2018 season that saw him post a 4.90 ERA and get bounced from the postseason rotation. 

None of this is to suggest that Gray still can’t be an effective pitcher, but it does indicate that he may be better suited for the middle of the top of the rotation than the top of one, a sentiment that would directly contradict Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow’s comments from the winter meetings. 

“Because of the depth that we’ve built up over the last couple of years, we feel pretty good about overall starting pitching and Nos. 3-ish through 10-ish, and that’s not to take away from guys who are certainly capable of doing more,” Breslow said.

“It’s just to say, I don’t think we’re going to spend a ton of time trying to add a No. 4 or a No. 5 starter. If we’re going to make a starting pitching addition, I think it should be somebody who can pitch at the front of a rotation and start a playoff game for us.”

Whether or not you believe that Gray fits that qualification, it’s difficult to say that he alone can close the gap between a Yankees rotation that is set to receive Gerrit Cole back from Tommy John Surgery and a Blue Jays rotation that already added Dylan Cease and retained Shane Bieber. 

If the Red Sox are serious about contending for their first American League title since 2018, they would be wise to add another premier starting pitcher this winter. Here are five possible trade targets to help them take their starting rotation to the next level. 

1. Joe Ryan, RHP, Minnesota Twins

• 2025 Stats: 4.5 WAR, 13-10, 3.42 ERA, 30 GS, 171.0 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 10.2 K/9
• Years of Team Control: 2
• MLBTR 2026 Projected Salary: $5.8 million 

Why It Could Work:

The Red Sox made a strong push for Ryan at last year’s deadline amid the Twins’ startling fire sale, but were ultimately unable to get a deal done.

The Twins’ ability to do their due diligence with a Ryan trade may have been hampered by the 10 other trades they made last July, and a full off-season to field offers could make them more inclined to deal their ace. 

While Freddy Peralta’s looming free agency could steer the Red Sox away from a potential trade, the fact that Ryan still has two years left of arbitration could make him an appealing target.

The 30-year-old also shares a lot of traits that the Red Sox have prioritized during the Breslow era, including an elite four-seam fastball that plays up due to well-above-average extension, and would help balance out a rotation that currently features three left-hander pitchers. 

From the Twins’ perspective, the Red Sox could be the ideal trade partner to help accelerate their rebuild. The 29-year-old Duran may not be a fit for a team that looks to be a few years away from contention, but the younger Abreu could be an intriguing target as a long-term solution in right field.

The Twins can also ask for one of the Red Sox’s young pitchers to replace Ryan in the rotation and possibly another talented position player prospect like Franklin Arias or Jhostynxon Garcia to round out the deal. 

Why It Might Not: 

Though Ryan’s 2025 season was the best of his five-year MLB career, making his first All-Star game and setting career-bests in WAR (4.5), innings (171.0), and ERA (3.42), he fell off considerably after the Twins’ fire-sale. He posted a 6.47 ERA over his final seven starts, allowing 10 home runs in just 32 innings. 

Ryan has proven himself to be an elite strike-thrower and a capable second or third starter, but he has never finished higher than 10th in the American League in ERA and has just one season within the top-10 in WAR. Given that he is entering the age-30 season, it feels unlikely that Ryan can level up into a true ace the way Crochet did upon entering the Red Sox’s pitching lab.                                                   

Despite the Twins trading over a third of the major league roster at the trade deadline, there have been some indications that Ryan may be the exception.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan wrote that the team will deal one of Ryan or fellow former All-Star right-hander Pablo Lopez, and the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported that the Twins are more likely to move Lopez due to the $43 million he is set to earn over the next two seasons. 

Perhaps the Twins will change their tune once the trade offers start rolling in, but a Ryan trade is far less of a formality than it may appear at first glance.

2. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, Washington Nationals 

• 2025 Stats: 3.0 WAR, 5-15, 4.17 ERA, 30 GS, 159.2 IP, 3.6 BB/9, 10.4 K/9
• Years of Team Control: 2
• MLBTR 2026 Projected Salary: $4.7 million

Why It Could Work: 

New general manager Paul Taboni has quite the task ahead of him as he tries to rebuild the 96-loss Nationals. Only three players on the 2025 team accumulated more than 1.5 WAR, all of whom were acquired in the Juan Soto deal. 

