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Red Sox Select José De León

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The Red Sox have selected the contract of right-hander José De León. They had a 40-man vacancy due to Ali Sánchez being outrighted last week. Left-hander Chris Murphy has been optioned to open an active roster spot.

De León, 33, is going to start today’s game for the Red Sox. Lucas Giolito was lined up to potentially take the ball today. He probably would have done so if they still needed to clinch a playoff spot. However, now that the Sox have a spot secured, it appears they will hold Giolito back so that he’s available for the Wild Card series.

Instead, they will give the ball to De León. Despite his age and former status as a top prospect, his major league track record is still limited. He debuted back in 2016 and has appeared in six different big league seasons but has thrown just 65 1/3 innings with a 7.44 earned run average. Injuries have been a major storyline in his career. His 2023 season was cut short by Tommy John surgery, the second of his career.

Due to that surgery, he missed the entire 2024 season, at least in terms of affiliated ball. He played some winter ball in Puerto Rico in 2024-25, demonstrating enough health for the Sox to give him a minor league deal heading into 2025. He made 22 appearances for the WooSox this year, 13 of them being starts, logging 75 1/3 innings overall with a 6.93 ERA. His 14.4% walk rate was quite poor but he struck out 24.6% of batters faced.

His last appearance was September 20th, just over a week ago, when he logged 4 1/3 innings, walking four but striking out eight. Presumably, the Sox will throw him out there to soak up as many innings as he can, so that they can save Giolito and some of their relievers for the Wild Card round. There is an off-day tomorrow, so the relievers don’t need to be sealed in bubble wrap, but it makes sense for the club to focus on their workloads and make sure they’re all fresh for Tuesday.

De León is out of options and may end up getting bumped off the roster shortly. It’s been suggested by some members of the Boston media that the club may want to have Sánchez on the postseason roster as a third catcher, which would free up manager Alex Cora to be more aggressive in removing his catchers for pinch-hitters or pinch-runners. Since De León is likely up for a one-day mop-up assignment, he may end up the sacrificial lamb for that move.

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images

Nationals To Hire Paul Toboni As President Of Baseball Operations

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The Nationals are finalizing a deal with Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni as the new head of their baseball operations department, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. Toboni will be Washington’s president of baseball operations, reports Britt Ghiroli of The Athletic, and will hire a general manager to be his second-in-command.

The Nats’ front office had been run by Mike Rizzo for many years. He first became the general manager in 2009 and later got a title bump to president of baseball operations. The club had a lot of success during his tenure, as they were perennial contenders in the previous decade and won the 2019 World Series.

But since winning that title, they entered a protracted rebuild that they have struggled to get out of. The current campaign will be their sixth straight with a losing record. Rizzo was fired in July, along with manager Dave Martinez, as the club looked to shake things up. Assistant general manager Mike DeBartolo was made the interim general manager at that point.

Toboni is only 35 years old and appears to be a rising star in the baseball world. The Sox fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in 2023 and Toboni generated some interest for that job, even though he would have been only 33 years old at that time, when he was Boston’s vice-president of amateur scouting and player development.

The Sox eventually hired Craig Breslow to replace Bloom. Shortly thereafter, Toboni was promoted to assistant general manager, going into the 2024 campaign. In recent weeks, it has been reported that Breslow plans to hire/promote a general manager to work under him, with Toboni a strong candidate for that position.

But Toboni was also one of many candidates to run the Washington front office. Other reported candidates included Eddie Romero, another Boston assistant general manager, as well as Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins, Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman, Dodgers senior vice president Josh Byrnes, Royals assistant general manager Scott Sharp and D-Backs AGM Amiel Sawdaye. Instead of settling for the #2 job in Boston, Toboni gets the #1 spot in Washington.

As Passan points out, Toboni has been running Boston’s draft in recent years as the club has stockpiled an impressive collection of young talent. That includes players who have already risen to the major league ranks, with Passan listing Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Payton Tolle, Connelly Early and those who were included in the Garrett Crochet trade. Boston sent Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman González to the White Sox in that swap.

