Red Sox

Craig Breslow, Alex Cora discuss adding LHP James Paxton, what else Red Sox want to add ahead of trade deadline

Breslow said the team is still looking to add a relief pitcher and a right-handed hitter ahead of MLB's July 30 deadline.

By Kaley Brown

July 26, 2024

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The 54-47 Red Sox appear to be buyers at this year’s trade deadline.

Boston acquired left-handed starting pitcher James Paxton from the Los Angeles Dodgers for a minor league infielder, 17-year-old Moises Bolivar, on Friday. The Dodgers designated the 35-year-old for assignment earlier this week.

Paxton has started 18 games in 2024 and owns a 4.43 ERA. The southpaw has thrown 89 ⅓ innings thus far; he hasn’t tossed more than 100 innings in a season since 2019 as a member of the New York Yankees. The Red Sox certainly hope to see Paxton pass that mark down the stretch.

He spent 2022-23 with the Red Sox, but only played for the team last season. Paxton missed 2022 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. His Boston debut came in mid-May last year; Paxton ultimately threw 96 innings for the Red Sox over 19 starts. Boston could have given the starter a qualifying offer (a one-year deal totaling $20.5 million) to retain him for 2024, but the team opted to let him become a free agent. He signed with Los Angeles in January.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora met with reporters before Boston’s game against the Yankees on Friday and discussed the team’s first trade deadline move.

“We know (Paxton),” Cora said, per The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “Throughout the season, the fastball has been down, but not last week.”

The Red Sox faced the 35-year-old pitcher on Sunday, who tossed five innings after allowing a home run to Jarren Duran in the first inning. Paxton ended up settling down, throwing 95 pitches, striking out seven batters, and giving up three more hits after Duran’s homer.

Perhaps the Red Sox already knew they wanted to aggressively pursue the pitcher before his Sunday Night Baseball performance against them, but his latest outing could have solidified their decision to trade for him.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told the media that the Red Sox may want to add at least one starting pitcher ahead of the trade deadline, according to Speier. Breslow also noted Paxton’s veteran status, having pitched in MLB for a decade, per Speier.

Cora explained that the addition of Paxton will help Boston’s bullpen, which has underperformed and been overworked since returning from the All-Star break last week. Relief pitchers Chris Martin and Justin Slaten have been on the injured list dating back to July 5 and 12 respectively. Martin and Slaten have been two of the Red Sox’ more reliable bullpen arms this season.

Both Breslow and Cora added that they want to add another couple of players, and seem to anticipate that happening. Breslow said he wants to add a relief pitcher and a right-handed hitter.

As for Cora, the recently extended skipper spoke optimistically about the Red Sox’ strategy with the trade deadline four days away, according to Speier.

“The plan here is not only to be better in the future but also to improve our big league club,” Cora said. “They’re working hard to see how we can improve the organization.”