CJ Abrams posted a solid 111 OPS+ and stole 31 bases in just 34 attempts, but his -11 Outs Above Average mark was the third-worst total among MLB shotstops.

James Wood, 22, was the club’s best hitter and earned his first All-Star appearance, but he slashed just .210/.291/.369 from July 4 on and led the majors with 221 strikeouts. 

That leaves Gore, who joined Wood on the National League’s All-Star team before experiencing a similar fall-off. His eight-run blow-up on July 20 against the San Diego Padres set the tone for a dismal second-half in which he posted a 6.75 ERA and walked 29 batters in 47 innings. 

Though Gore’s second-half struggles may scare off some teams, he has some similarities to Crochet as a talented left-hander whose potential could not be unlocked by a perennial cellar-dwelling team.

There is a lot to like about Gore’s profile, including his 86th percentile extension and two different breaking balls that generated a whiff rate above 35% and an opposing batting average under .220. 

If the Red Sox believe they can help Gore improve his fastball command and his ability to sustain his velocity, they may find the lanky left-hander to be the most attainable pitcher on this list.

With free agency looming soon, the time is now for the Nationals to trade Gore, unless they are looking to extend him instead.

Gore may not have the pedigree or consistency of some of the other pitchers on the trade market, but his two years of team control and relative youth could make him one of the most coveted assets this winter.  

Taboni’s thorough knowledge of the Red Sox system, with whom he spent the last three seasons as Assistant General Manager and 11 years overall in the Baseball Operations department, could help facilitate a trade between the two clubs. 

Though their system may not be as strong as it has been in recent years, the Red Sox should still have enough talent in their prospect inventory to intrigue the Nationals, especially if Taboni is able to pry one or two players that he really believes in. 

Why It Might Not:

Gore’s summertime fall-off was not just limited to 2025. He bookended his 2024 season with four months of ace-level production, but a terrible stretch from June 3 to August 17 in which he posted a 6.18 WAR tanked his overall numbers. 

As good as Gore has looked at times, he has frequently been undone by poor command and his propensity to give up loud contact. In four seasons with the Nationals, Gore has been a below-average pitcher by ERA+ three times and accumulated just 6.0 WAR in 105 appearances. 

If the Red Sox are going to make another move for a starting pitcher this winter, it will be for a pitcher who can slot in ahead of Gray and Bello. Gore still has a profile you can dream on, but he hasn’t shown enough during his Nationals tenure to be counted on as a true needle-mover. 

3. Freddy Peralta, RHP, Milwaukee Brewers

• 2025 Stats: 5.5 WAR, 17-6, 2.70 ERA, 33 GS, 176.2 IP, 3.4 BB/9, 10.4 K/9 
• Years of Team Control: 1
• 2026 Salary (Club Option): $8 million 

Why It Could Work: 

Two years after flipping former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes to the Baltimore Orioles before the last year of his contract, the Milwaukee Brewers find themselves in an almost identical situation.

Two-time All-Star Freddy Peralta is set to become a free agent after the 2026 season and, barring a catastrophic injury, will price himself well out of the small-market Brewers’ budget. 

The Brewers’ odds of moving Peralta only increased with the news that fellow veteran Brandon Woodruff would accept the $22.05 million qualifying offer.

In Woodruff, former top prospect Jacob Misiorowski, and promising young right-handers Chad Patrick and Quinn Priester, the Brewers have four rotation slots locked in for 2026, even if they choose to move Peralta. 

The Brewers also have a well-documented history of finding undervalued starting pitchers in unlikely places, such as the 24 superb outings they got from 36-year-old Jose Quintana after signing him to a one-year, $4.25 million deal in spring training. 

Adding more juice to a lineup that got thoroughly dominated by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS is a far more pressing concern.

Given that they are unlikely to be in the market for premier sluggers Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber, moving Peralta for a player like Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu may be their best chance of adding an impact bat this winter. 

