Analysis: Red Sox trade Quinn Priester to the Brewers for outfield prospect and draft pick

The Red Sox made a relatively surprising trade on Monday, sending right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester to the Milwaukee Brewers for outfield prospect Yophery Rodriguez, a Competitive Balance Round A pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, and a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Boston will receive the Brewers' No. 33 overall pick that is worth about $2.7 million in slot value. The move also opened a spot on the 40-man roster that was later filled out right-handed pitcher Robert Stock. 

The Sox acquired Priester from the Pirates just eight months ago for infield prospect Nick Yorke. He made just one appearance for the Major League club, tossing five innings of one-hit ball against the Rays on the final day of the regular season.

Priester entered the 2025 season as one club’s top depth options for the rotation, but he failed to make the opening-day roster out of camp. The Red Sox opted for left-hander Sean Newcomb and right-hander Richard Fitts as starters over Priester to fill in for Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito while they are rehabbing back from the injured list.

Priester came into camp and quickly impressed Alex Cora with the work he put in the offseason, citing that the righty looked “stronger.” After the Red Sox acquired Priester from Pittsburgh, the team quickly had him work on adding size and increasing his velocity.

“I think that’s kind of dealing from a position of strength,” said Cora. “As an organization, we have to do what’s best. He’s a good kid. He did everything that we asked him to do in the offseason. He came into Spring Training a lot stronger. He had a good Spring Training. But this is where we’re at right now."

WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia discussed Priester working on some biomechanical stuff between starts in the hopes of getting more uptick on his fastball, and he will throw his changeup more to mix it in with his other weapons. DeLucia stressed that he wanted Priester to change his pitch grips and work on his key pitches, like his slider.

Despite the work he put in the winter, Priester had an average spring, posting a 4.82 ERA over four appearances. Priester surrendered 14 hits and walked seven batters in 9 1/3 innings of work.

It’s not all long ago that Priester was considered a top prospect within the Pirates system. He began the 2023 season as the No. 60 prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. No other major national outlets ranked him that season. He was as high as No. 58 on Baseball America in 2021. Across six seasons of minor-league ball, he owns a 26-17 record with 3.61 ERA and 1.25 WHIP.

Priester is likely to join the Brewers starting rotation that has seven starting pitcher on the injured list. 

“Priester was a first-round pick, so we feel like we’re sort of accelerating that [traded] pick into something more advanced,” Brewers general manager Matt Arnold said following the trade. 

DEPTH BEHIND PRIESTER 

Fitts and Hunter Dobbins are beginning to emerge in Boston's pitching pipeline, pushing Priester down the depth chart. David Sandlin and Connelly Early look like two other pitching prospects that are serious candidates to land with the WooSox at some point this season.

The 25-year-old made his Major League debut last September, making four starts and posting a 1.74 ERA. Fitts made the Opening Day roster out of spring training and worked in the offseason on adding velocity. He hit 99 mph in one spring outing against the Phillies. The Sox wanted him to consistently generate more swing-and-miss stuff to allow him to stick in the big leagues.

“If he's able to hold 99 throughout the year, he's going to be in a much better spot. He's going to be able to induce more, you know, swing and miss,” said DeLucia.

Dobbins made his big league debut on Sunday night, earning a promotion to start the second game of the day/night doubleheader with the Cardinals. He earned the win after giving the Red Sox five strong innings, where he allowed two runs off eight hits.

Dobbins' velocity has been a key factor in his development within the Red Sox system. He’s been learning to attack hitters and add shape to his pitches, allowing him to get the consistency the Sox’ pitching evaluators want. This spring Dobbins worked on getting his fastball to consistently sit in the upper 90s. Dobbins offers a unique pitching arsenal, throwing five pitches: a fastball, slider, sweeper, curveball, and a new pitch he debuted in 2024 that he calls a splinker, which is a combination of a splitter and sinker.