That is presumably of interest to the Nationals, who have struggled to develop their own draftees and signees in recent years. There is some young talent on the current big league roster but the top guys all came over in the 2023 deal sending Juan Soto to the Padres. The Nats were able to get CJ Abrams, James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana in that pact. Hassell hasn’t yet provided anything in the big leagues but Abrams, Wood and Gore have all had success. Susana hasn’t yet reached Triple-A and just underwent lat surgery but he is considered one of the top pitching prospects in the league.

By contrast, a lot of the players that the Nats drafted or signed have not panned out as expected. Over the past decade, they have used first-round picks on Carter Kieboom, Dane Dunning, Seth Romero, Mason Denaburg, Jackson Rutledge, Cade Cavalli, Brady House, Elijah Green, Dylan Crews, Seaver King and Eli Willits. Some of those players are still young and with the Nats but the club probably doesn’t feel great about that group overall.

Ideally, Toboni can help the Nats have better results going forward. Even if he can do that, it probably won’t happen overnight. It was recently reported that the franchise is dealing with some concerning systemic issues. The club has seen a few notable staff departures recently. Per Andrew Golden of The Washington Post, scouting director Danny Haas jumped ship to the Orioles a few weeks ago. Just this week, TalkNats reported that senior director of amateur scouting Brad Ciolek is leaving to join the Tigers.

Toboni’s first priority will probably to focus on behind-the-scenes details like that, before he can even turn his attention to the roster. He will also have to conduct a search for a new manager to replace Martinez, unless he wants to just keep interim skipper Miguel Cairo around for next year.

There will surely be more clarity on the details in the coming weeks. It’s unclear what’s next for DeBartolo, who was a candidate for this job but was passed over. It’s also possible this news alters the next steps for the Red Sox, who were presumably hoping to retain Toboni.

For the Nats, it’s clear that 2025 is a pivot point for them. It will be impossible to evaluate the transition for years to come but they are hoping it’s a move away from their dreary present and towards a brighter future.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images

Red Sox Outright Ali Sánchez

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Catcher Ali Sánchez has cleared waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Worcester, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The Red Sox had designated him for assignment a couple of days ago when outfielder Wilyer Abreu was reinstated from the injured list.

Sánchez has been outrighted before in his career, which means he has the right to elect free agency. However, Cotillo says he is staying in the organization, which suggests he won’t exercise that right. Worcester’s season is over, so he doesn’t have to actually report to that club.

There’s some sense in that decision for Sánchez. At this late stage of the season, he wouldn’t have much appeal elsewhere. The Sox, however, acquired him just ahead of the September 1st postseason eligibility deadline. By staying in the system, he might be third on the club’s catching depth chart. Carlos Narváez and Connor Wong are the only two backstops on the 40-man roster. If one of those two suffers an injury in the next few weeks, Sánchez might get added back to the roster for the final days of the regular season or even for some postseason work.

The alternative choice doesn’t have much upside. He wouldn’t be postseason eligible with any other club. He’s not making a guaranteed salary, so there’s no financial component to the decision. If he’s not added back to the 40-man by season’s end, he could elect free agency at that point. The only real upside to electing free agency now would be getting a headstart on his offseason, so it’s understandable if he has decided to stay with the Sox and keep open the chance of playing some postseason games.

His major league track record is still fairly unimpressive. He has appeared in 50 games and stepped to the plate on just 133 occasions with a .183/.220/.233 line. But he’s considered a competent defender and his offense has been better in the minors. He made 943 plate appearances at the Triple-A level from 2022 through 2025 with a .272/.348/.418 line. That results in a 96 wRC+, indicating below average offense overall, though catchers usually come in about ten points below league-wide average.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Red Sox Re-Sign Hobie Harris To Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox are in agreement with reliever Hobie Harris on a minor league contract for 2026, reports Ari Alexander. The Gaeta Sports Management client will be in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee.

