As November drew to a close, the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier dropped a bombshell of a rumor. According to him, the Boston Red Sox are interested in acquiring left-handed starter Cole Ragans from the Kansas City Royals. The Royals have long been connected to the Red Sox in trade rumors since each team has depth at a position the other covets. The Red Sox still need starting pitching, even after the Sonny Gray trade, and the Royals need offensive firepower in their outfield.
First, for those who may not know who Ragans is, let’s dive into a bit of background on him. The Royals acquired Ragans when they traded Aroldis Chapman to the Texas Rangers in 2023. He began in the Royals’ bullpen and worked his way to the starting rotation fully in 2024. He was an All-Star in 2024 and flashed an incredible amount of potential. He does come with an injury risk though, as all pitchers do in modern baseball. He’s had two Tommy John surgeries, in 2018 and 2019. In 2025, he was limited to just 61 1/3 innings over 13 starts due to groin and rotator cuff injuries. Even still, Ragans is a pitcher worth trading for. He’s 28, has three cheap years of team control remaining, and produced impressive numbers on the mound when healthy last year (2.68 xERA, 2.50 FIP). Let’s see how the Red Sox could potentially pull the deal off.
The Blockbuster
Red Sox Receive: LHP Cole Ragans, 1B Vinnie Pasquantino
Royals Receive: OF Jarren Duran, OF Jhostynxon Garcia, LHP Payton Tolle
This trade would net the Royals the Red Sox’s top two prospects in Tolle and Garcia, while giving them a day-one starter in the outfield in Duran. They’d likely promote Garcia up to their main roster fairly quickly as well. This deal also allows for them to get a flamethrowing left-handed starter with a high ceiling to immediately replace Ragans in their rotation. Tolle is young and has the makings of a future top-of-the-rotation arm, but he’s still lacking a true secondary offering and parting with him to acquire a more finished product isn’t a wild thought.
For the Red Sox, this trade not only nets them a true number two starter to slot in behind Garrett Crochet, it also fixes their first base problem. Pasquantino has a name made for Boston, and even though he’s left-handed, he becomes the biggest power threat in the lineup. He slugged 32 home runs last year with 14 of those coming at home. If we overlay his home spray chart over Fenway Park, we see a ton of offensive potential. He slashed .264/.323/.475 in 2025 while leading the team in home runs and being in the top four of most offensive categories for the Royals. Defensively, Pasquantino leaves quite a bit to be desired, but his offensive production more than makes up for it.
Like Ragans, the first baseman in 28 years old and comes with three remaining years of control. This is A LOT to give up in any trade, but fixing the team’s biggest problems for the next three seasons in one fell swoop might be worth the price of admission.
The Likelier Option
Red Sox Receive: LHP Cole Ragans
Royals Receive: OF Jarren Duran, LHP Connelly Early
Now we have a much more simplified version of the trade above. Fewer pieces are moving teams and the Red Sox are still searching for an answer to their first base problem, but the Royals get their guy and rotation replacement in both Duran and Early. If we look back to last year’s Winter Meetings, Craig Breslow traded multiple pieces for Garrett Crochet. So far, only two of them have made it to the major leagues with the White Sox. In this deal, the Royals would be able to plug both returning pieces into their Opening Day line up and rotation and feel very comfortable as they move forward through the season.
It appears as though Early is in contention for a rotation spot once spring training gets underway for the Red Sox so there is no reason to believe he’d be battling even more for a spot with the Royals. To some, Early’s ceiling is higher than Tolle’s, so the Royals could be more interested in him since he has performed better at the major league leave than Tolle to date. Early also has a postseason start under his belt, which could help tip the scales in his favor as well. Losing Duran and Early would be a blow, but this is what a cost-controlled ace costs in baseball. Don’t let Ragans’ 4.67 ERA fool you — every expected metric pegs him as a top-15 starter in baseball over the past two seasons.
The Kansas City Youth Movement
Red Sox Receive: LHP Cole Ragans
Royals Receive: OF Wilyer Abreu, RHP Brayan Bello
And now for something completely different, sort of. Instead of minor leaguers who have just had a cup of coffee with the big-league club, the Royals could be more interested in one of the current rotation pieces for the Sox in Bello. In addition to him, they could want to go younger than Duran in the outfield and bring in two-time Gold Glover Wilyer Abreu to man right field at Kauffman Stadium. There’s debate as to which outfielder should be moved in a deal for Ragans — we discussed it at length on Episode 30 of the Talk Sox Podcast — but if the Royals want longevity, then Abreu may be their guy. Bello would slot in immediately as their number three starter behind Michael Wacha and Kris Bubic. He’s signed to a long-term contract through what should be his peak seasons and he’s looking to build off a very good 2025 season. He’s not a direct replacement for Ragans, but you know what you’re getting with him and he would give their rotation another dependable arm.
For those wondering why Abreu has to be included here: Remember that Bello’s deal is heavily backloaded. He’ll be paid roughly $15 million over the next two seasons, before earning $16.1 million in 2028 and $19.1 million in 2029. The small-market Royals may not be keen on that fact.
At this point, before the Winter Meetings, everything is just speculation. Ragans may not be moved, Duran or Abreu may both be on the Opening Day roster for the Red Sox, and Sonny Gray may actually be the number two starter in Boston. I doubt all of those come to pass though.
The Royals are desperately searching for offensive talent to put in their outfield, and the Red Sox have to keep pace with the Blue Jays and Yankees as we head into 2026. What’s different this time around, though, is that the Red Sox hold the bulk of the bargaining power. With the addition of Gray, the Red Sox shouldn’t feel rushed to make a move for Ragans at the upcoming meetings if the Royals are demanding too much in return (which many will say is this case here). Play the waiting game, explore other starting options, and then re-engage the Royals as the Winter Meetings start to wrap up and see if the price drops some. While he’s not the most proven starter on the trade market, Cole Ragans should be at the top of the wish list for the Boston Red Sox, and they should be willing to get a bit uncomfortable to make it happen.
Interested in reading this situation from the Royals’ perspective? We have a complementary piece on our Royals site!