2 major league outfielders and 1 prospect the Pirates should consider trading for

Jhostynxon Garcia

If there’s one team that has outfielders like the Pirates have pitchers, it’s the Boston Red Sox. With so much outfield depth, much of which is made up of young and talented players, it’s easy for Jhostynxon Garcia to get left out of the Red Sox’s long-term outfield plans, despite being ranked as one of their top ten prospects per both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. He could definitely be a player the Red Sox move this summer.

The young outfield prospect is currently slashing .286/.395/.418 with a .376 wOBA and 136 wRC+ for the Red Sox’s Double-A team. He isn’t hitting for much power, with only two home runs in 119 plate appearances, but has drawn a walk at an outstanding 15.1% rate and is posting a K% below 20% for the first time since his 2021 season, which was spent in the Dominican Summer League.

Garcia may not be hitting for much power right now, but he smacked 23 home runs last year with a .250 isolated slugging percentage. He has plus raw power. Garcia may not be a speedster, but he can swipe a bag when he needs to and has enough range to stick in the outfield. His arm is strong enough to play at all three outfield positions. Although he projects as an average defensive center fielder, his glove may play up in an outfield corner.

The Red Sox have plenty of outfielders already. Wilyer Abreu and Jarren Duran are firmly planted in the outfield grass at Fenway right now. Top prospect and standout rookie Kristian Campbell has primarily played second base this season, but is capable of playing the outfield, and has done well at the plate early into his major league career. Ceddanne Rafaela is one of the best defensive center fielders in the game. Then there’s Roman Anthony, the number one prospect in baseball. That’s not even mentioning LF/DH Masataka Yoshida, who the Red Sox are still figuring out what to do with once he’s fully healthy, and Rob Refsnyder, who has been a very solid fourth/platoon outfielder for the Red Sox over the last four seasons.

But the question is ... would the Red Sox trade Garcia for pitching? They’ve gotten some good work out of Garrett Crochet, Bryan Bello, and Hunter Dobbins to open the year. Sean Newcomb has been a surprise out of the gates as well. However, Walker Buehler wasn’t doing great prior to his injury, and Tanner Houck has been a disaster. The Red Sox only have three pitching prospects in their top 10 rankings on MLB Pipeline. It certainly seems as if it's time for them to restock.