“It has similar movement to how my circle change used to be,” Dobbins said in an interview with FanGraphs in late January. “The numbers are zero and up to about 10, but instead of it being 84 [mph], it’s about 89 to 92. Paul Skenesthrows one, although we have two totally different grips. I found mine in a pregame warmup bullpen. Kyle Teel was catching me, and he said, ‘Hey, we need to throw that.’

“I’d told my coach that I wanted to throw a sinker that day. I threw one in the pen, and it wasn’t good. He was like, ‘Alright, let’s try this.’ It was the splinker grip that I have now, and Teel just about jumped up and down when I threw it the first time. He was like, ‘We’re throwing that in the game today.’ I did, and I think I got four or five punchouts with it. We’ve run with it since.”

Early opened the 2025 season with the Sea Dogs, tossing 3 2/3 innings of no-hit ball, giving up one run with two walks and seven strikeouts. He jumped two levels in the system while tossing more than 100 innings last season, the only member of the Red Sox’ 2023 draft class to reach that milestone. The lefty saw an uptick in his velocity, topping out his fastball at 96 mph. A big part of his velocity change has been his added work in the weight room.

His changeup is considered his best secondary pitch, which he reintroduced to his arsenal during spring training last year. The young hurler was receptive to the idea of reworking his changeup, embraced the coaching, and took the pitch to games. Early maximized his pitches by alternating his grips on how he would throw the ball.

Sandlin boasts one of the best fastballs in the Sox’ system, topping out at 99 mph in-game. He hit 100 mph in winter workouts and continues to offer consistent velocity in the upper 90s. He credits Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer as someone he likes to emulate on the mound, citing he's a big fan of his mentality when he pitches on game day.

In his first outing this season, he pitched five innings, giving up two earned runs off three hits while issuing three walks and three strikeouts.

Luis Perales, a right-hander, is another pitcher to monitor as he resumes his activities after recovering from Tommy John surgery. Juan Valera, 18, throws 100 mph and might be the most intriguing pitching prospect in the Red Sox’ system.

“He had a productive offseason, coming into camp strong, physically and mentally,” Red Sox senior director of player development Brian Abraham said of Valera. “We saw a jump in velocity and an improvement in his secondaries, along with a willingness to challenge in the zone. He earned an opportunity to be challenged in Greenville.”

OUTFIELD PROSPECTS IN THE LOWER LEVELS

Rodriguez was ranked as the Brewers No. 7 prospect, hitting .250 with seven homers, 60 RBI, and a .726 OPS in 110 games at Single-A Carolina a year ago. He’s known for his defense and his strong arm, which was considered the best in Milwaukee’s system, according to Baseball America.

"Yophery is a tremendous kid,” Arnold said. “He’s super respectful, one of the most kind-hearted kids you’ll ever come across. He’s a really good worker and he’s really talented. Those are obviously good ingredients. It’s tough to give up a guy like that, but we felt like we were dealing from a position of strength there with our outfield depth at the Major League level and in the system.”

He was 5-for-12 with a double and triple in three games for High-A Wisconsin this season.

"Rodriguez doesn’t have one spectacular tool, but he does a lot of things well," Baseball America wrote. "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."

The addition of Rodriguez helps give the Sox an outfield prospect with potential power upside in a system that lacks outfield prospects. Jhostynxon Garcia is on the 40-man roster and could finish the year with the WooSox if he has a strong offensive season. Outfielders Miguel Bleis, Zach Ehrhard, and Justin Gonzalez round out some of the Sox’ prospects with potential upside.

WHAT THE DRAFT PICK LOOKS LIKE

The draft pick coming back to the Red Sox is a valuable asset in the trade. Major League Baseball rules dictate that only a certain type of pick—selections given to clubs between the first and second rounds or the second and third rounds for competitive balance reasons — can be dealt.

The Red Sox will add a selection at No. 33, which comes with a slot value of $2,766,100. Boston will have four draft picks 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 pick when they signed Alex Bregman as a free agent back in February.