Harris will return to Boston for a second consecutive season. The 32-year-old righty spent this season in the Sox organization. Harris signed a minor league deal with the Mets last November. The Red Sox selected him in the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5 draft less than a month later. Harris missed a couple weeks early on with shoulder inflammation. He has been healthy since June and turned in 39 innings of 4.15 ERA ball at Triple-A Worcester. He fanned a quarter of his opponents but allowed walks and home runs at higher than average rates.

A former Yankees draftee, Harris pitched in the big leagues with the Nationals two seasons ago. He made 16 appearances and allowed 12 runs (11 earned) across 19 1/3 innings. The Pittsburgh product only recorded nine strikeouts in his big league stint but has fanned a reasonable 24% of opponents over parts of five Triple-A seasons. Harris uses a three-pitch mix led by his mid-80s splitter. His four-seam fastball sits around 95 MPH and he throws an upper-80s cutter as his breaking pitch.

Red Sox Activate Wilyer Abreu From IL, Designate Ali Sanchez

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The Red Sox announced that outfielder Wilyer Abreu has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list.  Catcher Ali Sanchez was designated for assignment in the corresponding roster move.

Abreu returns after missing a little over a month due to calf tightness.  As of two weeks ago, Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t have a set timeline for Abreu’s return, so it’s good news that Abreu has been able to make it back with a week to spare in the regular season, let alone before the playoffs begin.  Abreu is in the lineup as the designated hitter tonight, which could be a sign that his calf isn’t quite 100 percent, or the Red Sox might simply just be easing him back into action.

Assuming his calf is generally okay, Abreu should step right back into his normal strong-side platoon role as Boston’s everyday right fielder against right-handed pitching.  One of the sport’s best defensive outfielders, Abreu won the right field Gold Glove in 2024 and he is a strong candidate for a repeat, with +15 Defensive Runs Saved and +8 Outs Above Average to his ledger in 2025.  Between his superb glovework and solid bat (.253/.325/.486 with 22 homers in 395 plate appearances), Abreu has quickly become a major all-around piece of the Red Sox roster.

Sanchez’s 2025 began on a minor league contract with the Blue Jays, and he was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox in early August.  The Sox DFA’ed him 10 days after that claim, and after rejecting an outright assignment, Sanchez landed with the Mets on another minors deal.  He then found himself on the way back to Boston in a trade on September 1, as the Red Sox wanted some additional depth behind the Carlos Narvaez/Connor Wong catching combo.  Over 12 big league games in 2025, Sanchez has a .522 OPS over 23 plate appearances (all but two of them with Toronto).

Sanchez has a career slash line of .183/.220/.283 over 133 career PA in parts of four different MLB seasons, as his bat hasn’t been productive enough to hold down a regular role even if his well-regarded glove keeps getting him looks.  Sanchez is out of minor league options, which is part of the reason why he has been such a regular on the waiver wire.  Because he has been previously outrighted, Sanchez has the ability to elect free agency if he clears waivers and is assigned to Triple-A, though he is probably more likely to just accept the assignment and stay in the organization as depth.

The Changing Landscape Of The Offseason Shortstop Market

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For much of the 2025 season, it's looked as though Bo Bichette will be the only notable shortstop in free agency -- and it's been plenty fair to debate whether he's a shortstop at all. The 27-year-old has bounced back -- and then some -- at the plate, largely quieting concerns about his anemic performance with the bat in an injury-ruined 2024 season that saw him slash just .225/.277/.322 with four homers in 81 games. But whatever good will Bichette has regained with a resurgent performance in the batter's box has at least partially been offset by a career-worst year with the glove -- and now yet another lower-half injury.

