The Boston Red Sox continue to bolster their pitching staff, this time adding Johan Oviedo, an analytics darling, in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the club announced Thursday.
In exchange, Boston, which views Oviedo as a starter, is sending outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia and pitcher Jesus Travieso back to Pittsburgh. The Pirates are also sending a pair of prospects in left-hander Tyler Samaniego and catcher Adonys Guzman to Boston, making it a five-player deal.
In a separate move, Boston designated righty Cooper Criswell for assignment.
It is the second addition by the Red Sox in the past week, with the club having already added Sonny Gray in a deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Athletic previously reported that Oviedo, who made only nine starts in 2025, was drawing interest from other clubs because of his affordability in arbitration and his potential as a 6-foot-6 right-hander.
Garcia, who became a fan favorite over his playful nickname “The Password,” was Boston’s No.8-ranked prospect, per The Athletic’s Keith Law. Travieso, an 18-year-old right-hander out of Venezuela, finished his year in Single A.
Oviedo missed the 2024 campaign after undergoing Tommy John surgery, before a lat injury delayed his debut in 2025 until August. In his nine starts to close out the season, he carded a 3.57 ERA with 42 strikeouts. Boston finished the 2025 season ranked 12th in starters’ ERA (3.92).
Oviedo profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter, a role chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said just last month that he didn’t plan to pursue this offseason.
“Because of the depth that we’ve built up over the last couple of years, we feel pretty good about just overall starting pitching and numbers 3-ish through 10-ish (on the depth chart),” Breslow said at the general managers’ meetings. “I don’t think we’re going to spend a ton of time trying to add a No. 4 or No. 5 starter. If we’re going to make a starting pitching addition, I think it should be somebody who can pitch at the front of a rotation and start a playoff game for us.”
Gray, a strike thrower, was acquired to bolster the front-end of the rotation. Oviedo undoubtedly strengthens the back end.
Oviedo boasts a three-quarters arm angle and a massive 7.4 feet of extension, making his 95.5 mph four-seamer look harder, representing the type of big-bodied pitcher with upside to fit the Red Sox system. He does come with some level of risk given his recent injury history.
Aside from Gray, Garrett Crochet, and Brayan Bello, Oviedo is likely to slide into a fourth or fifth spot with Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval in the mix
for the other spot. The club also has Hunter Dobbins, Kyle Harrison, Connelly Early and Payton Tolle as starter options on the 40-man roster, with Shane Drohan, David Sandlin and Luis Perales in the mix likely starting at Triple A.
The trade for Oviedo strengthens the pitching group but also presents an opportunity to trade from that group for a bat or top-of-the-rotation starter.
Samaniego, 26, spent most of 2025 in Double A with a 3.08 ERA and 2.42 FIP, giving the Red Sox another left-hander on the 40-man roster, one who could compete for a big-league bullpen spot given the Red Sox lack of lefty options. The Pirates had recently protected him from the Rule 5 draft.
The addition of Guzman, a catcher, continues filling out what had become a thin catching group in the farm system. A fifth-round pick in 2025, Guzman reached Single A last season. The Red Sox recently acquired two other minor-league catchers, Ronny Hernandez and Luke Heyman.
Nevertheless, as the Red Sox saw last season, they can never have enough pitching. Down the stretch, they designated Walker Buehler for assignment, watched Dustin May struggle with ineffectiveness and injury and saw Lucas Giolito miss the postseason with injury. All of that forced rookies Early and Tolle into big starts late in the season.
Meanwhile, it seemed inevitable the Red Sox would trade Garcia this offseason. He was the club’s top outfield prospect, but there was little room for him on the big-league roster with four major-league outfielders already vying for playing time — Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela.
Trading Garcia for more pitching depth makes sense.