Boston Red Sox SP Trade Target: Mets’ Zack Wheeler

This much is obvious, the Boston Red Sox are going to be in the market for starting pitching this off season. More than likely high-level starting pitching too, as the team clearly lacks an ace to lead their staff.

They could certainly look to free agency to fill this hole. Landing David Price or Zack Greinke would immediately fix their issue of not having an ace. President Dave Dombrowski has a history of being aggressive in free agency, and I would not be surprised to see the Red Sox get heavily involved in a Price or Greinke.

That being said, is that the best option out there? Rarely do large free agent contracts work out well throughout the length of the deal. Red Sox’s fans know this well. Make no mistake, Price and Greinke are going to get PAID, and the contract is probably going to look ugly a few years down the road. Especially, when you consider the injury volatility of an MLB pitcher.

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If the Red Sox want to sign a free agent pitcher this off season, I think someone like John Lackey would be a better use of their resources.

The more I think about it, the more I think the Red Sox should be targeting trade targets to help fix their starting pitching issues. With a deep pool of young position players to use as bait, the Red Sox could certainly do some damage in the starting pitching trade market.

With reports already surfacing of Dombrowski looking to trade from the Red Sox’s deep system, attacking the trade market may be the Red Sox’s primary plan. On top of that, Dombrowski has a history of aggressively adding to his big league club by using the trade route.

Because of all this, I believe that the Red Sox will aggressively pursue upgrades in the rotation via trade, and it is a smart move. To prepare, I want to take a look at potential trade candidates for the Red Sox. Through the next few weeks, I am going to look at logical starting pitchers who could be obtained by the Red Sox in the trade market.

Some of these guys are ace-level pitchers right now and some aren’t. Most of them though, will have clear ace potential. The Red Sox have a ton of intriguing trade chips. If they are willing to deal from their strength, then possibilities are seemingly endless.

The first trade candidate I am going to look at is New York Mets RHP Zack Wheeler. Loaded with quality young arms and lacking impact offensive talent, the Mets seems like an obvious trade partner for the Red Sox.

With Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz seemingly set in the rotation, Wheeler may find himself on the outside looking in. Make no mistake, Wheeler is a talented pitcher, but he is coming off of Tommy John surgery and when he is ready, the rotation is likely to be full. I could see why the Mets could just look to trade Wheeler in the off season.

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The Mets nearly dealt Wheeler to the Milwaukee Brewers at the trade deadline this past season. The trade fell through, but they were willing to deal Wheeler in exchange for outfielder Carlos Gomez. Clearly there is an obtainable price to land Wheeler, and I think it represents a possible buy-low opportunity for the Red Sox.

Not long ago, Wheeler was considered one of the best pitching prospects in all of baseball. He throws a mid-90s fastball with great downward movement and a knockout slider. Wheeler has struggled with control in the past, but it had started to come around the past couple of seasons.

Wheeler is an extremely talented pitcher. There is no denying his pure stuff on the mound, and his upside is truly limitless. That being said, the injury does bring some concerns.

Obviously, Wheeler coming back from Tommy John surgery isn’t ideal, but the unknown should help keep the price down. Wheeler has said that he expects to be ready to go by June, and return from Tommy John success stories are aplenty these days.

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There is definitely some risk involved, but Wheeler is a talented pitcher, and like I said before, this is a buy-low opportunity. There is a wide-range of trade possibilities out there for the Red Sox, but calling the Mets about Wheeler needs to be on Dombrowski’s to-do list this off season.

This could be an opportunity to land a young potential ace for a relatively low price.