Boston Red Sox Deal Prospect for Starting Pitcher

The Boston Red Sox are coming off a rough stretch to start the second half and they’ve made some small moves that will hopefully help bolster them for a stretch run. Today they were back at it as they traded their sixth-ranked prospect in infielder Nick Yorke to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Quinn Priester. The Pirates on their side are still in the race for the playoffs in the National League as they currently sit seven games back in the National League Central and two games back in the National League Wild Card race. This move makes a lot of sense for both sides as it will likely give Yorke a better shot to reach the big leagues and Priester a chance to work with Andrew Bailey and see if they can tap into his full potential.

Trade By The Numbers

RHP – Quinn Priester

Priester was drafted by the Pirates with the 18th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. In 2021 he was ranked the 58th prospect by Baseball America and the 52nd ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. In 2022 he was the 88th-ranked prospect by Baseball American and the 54th-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. Last season only MLB Pipeline had him in the Top 100 at 60th overall. In the minors, he’s appeared in 77 games with 74 of them coming as starts going 25-15 with a 3.41 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, a 3.4 BB/9, and a 9.3 K/9 in 366.1 innings. In his big league career, he’s made 20 appearances with 14 of those coming as starts going 5-9 with a 6.46 ERA, a 1.59 WHIP, a 3.8 BB/9, and a 6.4 K/9 in 94.2 innings. This season he’s split time between Triple-A Indianapolis and the Pirates. At Indianapolis, he’s made seven starts going 3-1 with a 3.21 ERA, a 1.07 WHIP, a 1.9 BB/9, and a 9.6 K/9 in 33.2 innings. For the Pirates, he’s appeared in ten games with six of those coming as starts going 2-6 with a 5.04 ERA, a 1.46 WHIP, a 2.6 BB/9, and a 6.2 K/9 in 44.2 innings.

INF – Nick Yorke

Yorke was drafted with the 17th overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. He’s played in 370 minor league games hitting .277 with a .795 OPS; he has 71 doubles, 11 triples, 48 home runs, 214 RBI, 251 runs scored, 53 stolen bases, and 178 walks. This season he’s spent time at Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester playing in 83 games hitting .278 with a .785 OPS; he had 16 doubles, ten home runs, 46 RBI, 53 runs scored, 14 stolen bases, and 42 walks.