Which young arm should the Red Sox be OK parting ways with to land a star this offseason?
On Tuesday, MLB.com Mark Feinsand dropped this nugget on the Ketel Marte trade market during an appearance on MLB Network:
“I think the Red Sox are the No. 1 team in on him. They've been looking for an answer at second base for years, right? Probably since Dustin Pedroia retired. They thought Kristian Campbell might be the answer, now they're not so sure.
“He has a reasonable contract, and I think what you just brought up with the 10-5 [rights] is the reason everybody says why would Arizona trade him. The 10-5 coming up is the reason that you have to explore it now, because once he becomes a 10-5 guy, that no trade clause expands from five teams to 29 teams, and then all of the sudden, he's in control of where you go.
“The Red Sox have young pitching. That's what Arizona is likely looking for in a return. We've seen them strike out on some higher priced pitching contracts in the past. And right now, I think the idea of bringing in young, controllable arms is one of the few things you would do if you were going to trade a guy like Ketel Marte, so the Red Sox seem to match up. They have a need for him. He's not on [his] no trade list. And while they have an opportunity to do this before the 10-5, I think Mike Hazen is going to look into all of the options out there.”
For the uninitiated, Feinsand referenced “10-and-5 rights” in a few different spots in that report, which means a player has 10 years of Major League service time, with the last five spent on the same team. That automatically earns them "10-5 rights,” which function as a full no-trade clause, allowing them to veto any trade without it being written in their contract. It's a powerful perk that protects veteran players, letting them stay with a team they like or block a move to an undesirable situation - a rule established after Curt Flood's trade dispute from 1969.
History lesson aside, this report has to be music to the ears of Red Sox Nation, who likely saw a competing report from earlier in the day on Tuesday from WEEI’s Rob Bradford saying the Red Sox and Diamondbacks were not close on a trade despite the continued rumors between the two sides.
But the key point I wanted to focus-in on from Feinsand was Boston having young pitching that they can offer up to land someone like Ketel.
Because when a reporter says “young pitching” as it relates to the trade market, they’re talking about Payton Tolle and Connelly Early.
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Before we start tearing any of these guys down, I want to make one thing clear - both of these young pitchers have incredible upside.
Tolle’s major league debut at Fenway Park on August 29 came with eventual NL Cy Young Award-winner Paul Skenes sharing the marquee, and the 23-year-old more than lived up to the billing, going 5.1 innings while allowing 2 earned runs on 3 hits, issuing just 2 walks and striking 8. For maybe the only time during the 2025 season, Skenes was outdueled by the opposing pitcher.
It was a special night at the ballpark.
Early’s major league debut came on the opposite coast, and was even more impressive.
On September 9, Early struck out 11 Athletics in Sacramento over five shutout innings, tying the Red Sox franchise record for strikeouts in a debut. He allowed just 1 walk and scattered 5 hits, earning a win in a 6-0 victory while showcasing an impressive fastball and sharp secondary pitches to dominate the A’s in one of the best Red Sox pitching debuts ever.
Early remained effective throughout the remainder of the season - so much so that when Boston was in need of arms come Game 3 of their Wild Card series against the Yankees, it was this 23-year-old getting the call to see if he could help save Boston’s season.
His performance at Yankee Stadium was a mixed bag. He showed promise with 6 strikeouts and a good FIP (0.68), but ultimately took a tough 4-0 loss on 3 earned runs in 3.2 innings. His strong rookie season ended on a tough note, but he showcased his potential as a future playoff starter.
With both players only giving us incredibly small sample sizes to work with, I’m giving the slight edge to keeping Early over Tolle.
I think Early is more major-league ready right now, and I think Red Sox fans are ready for this team to be a winner sooner rather than later. Tolle might have a higher upside as a power pitcher, but he has a long way to go with his secondary stuff. Add in the fact that power pitchers tend to be much more injury prone, and it becomes an even easier choice.
If one of these guys can hammer home a Marte trade, it’s a no brainer.
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Tom Carroll is a contributor for Roundtable, with boots-on-the-ground coverage of all things Boston sports. He's a senior digital content producer for WEEI.com, and a native of Lincoln, RI.