The Boston Red Sox are 32-36 and 4 1/2 games out of a Wild Card spot. The team could play their way back into postseason contention in June, and potentially add some pieces before the trade deadline.
Things could be turning around for the Red Sox. They called up Roman Anthony, the top prospect in baseball, and should get Alex Bregman back at some point. If they can stay within striking distance of a Wild Card spot or make a late push for the American League East lead, they may want to add some pitching at the July 31 trade deadline.
Outside of Garrett Crochet, the Red Sox rotation has been unreliable. BALLCAP Sports’ Jim Riley tabbed Tomoyuki Sugano of the Baltimore Orioles as a trade target for the team.
“They have a lot of pitching under control for many years, so, in my opinion, a rental would do just fine as this Red Sox team tries to get back in it in the month of June, and hopefully will still be able to pull a trade because I think it works for Tomoyuki Sugano,” said Riley. “He has been great for the Baltimore Orioles and would provide a reliable top half of the rotation type pitcher for a Boston team trying to compete. Again, this is with the mindset that they can kind of climb back into it in June, and be in the wild card mix in July. Boston is one of those teetering teams right now.”
Sugano signed a one-year, $13 million deal with the Orioles in the offseason, after spending 12 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball with the Yomiuri Giants. He was highly accomplished in Japan, winning the Eiji Sawamura Award, the Japanese equivalent of the Cy Young Award, twice. He was also a two-time MVP and had a 2.43 ERA in 12 seasons.
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The Orioles will need a massive turnaround in June and July to justify not being sellers. Sugano is 35 years old and will be a free agent after the season. The Orioles may have reservations about trading him in the division, but could get the Red Sox to overpay for him.
This season, Sugano has a 3.23 ERA in 13 games. He has not allowed more than four runs in any start. He has allowed two or fewer earned runs in eight of his starts.
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