The start of the 2024 season is still over a month away, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and the Boston Red Sox are already selling pieces off their MLB roster for futures.
And Breslow’s first move came out of the bullpen, with righty reliever John Schreiber traded to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for pitching prospect David Sandlin.
CLEVELAND, OH – JUNE 25: John Schreiber #46 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates striking out Amed Rosario of the Cleveland Guardians during the seventh inning at Progressive Field on June 25, 2022 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
But Schreiber was nails for the Sox in 2022, with a 4-4 record, eight saves, and 22 holds over 65 innings of work. Schreiber also struck out 74 batters and held opponents to a .195 batting average during that 2022 run.
It’s also worth noting that the Red Sox were slated to have another four years of team control over the 6-foot-2, soon-to-be 30-year-old Schreiber, who had come to terms on a contract for 2024 at just over $1 million last month.
But perhaps the Red Sox felt that it was unlikely that Schreiber was going to return to those 2022 numbers after that injury-derailed 2023 campaign, and that it ultimately made the most sense to trade Schreiber while they still could.
Jun 22, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; Oklahoma Sooners starting pitcher David Sandlin (28) pitches against the Texas A&M Aggies during the seventh inning at Charles Schwab Field. (Dylan Widger/USA TODAY Sports)
Sandlin, meanwhile, comes to the Red Sox after spending the last two seasons in the Royals’ minor league ranks.
An 11th-round pick of Kansas City back in 2022, Sandlin posted a 4-1 record with a 3.38 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 12 starts for Single-A Columbia. The 6-foot-4 righty also sat down 79 batters by way of the strikeout, and surrendered 57 hits and eight home runs over 58.2-inning sample for the Fireflies.
Sandlin also made made two appearances for High-A Quad Cities, but was sidelined in early July with an oblique injury and did not return to the mound before the end of the season.
Jun 22, 2022; Omaha, NE, USA; Oklahoma Sooners starting pitcher David Sandlin (28) throws in the fourth inning against the Texas A&M Aggies at Charles Schwab Field. (Steven Branscombe/USA TODAY Sports)
The view on Sandlin depends on who you trust and who you ask.
The MLB Pipeline had him ranked as KC’s 19th-best prospect ahead of Saturday’s trade, while The Athletic had him ranked as the seventh-best prospect in the Royal pipeline.
The 23-year-old Sandlin, who projects as a starter barring some sort of unforeseen role change upon his move from the Royals to the Red Sox, throws a fastball that can hit up to 98 miles per hour, and works with a slider, changeup, and curveball in his pitch arsenal.
“It was a combination of raw stuff, projection and the chance to maybe tweak the usage a little bit and improve performance,” Breslow told reporters down in Ft. Myers when asked about the appeal of Sandlin.
