Red Sox’s Craig Breslow Smartly Avoided Trade Deadline Disaster

Sometimes the best deal is the one you don’t make. That certainly seems to apply to Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, who passed on trading for Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Mitch Keller.

Leading into the July 31 MLB trade deadline, Breslow and the Red Sox were linked to just about every front-line pitcher available on the market.

In the end, Boston ended up acquiring starter Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers and reliever Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Much was written about the Red Sox’s failed pursuit of Minnesota Twins ace Joe Ryan. But one of Breslow’s back-up plans was Keller, with the Pirates in fire-sale mode.

Pittsburgh general manager Ben Cherington completed five trades in the 48 hours leading up to the deadline shipping out All-Star closer David Bednar and Gold Glove-winning third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, as well as pitchers Bailey Falter, Taylor Rodgers and Caleb Ferguson. But Cherington held on to Keller. And he might be regretting that right about now.

Keller has made four starts since the trade deadline, compiling a 9.00 ERA in those games. Opponents are hitting .359 against the right-hander in the month of August.

For the year, Keller is 5-12 with a 4.34 ERA. It’s the third time in four seasons Keller has lost at least 12 games. The lone exception was 2023, when he went 13-9 and received an All-Star bid.

According to Spotrac, the 29-year-old has three more seasons remaining on his five-year, $77 million contract and won’t reach free agency until after the 2028 season.