The Wilyer Abreu Garage Sale & the Cole Ragans Fever Dream
Hot Stove Rumors, Overreactions & The Annual “We Have Too Many Outfielders” Festival
Hot Stove season is officially here, the GM Meetings are underway in Las Vegas, and baseball executives are now roaming around drunk on $19 cocktails and payroll delusion. Which means it’s time for every reporter with a working phone battery to connect dots like Charlie Kelly in the mailroom.
And this week’s early rumor?
The Boston Red Sox and Kansas City Royals might be dance partners in a Wilyer Abreu–for–Cole Ragans trade.
Do we know if it’s real?
No.
Does that stop the internet from building mock trades like they’re IKEA bookshelves?
Absolutely not.
And surprisingly, this one… actually makes a little sense.
Let’s dive in — sarcastically, aggressively, and with more honesty than anyone in the front office will give you publicly.
The Rumor That Started It All
Jon Morosi Drops the First “Please Panic” Bomb of the Winter
Jon Morosi hopped on MLB Network and casually mentioned that the Kansas City Royals are shopping for outfield help and the Boston Red Sox are “among possible trade partners.”
Translation:
The stove is officially plugged in and preheating.
Soon after, online trade gurus tossed out a one-for-one idea:
Wilyer Abreu → Royals
Cole Ragans → Red Sox
And suddenly Boston fans went from “nice rumor” to “I’ve now watched every Ragans pitch on YouTube and built an emotional bond with him.”
Wilyer Abreu: The Odd Man Out in an Overcrowded Outfield
The Sox Have Three Chairs and Four Bats
The Red Sox outfield situation looks like a bad episode of musical chairs. Except when the music stops, Craig Breslow just shrugs and trades someone.
Here’s the landscape:
Roman Anthony — extended, future star, untouchable
Ceddanne Rafaela — extended, plays every position including ones that don’t exist
Jarren Duran — elite upside, fan favorite, and actually fast enough to run out bad contact
Masataka Yoshida — hits well, fields like a Roomba, zero trade value
Wilyer Abreu — the only one with positive WAR and positive trade equity
In 2025, Abreu gave you:
22 HR
.247 AVG
116 OPS+
Passable defense
A contract that makes small-market GMs drool
He’s good. He’s cheap. He’s 26.
Which makes him the perfect player to get traded, because baseball’s math is stupid.
Enter: Cole Ragans — The Rotation Upgrade We Haven’t Allowed Ourselves to Dream About
A Lefty With Stuff, Upside, and the Kind of Salary John Henry Wants to Adopt
Cole Ragans is exactly the kind of pitcher the Red Sox love on paper:
All-Star in 2024
3.14 ERA in 186.1 IP
Left-hander with real swing-and-miss
Three years for just $13.25M total
Checks every “Breslow loves data-driven arms” box
The only asterisk:
He only made 13 starts in 2025 after a left rotator cuff injury. But he returned in September looking like the old Ragans — velocity intact, slider gross, stuff dancing.
If healthy, he’s a No. 2 starter with No. 1 spikes.
If not, he’s a great lottery ticket.
Either way, he’s exactly what Boston needs:
an actual starting pitcher who is not injured, washed, or named Giolito.
Why This Trade Actually Makes Sense
Both Teams Fill A Need, Nobody Gets Robbed, and Sox Fans Get to Argue Online — A Win-Win-Win
Boston’s Need:
Starting pitching. Real pitching. Quality pitching.
Not fifth-starter patch jobs. Not bullpen games. Not “we’ll see what he looks like in May.”
If the Sox don’t bring back Lucas Giolito — who was fine, not great, not terrible, just aggressively Lucas Giolito — then the rotation needs a legitimate upgrade.
Kansas City’s Need:
An outfielder who:
Hits
Has upside
Isn’t 34
Doesn’t cost $12M a year
Abreu checks every single one of those boxes and even a couple he wasn’t aiming at.
This isn’t a fleece.
This isn’t a heist.
This isn’t a panic move.
It’s just… logical.
And that’s how you know Red Sox fans won’t trust it.
The Medical Wild Card
Boston Has a History of Acquiring Injured Pitchers Like They’re Pokémon Cards
Ragans’ shoulder injury is the giant blinking highway sign in this rumor.
If Boston’s medical staff clears him, great.
If they don’t, the Sox will do it anyway and then insist “he’ll be ready by mid-May,” which will quickly become “the All-Star break,” which will quickly become “2026.”
You know the drill.
But Ragans looked strong in September.
Velocity? Back.
Whiff rate? Back.
Slider depth? Back.
If he’s healthy, he’s a real weapon.
If he’s not… well, join the club.
The Outfield Math Is Reality, Not Emotion
The Front Office Will Not Carry Four Starting-Caliber Outfielders. Someone’s Going.
Here’s the brutal truth:
Roman Anthony isn’t going anywhere.
Rafaela isn’t going anywhere.
Duran is too good right now to sell.
Yoshida can’t be traded unless you package him with a scratch-off ticket and a used Subaru.
So Abreu is the movable piece.
Not because he’s bad.
Not because the Sox don’t like him.
Not because the team hates joy.
Because roster construction says someone must go, and Abreu is the only chip with actual value.
Don’t Forget: The Sox Already Did This Last Winter
Garrett Crochet Flashbacks Incoming
Last offseason, the Red Sox shocked the league with the Garrett Crochet deal.
People freaked.
People panicked.
People claimed Crochet would break instantly.
Instead, he:
Finished second in the AL Cy Young behind Tarik Skubal
Became the ace Boston had been missing
Became proof that Breslow can identify talent
So yes — the Sox will absolutely trade a good position player for a premium arm.
This is not new.
So… Will It Happen?
We Are Now Entering the “Anything Is Possible Until Someone Signs Rhys Hoskins” Phase
Right now?
This is a legitimate rumor, not fantasy fan-fiction.
Why?
The Royals want an outfielder.
The Sox have one to spare.
Ragans fits Boston perfectly.
Abreu fits Kansas City perfectly.
The money works.
The ages line up.
Morosi mentioned the Sox by name (this counts as a handshake agreement during Hot Stove season).
Does that mean this deal is happening tomorrow?
No.
Does it mean you should bookmark this page and pretend you were the first to know?
Absolutely.
Final Verdict: Sensible, Balanced, and Destined to Make Half the Fanbase Furious
A Deal That Might Actually Help Both Teams — Which Means Red Sox Fans Will Hate It
Trading Wilyer Abreu would sting…
But acquiring Cole Ragans would solve a massive hole in the rotation.
This is the exact type of move good, proactive, strategic organizations make.
The big question is:
Do the Red Sox qualify as one of those organizations this winter?
Stay tuned.
The stove is warming up.
I WOULD RATHER TRADE DURAN