Tigers trade former Aaron Judge chemistry spark to rival Red Sox in baffling move

Somehow, a minor move during the All-Star break is going to rub New York Yankees fans the wrong way while they're trying to enjoy a few days off. If Ben Rice's early Home Run Derby elimination wasn't enough, we have a former player on the move to New York's most hated rival.

Jahmai Jones, who appeared in 33 games with the 2024 Yankees and was Aaron Judge's home run celebration partner, was traded to the Boston Red Sox after being DFA'd by the Detroit Tigers last week.

Jones has had a really rough go in 2026, subtracting 1.2 WAR from the Tigers thanks to a .137 average and .440 OPS in 105 plate appearances. It was a shocking fall from grace after his resurgent 2025 campaign, which featured a .287/.387/.550 line with seven homers and 23 RBI in 150 plate appearances. He specialized in mashing lefties.

When this was happening last year, Yankees fans were wondering why Aaron Boone didn't better deploy Jones the year New York won the pennant. There was really no use for this guy despite the obvious holes in the lineup? Especially when they were in desperate need for a righty who could hit lefties? And after they were subjected to the horrors of Alex Verdugo for the final three months of the season?

It turns out, Jones' capabilities lie somewhere in the middle between his 2025 and 2026 showings, but he'll now benefit from the friendly confines of Fenway Park to boost his offensive profile. The Sox have made it their identity to acquire former Yankees players and hope New York lives to regret it (see Aroldis Chapman, Sonny Gray, Rob Refsnyder, Garrett Whitlock, Greg Weissert, Carlos Narvaez, Caleb Durbin, Anthony Seigler).

Jones is the latest, but it's unclear how he'll fix with the Sox. Boston is actually handling lefty pitching fairly well (even though it's mostly thanks to reverse splits). Still, their right-handed batters are hitting lefties to the tune of a .246/.326/.430 line (.755 OPS) and that's with a horrific April and May on their ledger. Perhaps the Jones acquisition is foreshadowing a Craig Breslow move at the trade deadline in which one of the outfielders on the active roster is sent packing, which has been rumored for quite some time now.

Thankfully, after the heinous four-game sweep at Fenway, the Yankees won't see the Sox until the end of August at Yankee Stadium. It'll be the final three games between the two sides of the regular season. We're willing to wager if Jones is still around, you can count on one (1) painful moment on his behalf that will send fans into a temporary frenzy.

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