Alex Cora Reveals Impasse Red Sox Faced At Trade Deadline

The Red Sox addressed their needs at the MLB trade deadline, and they avoided giving up valuable assets for the future.

Boston made five trades before Tuesday’s deadline. It got a right-handed bat (Danny Jansen) and bolstered its pitching staff. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora agreed the Red Sox got the “deserved reinforcements” needed to help the club’s postseason push.

The Red Sox were linked to high-profile names like 2024 All-Star Tanner Scott, who was dealt to the San Diego Padres. In his appearance on WEEI’s “Jones and Mego,” Cora didn’t name the players Boston was going after, but he did reveal a steep price clubs were asking for.

“When we asked for a top reliever the names they mentioned right away were Marcelo (Mayer) and Roman (Anthony),” Cora told on WEEI, per Rob Bradford.

Even for fans who thought Boston didn’t get enough at the deadline, dealing away the club’s top two prospects has to be out of the question even for an All-Star-caliber reliever. That asking price also showed how unwilling other clubs were to ship off their speculated targets.

The Red Sox did part with multiple prospects with Nick Yorke being the highest ranked that was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a potentially high-upside pitcher. However, Breslow and his staff balanced helping out the team this season while also maintaining the future that Mayer and Anthony represent.