Elsewhere in free agency, what once looked like an otherwise-barren class has now begun to show some potential upside. Narratives surrounding several potential free agents have begun to shift -- enough that it bears taking a lengthier look at what the winter might bring.

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Nationals Have Interviewed Red Sox’ AGM Eddie Romero

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The Nationals are continuing to their attempts to get a front office in place before the offseason. Per a report from Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic, the Nats recently interviewed Eddie Romero, assistant general manager of the Red Sox. In a tweet, Ghiroli also mentions Royals assistant general manager Scott Sharp, though it’s unclear if Sharp has interviewed for the job.

Romero was been with the Red Sox a long time, having been hired in a scouting role back in 2006. He has since risen through the ranks, getting the assistant GM and executive vice-president titles in 2018. His work in Boston is clearly respected within the Red Sox franchise. In the fall of 2023, after the Sox had fired chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, Romero interviewed to be his replacement. That job ultimately went to Craig Breslow.

Romero is the second Boston assistant GM to be connected to the opening in Washington. It was reported last week that Paul Toboni is also a candidate. Today’s reporting confirms that Toboni did indeed interview for the job. However, Breslow is planning to a hire a GM to work as his second-in-command and Tim Healey of The Boston Globe writes that Toboni is a strong candidate for that position. If Toboni ultimately gets tapped for the GM role in Boston, that takes him off the table in Washington and could also lead to increased speculation about someone like Romero leaving.

Like Romero, Sharp has been with his club for many years, having been hired by the Royals in 2006. The Kansas City front office is currently headed by general manager J.J. Picollo. Sharp has been connected to a number of vacancies over the years, including the Mets’ GM search back in 2018, the Angels’ GM search in 2020 and the Giants’ GM search last year.

Sharp withdrew himself from the Giants’ GM search about a year ago, per Rosenthal. That was reportedly due to family considerations, though Rosenthal noted at that time that Sharp had an interest in running a front office at some point in the future.

The Nationals have been rebuilding for years now but the lack of progress led to president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo, and manager Dave Martinez, getting fired in July. Assistant GM Mike DeBartolo was given the GM title on an interim basis. He is a candidate to run the front office beyond the 2025 season, though the Nats have also considered a number of external candidates.

In addition to Romero, Toboni and Sharp, Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman, Dodgers senior vice president Josh Byrnes and D-Backs AGM Amiel Sawdaye have been tied to the Nats. Cubs general manager Carter Hawkins was also in the mix but is reportedly no longer in the running.

Per Rosenthal and Ghiroli, the Nats are considering hiring both a president of baseball operations and a general manager. It’s therefore possible they hire two of these aforementioned executives, though there are perhaps others in the mix who haven’t been publicly connected to the club.

The Nats want to have those decisions made by the end of the regular season so that they can then pivot to the managerial search. Miguel Cairo has been in the interim skipper since Martinez was fired. Whether or not Cairo is a candidate to stick around is presumably dependent on who is eventually picked to run the front office and how that person wants to go about the managerial search.

Photo courtesy of Brad Mills, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: The Struggling Mets, Bryce Eldridge, And Trey Yesavage

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Will the Astros trade Christian Walker in the offseason and move Isaac Paredes over to first base? (38:45)
  • Will the Braves make any shocking trades of their core this offseason? (47:40)
  • Will the Red Sox nab a postseason spot and can they make a deep postseason run? (55:00)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Benny Sieu, Imagn Images

Lucas Giolito Converts Club Option To Mutual Provision

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Lucas Giolito completed four innings against the Athletics tonight. That pushes him beyond 140 frames on the season, clinching a contractual milestone that’ll have an impact on the upcoming free agent class. Giolito has hit the vesting threshold needed to convert the Red Sox’s $14MM club option into a $19MM mutual option. That means he’ll be able to opt out in favor of a $1.5MM buyout and return to the open market in search of a multi-year deal.

