Red Sox Tabbed to Trade For Rockies Gold Glove Shortstop With Prospect Haul

After the Boston Red Sox completed their free agent signing of former Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez to a five-year, $130 million contract this week, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow cautioned that upgrading the pitching staff was not all the team wanted to accomplish in its new emphasis on run prevention.

“We tend to get caught up in the pitching portion of run prevention, but there are other key components as well - defense being the most obvious," Breslow said on Wednesday, as quoted by NESN.com. "It's really important that we improve our defense, particularly our infield defense.”

A new trade proposal from the hosts of the popular Red Sox podcast “Play Tessie,” affiliated with the team’s flagship radio station WEEI, would do just that. But the price would be steep. The proposal by podcast co-host Sammy James would see the Red Sox trading away a chunk of their future to get Colorado Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar, who won the National League Gold Glove Award at the position in 2024, a year when the 24-year-old stood out as the only NL shortstop with double-digit numbers in both defensive runs saved (10) and outs above average (15).

“If Tovar comes to Boston, he's playing shortstop immediately, right? You're not playing him at second, are you?” asked “Play Tessie” co-host Nat Gordon on the Friday podcast.

“I'd put him at short, but if the Red Sox put him at second, I don't think it's a big deal,” James replied. “He's a stud defensively, and he can move back to short if needed. It sounds like they want to give Trevor Story shortstop for whatever reason.”

But Tovar also brings at least a degree of prowess at the plate. In 2024, the shortstop, signed by the Rockies in 2015 out of Venezuela for an $800,000 signing bonus at age 16, belted 26 home runs and led the NL in doubles with 45 while posting a .763 OPS.

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Nor could Tovar be said to have benefited excessively from playing his home games in Denver’s Coors Field. He hit 13 home runs at home and on the road, and his home OPS of .773 was only somewhat better than his road mark of .754.

So what would the Red Sox trade for Tovar, according to the “Play Tessie” hosts?

The Red Sox would need to part with three prospects out of their top 30, as ranked by MLB Pipeline.

Boston would part with 26-year-old right-handed pitcher Tyler Uberstine, a 2021 Red Sox 19th-round draft pick who, according to Pipeline, “is on the verge of reaching Fenway Park.” Uberstine is ranked No. 29 in the Boston system.

Also, No. 12 prospect Juan Valera, another right-handed hurler, though this one is only 19 years old. Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2023 for a modest $45,000 bonus, Valera - who is ranked No. 5 by Baseball America among Red Sox prospects in 2026 - is described as a “head-turner” by that publication.

Finally, outfielder Justin Gonzalez, who at 19 years old stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds, is lauded for his “plus raw power with more to come” in a Pipeline scouting report.

In acquiring Tovar, if they actually did so, the Red Sox would be on the hook for all but $4.2 million of his seven-year, $63.5 million contract with Colorado.

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Newsweek

This story was originally published January 24, 2026 at 9:30 AM.