The Red Sox don't have many healthy prospects to trade right now, with most of their best guys on the disabled list, but they did manage to swing a deal for a very useful pitcher who fills an extremely specific need without giving up one of one of their top 10 prospects.
Nathan Eovaldi is almost exactly what he was before his UCL tear, with one major exception. He still throws very hard, and it's very straight, with very average sort of spin rates, meaning the pitch is pretty easy for hitters to hit -- and hit hard -- if they time it right. His slider and changeup remain fringe-at-best offerings. But Tampa Bay made him into a cutter guy, with that pitch accounting for 28 percent of all pitches he threw for the Rays this year, and it's been the most effective pitch he's ever thrown. He's been very tough on right-handed batters this year and more than adequate against lefties.
The Red Sox are staring at some potential playoff opponents that kill left-handed pitching - the top three offenses against LHP in the American League this year are the Yankees, the Astros and the Indians -- so having Eovaldi as a rotation piece or swingman has value for them in October, even more than during the rest of the regular season.
The Rays get Jalen Beeks, who is also a cutter guy, and like Eovaldi doesn't have another above-average pitch; in two starts for the Red Sox this year he got hit hard and pitched away from contact. He has some deception and feel to pitch but his triple-A stats, including a 33 percent strikeout rate, don't line up with the stuff, and he projects as a reliever. I ranked 17 prospects in the Sox's system this January and he didn't make the cut.
Matt Andriese to Diamondbacks
The Rays also sent Matt Andriese to Arizona for two minor leaguers, catcher Michael Perez and pitcher Brian Shaffer. Andriese is a perfect swingman, not quite good enough to start but capable of going multiple innings, and he's been very effective against left-handed batters throughout his career because his best pitch is his mid-80s changeup. The Diamondbacks don't need a starter at the moment, but Andriese provides depth in case someone gets hurt, and should be a useful tactical piece for them in October.
Perez is at least a quality major-league backup with a very outside chance to start, with an above-average arm and good bat-to-ball skills but nothing plus around his game. He was rule 5 eligible in November but wasn't selected, which is a little surprising given his high contact rates and the scarcity of catching in the minors. Shaffer projects as a right-on-right reliever with a cross-body delivery and average fastball, pitching well as a D1 college product in low-A this year.
Seunghwan Oh dealt to Rockies
The Rockies spent a ton of money this offseason to build a better bullpen, and the returns through four months have ranged from disappointing to dumpster-fire. Jake McGee and Bryan Shaw have ERAs near 6 and 7, respectively, and Wade Davis has just been fair, getting lit up by right-handed batters but also having the trouble you'd expect any pitcher to have at Coors Field. So they were left to hit the trade market to boost their pen, acquiring right-hander Seunghwan Oh from Toronto for two former high-draft picks, Forrest Wall and Chad Spanberger.
Oh has just average velocity but his slider is usually plus and he fills up the strike zone, with a career strike percentage of nearly 68 percent and unintentional walk rate of just 4.1 percent. He throws that slider (Statcast calls it a cutter) for strikes and misses bats with both the slider and the fastball, so even if the altitude in Denver takes a little off the breaking pitch, his fastball command is good enough that I think he'll still have plenty of value in whatever role they choose for him. His lack of an adequate changeup does make him vulnerable to left-handed batters, but they have McGee or Davis for those situations.
Wall was the 35th overall pick in 2014 after an injury-riddled spring that saw him limited in the field by shoulder surgery -- an injury that eventually pushed him off second base to left field -- and he's never hit as well as the Rockies anticipated when they took him.
He has posted just a .206/.289/.359 line in 46 Double-A games since a late May promotion. He has a good swing and is a plus runner, and he's just 22, but he absolutely has to hit given his position and so far he hasn't done so. Spanberger has 22 homers already this year but he's 22 years old, playing in low-A Asheville, a great hitters' park, with about 100 more points of OBP and 200 points of slugging at home than on the road this season. He's limited to first base and has below-average plate discipline. Wall seems like a wild card given his swing, his speed and generally good contact rates, while Spanberger seems like an org player unless he shows he can mash when he's not old for his level.