Red Sox trade Yankees killer for potential future thorn in bizarre Nationals deal

Late Saturday night, Boston Red Sox GM Craig Breslow got the trade deadline started the way he always does: with a bold deal that makes half-sense, will certainly pay off for the Sox at some point, and makes their MLB roster several degrees more complicated.

Connelly Early, the lefty starter who bedeviled the Yankees in last year's Wild Card Game 3, as well as several times this season, has been on the shelf since June 30 with elbow issues that purportedly weren't as bad as initially feared. His underlying stats ticketed him for some regression this year if he managed to return, but still, we've seen enough Early to know that polish is the name of his game, and that while the ceiling may only be moderate, the floor is very consistent. With the emergence of fellow lefties Payton Tolle and Jake Bennett, you could see a path to the Sox dealing Early ... early this summer, but we didn't see this path.

Instead of using him as the centerpiece for a larger Zach Neto or Shea Langeliers trade, he went one-for-one Saturday to the Washington Nationals for Curtis Mead. Mead, a former Tampa Bay Rays top prospect, has 17 bombs and a 135 OPS+ after a breakout first half. His swing is a great fit at Fenway, though his personality maybe isn't?

Anyway, what ... happens now?

Craig Breslow has created a labyrinth on Red Sox roster with strange trade of Yankees killer Connelly Early

The Sox need controllable bats, and while you can never have too much pitching, they ... kind of did have too much pitching. Mead and his emergent pull air percentage will pound the Monster and go over it, as long as his breakout is legitimate. Nationals President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni left Boston last winter, and has a strong relationship with Craig Breslow. They likely agreed that the breakout is sustainable.

But Mead is a third baseman, and a terrible one at that. Caleb Durbin cryptically said on Saturday before the deal that he'd be willing to move to second if needed to accommodate an addition - Brian Windhorst hands - but he's a far better defender than Mead, and shouldn't go anywhere on his behalf. So what happens to second baseman Anthony Seigler? What happens when Trevor Story returns to play short? Will Mead play a little DH? What about Masataka Yoshida, who's been carrying the load for weeks? Can Mead play a short left field? Will Jarren Duran be dealt?

Jeff Passan insists the Sox will continue to seek larger deals for a bigger bat after this one. That makes more sense than stopping here for many reasons. For now, we'll accept that Boston traded a lefty who knows his game (3.97 ERA against the Yanks) for a righty who homered off Cam Schlittler before the All-Star break, which might've been the impetus for the deal in the first place.

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