From a Red Sox perspective, Peralta checks a lot of boxes for an ideal running mate for Crochet. Though 2025 was undoubtedly his best season, the 29-year-old right-hander has been as reliable as they come, making 30 starts and striking out at least 200 batters in each of the last three seasons. 

Though Peralta’s walk rate is higher than you would want from a top-of-the-rotation arm, he makes up for it with a terrific strikeout rate and a proven ability to consistently limit hard contact. He also comes with a wealth of playoff experience, appearing in nine postseason games over six different seasons. 

While many of the controllable starters available this winter may require the Red Sox to part ways with either Tolle or Early, the fact that Peralta only has one year of team control may allow them to hold on to both of their intriguing young lefties, particularly if they give the Brewers either Abreu or Duran. 

Why it Might Not: 

Though risky trades have been a staple of the Breslow tenure, acquiring two pitchers on expiring contracts in the same offseason would be quite the gamble.

The Red Sox would run the risk of losing both pitchers after the 2026 campaign and having to rebuild their rotation from the ground up in just 12 months’ time. 

As opposed to Gray, who at age 36 seems like a pure rental, the Red Sox would likely seek to extend Peralta, but would have an uncomfortably tight window to do so. 

Though the Red Sox were able to work out an extension with Crochet mere months after trading for him, the fact that he had two years left until free agency instead of one gave them more wiggle room to work out a deal. 

While there are many similarities between the Peralta and Burnes situations, one key distinction is that Burnes’ relationship with the Brewers was fractured during a bitter arbitration case over his 2022 season.

In an interview with ESPN in 2023, Burnes said that the club blamed him for the Brewers missing the postseason in 2022. 

Since Peralta’s $8 million club option for 2026 was already picked up, he will avoid going down the same path as Burnes. This could make the Brewers less motivated to move him or at least raise the asking price. 

The Brewers may also be more reluctant to move Peralta, given the success of their 2025 team.

While Burnes was traded after a disappointing 2022 campaign, the Brewers will be less likely to desire a roster shakeup after leading the majors with 97 wins.

4. Cole Ragans, Kansas City Royals

• 2025 Stats: 0.2 WAR, 3-3, 4.67 ERA, 61.2 IP, 2.9 BB/9, 14.3 K/9 
• Years of Control: 3
• 2026 Salary: $4.58 million 

Why It May Work: 

The Red Sox and the Royals have seemed like ideal trade partners for over a year, with the former having a surplus of outfielders and a well-known interest in adding a controllable starter and the latter churning out effective young starters but struggling to develop hitters. 

Even with Bobby Witt Jr. having another MVP-caliber campaign and Vinnie Pasquantino and Makiel Garcia enjoying breakout seasons, the Royals still ranked 26th in both runs and home runs. The main culprit was a woefully ineffective outfield that didn’t feature a single regular with an OPS above .654. 

Though trade deadline acquisition Mike Yastrzemski proved to be a savvy pickup and actually ended up leading all Royals outfielders in home runs, his presumed departure in free agency has the Royals back at square one.

General manager J.J. Picollo left no doubt about his team’s desire to add an outfielder this winter.

“A lot of teams are looking for starting pitching, so if we have what they may be interested in, and they have an outfielder that would be of interest, then there’s potentially the opportunity to make a deal,” he told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. 

Most importantly for the Red Sox, Picollo declined to say whether any of the Royals’ starting pitchers were off-limits, though he did make it clear that he wouldn’t part with his staff ace for pennies on the dollar. 

“There would have to be a really big return for one [starter] in particular.” 

While Noah Cameron and Kris Bubic enjoyed successful 2025 campaigns, it is clear that the pitcher Picollo was referring to was Cole Ragans.

Acquired at the 2023 trade deadline for Aroldis Chapman, Ragans broke out in 2024 with his first All-Star appearance and finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting. 

Ragans’ performance earned him a follow-up campaign, which would not be nearly as fruitful. His ERA ballooned to 4.67, and he missed over three months with a rotator cuff strain. 

Under the hood, however, there was an argument that Ragans was even better than 2024. He cut his walk rate from 8.8% to 7.8%  and led the majors with a 38.1% strikeout rate. His .189 expected batting average ranked in the 97th percentile of all pitchers, while his 34.8% whiff rate ranked in the 94th percentile. 

