For most people, the Boston Red Sox offseason grade immediately jumped from the high-C/low-B range to about an A- with the big-money free agent addition of Alex Bregman. He’s the right-handed bat destined to rake at Fenway Park they’ve been lacking, not to mention the veteran and championship-caliber leadership he brings to a youth-filled clubhouse. Now, the Red Sox look like contenders.

What came as a bit of a surprise to some fans, however, is that Craig Breslow and the Red Sox front office might not be done. Jared Carrabis of Underdog was asked about the possibility of Boston continuing their offseason aggression by trying to orchestrate a trade with the San Diego Padres for Michael King. As someone plugged-in with the Red Sox, it’s worth noting that his reply was that he thinks Boston wants to try and land the other Padres starter potentially on the move: Dylan Cease.

That’s no guarantee that the Red Sox are going to push for a Cease trade with the Padres but, after signing Bregman in addition to Walker Buehler while also trading for Garrett Crochet, you can’t count Breslow and John Henry out at this point. The farm system is still loaded with talent to make a trade for a Cy Young contender feasible.

But what if it was more than Cease, though? The Red Sox have the perfect package to potentially get even more aggressive and entice the Padres to move even more than just an ace on an expiring contract. Namely, they could also try to land Robert Suarez.

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In addition to Cease, the Padres could also send Boston the back-end bullpen arm that the front office remains in search of when it comes to the veteran Suarez. Here’s what such a trade for the Red Sox and Friars would potentially look like.

Prospect rankings via SoxProspects.com.

For the Red Sox side of this equation, it’s pretty self-explanatory. Cease was the AL Cy Young runner-up in 2022 with Chicago, struggled in 2023 and then was dominant in San Diego in 2024 with a 3.47 ERA in a season that included a no-hitter. Putting him in the rotation with Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Walker Buehler, Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito would give Boston starting pitching rivaled perhaps only by the Dodgers and Mariners in baseball top-to-bottom.

As for Suarez, there’s a reason that Breslow and fans are still calling for a bullpen arm. Throwing in a guy who would be the clear-cut closer after registering 36 saves with the Padres last season behind a 2.77 ERA and 1.046 WHIP to be the exclamation point on a group that includes Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten, Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman and so on would make a weakness from the 2024 campaign in to a decisive strength.

The Padres would have to be enticed by such an offer too. Miguel Bleis is a Top 10 prospect in one of the best farm systems in baseball, though he’s largely blocked in the Red Sox system, with extremely high potential with the bat. As for Dorian Soto, he was just signed in the 2025 international free agent class but his upside is clear and he would also fit a long-term timeline in the infield for San Diego with Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts installed for the foreseeable future.

More importantly, though, this trade would help the Padres continue AJ Preller’s mold of reshaping but still competing with Kutter Crawford and Wilyer Abreu. Crawford isn’t Cease, obviously, but as a replacement with four years of cheap club control remaining but a solid baseline as a usable rotation option. Meanwhile, Abreu increases the outfield depth with Gold Glove defense in addition to a bat that’s proven against right-handed pitching and could have untapped upside overall at the dish.

The Suarez aspect of the equation could complicate things for the Red Sox to get such a trade done considering he still has three years on his contract but an option after the 2025 season. However, if Boston ups their offer to something like this to make that happen, it would clearly vault them into the realm of World Series contenders, or perhaps even more seriously so than they already are.