Red Sox could be eyeing yet another injured pitcher at deadline

The Red Sox trade rumors just won't die. But the quality of acquisitions connected to them is on the decline.

Forget about a young, cost-controlled, team-controlled, dynamic, and healthy starting pitcher to be their clear No. 2 behind Garrett Crochet. That may have been a pipe dream all along. And the "healthy" part may be the most pertinent detail, because the Sox have been active in recent years in acquiring established starters when their stock is at its lowest.

So, it makes perfect sense that the Red Sox would potentially target a guy like Shane Bieber. The 2020 Cy Young winner, Bieber hasn't pitched since April 2, 2024, and certainly hadn't approached his award-winning level since getting the hardware. Bieber underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after his last start, but he's close to being able to return after recently beginning his rehab assignments.

Sounds like a perfect time for Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to make a phone call. MLB reporter Robert Murray recently said on the "Baseball Insiders" podcast that believes Boston could be in on Bieber at the trade deadline. Murray admitted this amounts to "connecting dots," but knows the Red Sox almost got Bieber in the winter, and now could rev those trade talks up.

"In the offseason, [the Red Sox] were very much in the Shane Bieber market," Murray said. "Bieber would make a tremendous amount of sense there in Boston. At one point, I thought he was going to Boston. I'm pretty sure he thought he was going to Boston, too. And then the guardians stepped up late and got him."

^{Shane Bieber is the latest former Cy Young winner to come up in Red Sox trade rumors.}

Bieber ended up signing a two-year, $26 million deal with Cleveland, which was for $10 million in 2025 and a $16 million player option for 2026. Unless he goes to a playoff team, regains his Cy Young form, and comes up big in October, Bieber seems likely to accept that option and go for a new contract in 2027.

Now on the wrong side of 30, Bieber has already seen a dip in his fastball velocity before the surgery (92.0 mph in 2024, down from 94.1 mph in 2020). But there's always the chance that the Tommy John helps him regain his past form.

At the end of the day, the Red Sox are better off acquiring a pitcher post-Tommy John than before it. That's what they did with Crochet, who underwent the procedure back in 2022, and is now a Cy Young candidate himself. But unless Bieber flashes the ability that won him the Cy in 2020, he would amount to an underwhelming addition -- and one that carries considerable risk, if they expect him to be their No. 2 guy.