The monumental gap between his 4.67 ERA and 2.68 xERA indicates that there was a substantial amount of bad luck involved, as does his abnormally high .352 BABIP.

Over a full season, those numbers would have likely evened out, placing Ragans closer to or even surpassing his 2024 numbers. 

Other than Crochet and Skubal, Ragans might have the most complete repertoire of any left-handed pitcher. The headliner is a mid-90s fastball that he throws nearly half the time, holding batters to a .221 batting average and generating whiffs at a nearly 30% clip. 

He complements his heater with a trio of terrific secondaries that he throws between 10% and 20% of the time. His changeup is one of the best in baseball, inducing whiffs at a 50.4% rate and holding batters to a .193 batting average, while both his curveball and slider have proven to be bat-missing offerings as well. 

Unlike many of the other pitchers on this list, Ragans has proven he can be a number two starter over a full season, and there were signs last year that he was ready to level up even more.

Another season like 2023 could move him to untouchable status, and with the Royals’ desperate need for an outfielder, this may be the Red Sox’s best and last chance to get the nasty lefty for an affordable price. 

Why It May Not:

There is little question that the Red Sox would give up Duran or possibly Wilyer Abreu in a package for Ragans, but Picollo’s definition of a “really big return” will determine if the two sides can line up on a deal. 

Given that the Red Sox already dipped into their starting pitcher depth to acquire Gray, they won’t be eager to give up any of their best young pitchers to take Ragans’ spot in the rotation.

A request for either Tolle or Early will likely be countered with either Luis Perales or Kyle Harrison, which may not be enough to convince the Royals to part with their ace. 

As good as Ragans has been when healthy, he has only topped the 100 innings plateau in one professional season, which was immediately followed by a major arm injury. At six-foot-four-inches, Ragan certainly has the build of an innings eater, but he has yet to prove he can shoulder an ace-level workload. 

5. Edward Cabrera, SP, Miami Marlins

• 2025 Stats: 2.8 WAR, 8-7, 3.53 ERA, 26 GS, 137.2 IP, 3.1 BB/9, 9.8 K/9
• Years of Control: 3
• MLBTR 2026 Projected Salary: $3.7 million

Why it May Work: 

The Red Sox hit the bullseye last winter with their acquisition of an oft-injured but talented pitcher from a perennial cellar-dweller. Why not go back to the well?

In his fourth full MLB season, Edward Cabrera finally cut his walk rate to a near league-average level while maintaining his elite strikeout rate. The result was a sturdy 3.53 ERA and career-bests in nearly every major category. 

Like Gray, Cabrera makes up for a lackluster fastball with two dominant secondaries. His curveball was one of the best in baseball last season, holding batters to a .142 batting average and generating whiffs at a 45.2% clip. 

And while his changeup wasn’t quite as effective, opposing hitters managed a lowly .203 batting average against it despite Cabrera using the pitch more than any other in his arsenal. 

Cabrera has the high-octane stuff of a top-of-the-rotation starter, and if the Red Sox believe he can take another step forward with his command in his age-29 season, he could be a high-risk, high-reward target to bolster their rotation. 

Why It May Not: 

Not every pitcher can make the exponential leap that Crochet did last year. Though there is a lot to like about Cabrera’s profile, he is still one of the worst in baseball at limiting hard contact. 

As good as Cabrera’s changeup and curveball are, he will have a small margin for error as long as his sinker remains thoroughly ineffective. His four-seam fastball shows a bit more promise, but his inability to consistently locate the pitch led to a .534 opponents’ slugging percentage.

On top of the repertoire concerns, there are workload question marks as well. 2025 was the last season he threw more than 100 innings, and he still landed on the injured list with an elbow injury. 

Though the Marlins may look to sell high off Cabrera’s career-best season, the fact that he still has three years left of team control will mean that the asking price will be high, perhaps uncomfortably so. Unless the Red Sox are steadfast in their belief that Cabrera can take the leap, it is likely they will turn their attention elsewhere.