The Boston Red Sox traded left-handed starting pitcher Connelly Early to the Washington Nationals for third baseman Curtis Mead on Saturday night, a straight one-for-one swap of young major-leaguers with no prospects or cash involved. ESPN’s Jeff Passan broke the story.
Boston has been chasing a third baseman the way a fat man chases the ice cream truck — desperately, repeatedly, and with nothing to show for it but sweat. They had an All-Star, signed another All-Star, the first one got mad and got traded, the second one walked in free agency, and the replacement they acquired has hit .233. Now they’ve shipped out a live arm for another shot at the hot corner.
Mead, 25, is having the kind of season that makes a front office look smart. In 86 games he’s batting .256 with a .352 on-base percentage, 17 home runs, 48 RBIs, and an .856 OPS — all career bests by a wide margin. He’d previously bounced through the Rays and White Sox organizations without sticking, hitting .245 with a .710 OPS for his career before this year. The Nationals acquired him from Chicago last offseason under president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, a former Red Sox executive, and watched him shed the bust label over four months. Now they’ve flipped him.
Early, 24, went 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA across 17 starts in his rookie season, striking out 94 in 91.2 innings. He hasn’t pitched since June 30 — landed on the injured list July 1 with left elbow inflammation — but is expected back in August. His FIP sat at 4.61, a number the analytics crowd will point to like it’s a smoking gun, but the kid misses bats and throws strikes. He debuted last September and started Game 3 of the Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium. Not too shabby for a fifth-round pick out of UVA who started his college career at West Point.
The Red Sox felt comfortable dealing from their rotation depth because lefty Jake Bennett has emerged with a 6-3 record and 2.58 ERA, joining Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle, and injured ace Garrett Crochet in the pipeline. Early is under team control through 2032; Mead through 2030.
For Washington, the calculus is straightforward. They sit two games behind the Diamondbacks for the NL’s final wild-card spot and desperately need starting pitching. Toboni knows Early personally from his Boston tenure and already swung one deal with his old club, sending Bennett to the Red Sox earlier this season. Getting a controllable, top-100-adjacent arm for a guy you acquired cheaply after his best four months — that’s a clean piece of business. The Nationals are calling up Brady House from Triple-A Rochester to replace Mead at third. House was their Opening Day third baseman, struggled, and is now hitting .300 at Rochester.
The trade landed hours after the Red Sox managed one hit against Dylan Cease in a loss at Fenway — their fifth shutout of the season. Caleb Durbin, the man Mead is likely replacing at third, said earlier Saturday he’d be willing to move to second base if the team acquired a third baseman. Boston is riding the momentum of a 15-game win streak earlier this month and sits in solid wild-card position, but the bats have gone quiet enough that Craig Breslow’s front office decided to act before the August 3 deadline.
Both teams got what they needed. Boston gets a bat with pop and years of control. Washington gets an arm that can slot into the rotation the minute the elbow cooperates. Whether either gamble pays off is a question for October.
Sources:
- Yahoo Sports — Red Sox swap LHP Connelly Early for 3B Curtis Mead in deal with Nationals
- Yahoo Sports — Report: Red Sox trade rookie pitcher Connelly Early to Washington Nationals for 3B Curtis Mead
- Yahoo Sports (Sporting News) — Red Sox-Nationals trade details: Boston lands breakout 3B Curtis Mead for Connelly Early
- Yahoo Sports (NBC Sports Boston) — Red Sox trade Connelly Early for infielder Curtis Mead: Report
- Over the Monster — Red Sox put Dustin May on IL, promote Connelly Early to make MLB debut