The Boston Red Sox announced on Saturday that they are trading right-handed reliever John Schreiber to the Royals. In exchange Boston will receive one of Kansas City’s top pitching prospects, David Sandlin.

For the Royals, they continue to overhaul a bullpen that was one of the worst in the major’s last season. To go along with Schreiber, they have also added Will Smith, Chris Stratton, and Nick Anderson. In addition to the pen, they’ve also added key rotation arms like Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo. Royals fans can now sleep soundly before the season knowing the bullpen struggles shouldn’t carry over.

The announcement of Schreiber to the Royals took most Boston fans by surprise. He’s coming off a bit of a down year in 2023 because of injury, but still produced a 3.86 ERA in 46 appearances. In 2022, Schreiber won Boston’s fireman of the year award, which is voted by the Boston Chapter of the BBWAA and honor’s the club’s top relief pitcher. He was a fan-favorite and is also still under arbitration through 2026. All in all, the Royals picked up a solid reliever with controllable years to come.

For the Red Sox, they carry on with the mission of building a roster for the future. At this point, Sox fans should really start to judge the front office based on actions and not words. The “full throttle” comment by Tom Werner in November was obviously not true. They have traded away 3 key players in Alex Verdugo, Chris Sale, and now John Schreiber. The 2 key players they have acquired via trade, Tyler O’Neill and Vaughn Grissom, are interesting additions, albeit they aren’t flashy names. With top prospects Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kyle Teel slated to join the Sox in 2025, it’s clear that’s where their sights are set.

In return however, the Red Sox actually picked up an interesting prospect in the deal that sent Schreiber to the Royals. David Sandlin is still only 22 and has a lot of potential. An 11th round pick by the Royals in 2022, Sandlin posted a 3.51 ERA last year between low and high A. His 87 strikeouts in 66.2 innings suggests that he has some overpowering stuff. He has a high-90s fastball to go along with a good slider. An early injury that ended his 2023 suggests he may be more suited as a reliever than a starter. The Sox are certainly taking a chance on this kid, but if he pays off the return could be massive.

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