Just about eight months after acquiring him in a deadline trade, the Red Sox have dealt away right-hander Quinn Priester in another swap with an NL Central team.
Boston swung an unusual early season trade to ship Priester to the Brewers on Monday morning for prospect Yophery Rodriguez, a Competitive Balance Round A pick (33rd overall) in this year’s draft and a player to be named later or cash considerations. Boston now has an open spot on its 40-man roster.
Priester, a 24-year-old righty who was obtained from the Pirates for former first-round pick Nick Yorke on July 29, made a single start in a Red Sox uniform, allowing one run in five innings in the final game of the 2024 season. He entered 2025 projected to be one of the team’s top depth rotation options but Boston chose Richard Fitts and Sean Newcomb over him for the No. 4 and 5 spots after Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford all started the year on the injured list. In Worcester, Priester — a former top-60 prospect in baseball, per Baseball America — made one start already, allowing two runs on four hits. In need of a starter Sunday night for the second game of a doubleheader, Boston instead went to prospect Hunter Dobbins for his major league debut.
On paper, the return for Priester looks strong, in addition to being a signal that the Red Sox, who for years aimed to bolster their pitching depth through creative moves, now feel comfortable enough with their in-house options to move arms when the price is right. The righty, who the Red Sox were excited to acquire last summer, had a chance to jump ahead on the depth chart with a strong spring but instead appeared to fall behind other young pitchers like Fitts and Dobbins, making a trade more palatable.
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Rodriguez, a 19-year-old outfielder who began the year at High-A Wisconsin, is the No. 7 overall prospect in Milwaukee’s system, according to MLB.com, and hit .250 with seven homers, 60 RBIs and a .726 OPS in 110 games at Single-A Carolina a year ago. Known for his defense, Rodriguez was considered to have the best outfield arm in the Brewers’ system, according to Baseball America. Scouting reports cite advanced plate discipline and his accurate arm as standout traits at this early stage of Rodriguez’s career. He received a $1.5 million signing bonus as a top international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2023.
Baseball America ranked Rodriguez as the No. 15 prospect in Milwaukee while providing a scouting report: “Rodriguez doesn’t have one spectacular tool, but he does a lot of things well. He’s a good fastball hitter with a smooth lefthanded swing and his plate discipline is solid for his age, though he ran into trouble with more swing-and-miss against offspeed stuff. Rodriguez makes quality contact and shows flashes of what could be future average or better power. Rodriguez has good defensive instincts—especially on balls hit over his head—and an average arm, but he’s a solid-average runner so he doesn’t have prototypical center field speed. He projects to be a fringe-average defender in center field but more likely ends up in right field, where he should be an average to above defender.”
The pick is also a very valuable addition for the Red Sox. Major League Baseball rules dictate that only a certain type of picks — selections given to clubs between the first and second, or second and third rounds for competitive balance reasons — can be dealt. Boston will add a selection at No. 33, which comes with a slot value of $2,766,100.
The Red Sox will now pick four times in the top 100 — at No. 15, No. 33, No. 75 and No. 87. They acquired a compensation pick when Nick Pivetta signed with the Padres but forfeited another by adding Alex Bregman as a free agent.
Beyond the Monster’s Hunter Noll first reported the trade on X.
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