The Boston Red Sox focused on upgrading their starting rotation this offseason, and they appear to have accomplished that goal. The free agent signing of former Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez, plus trades for Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, have revamped the starting staff.
The Boston outfield is stocked to overflowing, with Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran — as well as a healthy Masataka Yoshida — competing for three starting spots. But the infield is a different story. The third base and second base positions remain unsettled, with reported trade talks for the Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner and Houston Astros’ Isaac Paredes stalling out.
On Friday, a popular Red Sox podcast affiliated with the team’s flagship radio station WEEI proposed a deal that would net Boston its “second baseman of the future.” But the deal would mean sacrificing a piece of the Red Sox’s future as well.
Pat Brown, one of three hosts of the “Play Tessie” podcast, came up with the idea for what he called “a clean, one-for-one swap.” But Brown’s trade proposal would see the Red Sox cutting ties with the prospect currently rated No. 1 overall in their system by MLB Pipeline, 20-year-old shortstop Franklin Arias.
The Red Sox signed Arias out of Venezuela in 2023 at 17 years old for a $525,000 signing bonus. That was the second-highest bonus paid to a Red Sox international free agent that year. According to a Pipeline scouting report, Arias — who is not expected to be major league-ready until 2027 — “didn’t stand out at the plate” when he was signed, but “that perception has changed after he ranked fifth in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League in hitting (.350) during his pro debut, then encored by winning the batting title (.355) and MVP and top prospect awards in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League.”
In the “Play Tessie” proposal, the Red Sox ship Arias to Miami in a straight-up swap for Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards.
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“The idea here is basically trading Franklin Arias later for Franklin Arias now. Arias is a good prospect — glove-first, contact hitter, maybe 15 to 20 homers — but he’s still a couple years away,” Brown said on the podcast. “Edwards gives you a major league second baseman right now: high average, elite contact rates, strong defense, speed, and four years of team control.”
Edwards was the San Diego Padres’ first-round draft pick in 2018, 38th overall, signing with the Friars for a $2.6 million bonus, well above the slot value of about $1.8 million. But though the Padres clearly thought highly of Edwards, they traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays on Dec. 6, 2019, along with veteran outfielder Hunter Renfroe for outfielder Tommy Pham and shortstop Jake Cronenworth.
But the Rays had no plans for Edwards, trading him to the Marlins three years later without giving him a single big-league appearance.
In Miami, Edwards has emerged as what Brown called “a reliable big-league player who fits a run-prevention roster.”
In 2025, his third season with the Marlins major league club, Edwards posted a .695 OPS, which was not highly impressive. But he stole 27 bases, and his defense was solid enough to end the season with 3.2 bWAR (wins above replacement as calculated by Baseball Reference). That was more than the four primary second basemen used by the Red Sox last season. Collectively, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, Romy González and David Hamilton were good for 2.2 bWAR.
Saying goodbye to Arias would be difficult, but with Trevor Story still with three years remaining on his six-year, $140 million contract, and former Red Sox No. 1 prospect Marcelo Mayer seen as next in line to take over the position at Fenway Park, Arias may find his path to Boston blocked for the foreseeable future anyway.
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