James Paxton Trade: Red Sox Reunite With Veteran In Deal With Dodgers

The Red Sox have made their first significant in-season acquisition under Craig Breslow, and it’s a reunion with a familiar face.

The Sox swung a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for veteran left-handed pitcher James Paxton, the team announced Friday.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report the deal was done. In exchange for Paxton, Boston sent minor leaguer Moises Bolivar, a 17-year-old shortstop signed out of Venezuela, to LA.

LA recently designated Paxton for assignment, but it is still within the window in which the club could trade him. Almost as soon as the Dodgers made the move, speculation about a potential return to Boston began.

Paxton, who spent the 2023 season with the Red Sox, has been roughly league-average this year for the Dodgers. At the very least, he provides a serviceable back-end arm for the Sox, who have dealt with injury issues in the starting rotation this season. Paxton started 18 games for LA, logging 89 1/3 innings and going 8-2 with a 4.43 ERA.

Walks have been a major issue, though. Paxton issued more free passes (48) than anyone in the National League, and his 4.8 walks per nine innings is way above his career rate. His strikeouts are also down. Paxton is striking out 6.4 per nine innings, a considerable drop-off from the 10 per nine career rate he had coming into this season.

The Red Sox saw the best version of Paxton in their most recent road trip. The Canadian struck out seven in just five innings of work to beat the Sox on Sunday night in Los Angeles.