Giolito is sure to go that route unless he suffers a major injury within the next few weeks. The 31-year-old righty is amidst his best season since he received down-ballot Cy Young votes each year between 2019-21. He has rebounded nicely from the elbow surgery that robbed him of his first year in Boston. Giolito returned this season on a $19MM player option. A Spring Training hamstring strain forced him to wait a few weeks to make his team debut, but he has been one of Boston’s most reliable starters behind Garrett Crochet over the past few months.

The righty’s first few starts were a little rocky. Giolito pitched to a 4.85 ERA across five appearances in May. He has performed well since then. Giolito has not allowed more than 3.41 earned runs per nine innings in any of the past four months. He carries a 2.86 ERA while averaging almost six innings per start in 18 appearances since the beginning of June. That doesn’t include tonight’s start, in which walks and a handful of inherited runners coming across the board left him with four earned runs through 4 2/3 innings.

All told, Giolito took a 3.30 ERA into today’s appearance. His 20% strikeout rate and 10% swinging strike mark are both a little below average. Giolito isn’t missing bats at the plus rates that he did during his early run with the White Sox, but he’s throwing strikes and working relatively deep into games. He has picked up 14 quality starts while tamping down on the home run issues that plagued him late in his time with Chicago (and during his brief stops with the Angels and Guardians in 2023).

Giolito is going into his age-31 season. He’s coming off a platform year that is arguably better than the one Luis Severino turned in for the Mets a year ago. Severino landed three years and $67MM with an opt-out after the second season. One could write that off as an anomaly by an A’s team that wanted to avoid a revenue sharing grievance and needed to overpay in the midst of a relocation. Even so, Giolito’s numbers stack up to those of Eduardo Rodriguez (four years, $80MM at age 31) and Michael Wacha (three years, $51MM at age 33) in their respective walk years.

Time will tell what kind of deal the market will bear for Giolito. His camp will probably take aim at four years. Even if that doesn’t materialize because of concerns about the dip in strikeouts or the home run issues he batted in previous seasons, he’ll easily beat the $17.5MM net call he faces in declining his end of the mutual option. That’s close to what rebound candidates like Walker Buehler, Alex Cobb and late-career Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander received last winter.

Boston can and almost certainly will tag Giolito with a qualifying offer, which would be in the $22MM range. In the likely event that Giolito declines, that’d entitle them to draft compensation. RosterResource estimates the Red Sox are narrowly above the $241MM luxury tax threshold. Assuming that’s the case, they’d receive a pick after the fourth round in 2026 if Giolito declines the QO and signs with another team.

Image courtesy of James A. Pittman, Imagn Images.

Nationals Have Interviewed Guardians’ AGM Matt Forman

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Guardians executive vice president and assistant general manager Matt Forman has interviewed for the Nationals’ GM vacancy, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post. It’s not clear when the interview occurred or whether Forman has advanced beyond the initial stage.

Cubs GM Carter Hawkins reportedly interviewed for the position two weeks back. The Nats also reached out to Dodgers executive vice president Josh Byrnes and Diamondbacks AGM Amiel Sawdaye. Over the weekend, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reported that Red Sox’s assistant GM Paul Toboni was also on Washington’s radar. Whether any of those executives formally interviewed is not known. Barry Svrluga of The Washington Post suggested last week that the Nats hoped to have a new front office leader in place by the end of the season.

Forman, a Northwestern product, entered professional baseball with Cleveland in 2013. Forman started as an amateur scouting intern and had worked his way to assistant general manager within four years. A former staffer at Baseball America, Forman received another promotion in January 2022 when the Guardians added the executive VP role to his title. That essentially places him third on Cleveland’s front office hierarchy behind baseball operations president Chris Antonetti and general manager Mike Chernoff. Sky Andrecheck, Eric Binder and James Harris also hold an AGM title with the Guards.

The Nationals fired former GM Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez in July. Mike DeBartolo has led the front office on an interim basis for the past two months and could also get consideration for the full-time position.

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