There are a lot of dull days during the Major League Baseball offseason, but Tuesday certainly wasn’t one of them for the Boston Red Sox.
On Thursday afternoon, Hunter Noll of Beyond the Monster reported that the Red Sox traded fan favorite left-handed pitcher Brennan Bernardino to the Colorado Rockies. In return, Colorado sent outfielder Braiden Ward to Boston, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
Boston wound up making four trades, bumping three minor-leaguers up to the 40-man roster, and cutting ties with a World Series champion. It’s a lot to sort through, but luckily, we’re here to give you a full rundown.
Red Sox’s trade with Rockies was third of day
Sep 5, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Murphy throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
Bernardino was the third Red Sox pitcher to be traded on the day, and of the entire group, he certainly had the most affection from the fan base. In his three years with the team, Bernardino took the ball 167 times, pitching to a 3.46 ERA in 153 1/3 innings. He handled high-leverage roles, opener duties, and even the occasional mop-up job, and he did it without complaint.
After the Bernardino trade, the Red Sox had one more trade up their sleeves, sending 26-year-old pitcher Alex Hoppe to the Seattle Mariners for 22-year-old catcher Luke Heyman, per Cotillo. Neither player was on the 40-man roster, but Hoppe was Rule 5 eligible, so it made sense to get something back for him.
Boston also sent fellow lefty Chris Murphy to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Ronny Hernandez, per Cotillo and Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Before any of that happened, the Red Sox traded righty Luis Guerrero to the Tampa Bay Rays for infielder Tristan Gray.
To open up two additional spots on the 40-man roster, the Red Sox designated a pair of players for assignment: first baseman Nathaniel Lowe, who was on his way to being non-tendered after his brief Boston cameo, and right-handed pitcher Josh Winckowski, who had fallen out of favor after pitching extensively out of the bullpen in 2023.
40-man roster full after Rule 5 protections
Why did the Red Sox clear so many spots on the 40-man roster? Because Tuesday was the deadline to protect eligible prospects from the Rule 5 Draft by adding them to the 40-man, and Boston had three players it wanted to ensure stuck around.
Those three were all pitchers, as Cotillo reported: hard-throwing righty David Sandlin, fellow righty and Triple-A workhorse Tyler Uberstine, and lefty Shane Drohan, who spent a lot of time on the injured list this year, but performed well when he was available.
Trading both Murphy and Bernardino was a vote of confidence of sorts in Drohan, who struck out 77 batters in 54 innings this year as a starter and could be a real weapon out of the bullpen. Either he should move to a relief role, or Payton Tolle could do it to start the year if no other free agents are added.
All in all, the Red Sox proved they were confident in the pitching depth they already had with the moves they made on Tuesday, and based on the returns they received from similar trades last season, there’s a chance they wind up hitting home runs with youngsters Hernandez and Ward.
This story has been updated to reflect Boston trading Hoppe to Seattle.
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