Boston Red Sox Send Quinn Priester To Brewers, Add Top Prospect & Pick

General Manager Craig Breslow has added another prospect to the Boston Red Sox farm system in Yophery Rodriguez. Boston dealt more-established prospect Quinn Priester to Milwaukee, also getting a 2025 Competitive Balance Round A draft pick (No. 33 overall) and a player to be named from the Brewers.

Priester, 24, will join the Brewers when they open a series at Colorado on Tuesday night. To clear a spot on the 40-man roster, right-handed reliever Grant Wolfram was designated for assignment.

Milwaukee GM Matt Arnold made the deal to get a young pitcher for an injury-wrecked rotation. The Brewers currently have eight pitchers on the injured list:

LHP Aaron Ashby, strained right oblique, expected to try a bullpen session late this week, then go on rehab assignment at Triple-A Nashville.

RHP Aaron Civale, left hamstring, out until late April.

LHP Nestor Cortes, left elbow flexor strain, went to 15-day IL on Sunday

LHP Robert Gasser, Tommy John Surgery last June 4, out until September.

LHP DL Hall, strained left lat, on 60-day IL since March 5, not expected back until May.

RHP Nick Mears, illness, currently on rehab assignment with Nashville.

RHP Tobias Myers, strained left oblique, expected to start rehab at Nashville this week.

RHP Brandon Woodruff, right shoulder surgery in October 2023, expected to start rehab assignment at Nashville soon and possibly return in May.

Right-hander Freddy Peralta is the only healthy member of manager Pat Murphy’s planned rotation. The Brewers (5-5) are 14th in the national League in earned run average (5.97). They were second in 2024 with a 3.65 ERA.

Priester’s Problems

Priester was regarded as one of the top high-school prospects in the nation in 2019 when the Pittsburgh Pirates picked him 18th overall and signed him for $3.4 million. He missed all of 2020 as the minor leagues were shut down by Covid.

The right-hander made his MLB debut in July 2023 at age 22. His four-pitch mix that played so well in the minors has been hit hard in 21 games in the majors, however. He has a 6-9 record and lofty 6.23 ERA.

Priester was dealt to Boston at the 2024 trading deadline for infielder Nick Yorke, the 17th overall pick in 2020.

Scouts like Priester’s sinking two-seam fastball that gets ground-ball outs. He also has a mid-90s fastball, mid-80s slider and an upper 70-mph curve that is considered his best pitch. Throwing them all for strikes has been a concern. He has 41 walks in 99 2/3 MLB innings.

Rodriguez’s Red Sox Role

The 19-year-old outfielder is now Boston’s 11th-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. The 6-foot-1 lefty plays all three spots in the outfield and seems best suited to right field with a good, accurate arm. He doesn’t have one outstanding tool yet scouts consider him above average in all aspects of the game.

Milwaukee signed him for $1.5 million at age 17 in 2023 out of the Dominican Republic. “If I had to sum up his game in one word, it’s discipline,” Brewers manager of international scouting and player personnel James Armstrong back then. “It feels like every action with him is very deliberate. He takes his craft very seriously.”

When You Need Pitching …

Twenty-five years ago, the Cleveland Indians were desperate for pitching at the 2000 trading deadline. They made a blockbuster deal with the Brewers to acquire closer Bob Wickman and starters Jason Bere and Steve Woodard. Milwaukee got minor-league infielder Marco Scutaro, minor-league pitchers Kane Davis and Paul Rigdon and 25-year-old slugger Richie Sexson.

Cleveland had a 52-49 record at the time and went 38-23 after the deal to finish 90-72. It wasn’t enough to make the playoffs, ending a run of five straight post-season trips. Bere went 6-3, Woodard 3-3 and Wickman got 14 saves. Only Wickman continued to help Cleveland, totaling 139 saves over six seasons.

Scutaro never played for Milwaukee, though he did help six other clubs through 2014. Kane and Rigdon never did much after the deal.

Sexson was tremendous for the Brewers, hitting .276 with 133 homers and 398 RBI over 534 games in a Milwaukee uniform.

The Future Of This Deal

The Brewers need instant impact from Priester to help them gain a playoff berth for the third year in a row and seventh time in eight seasons.

The Red Sox have second baseman Kristian Campbell (ranked No. 6 overall by MLB Pipeline) already an early candidate for 2025 AL Rookie of the Year honors. They will work with Rodriguez and hope he joins other top prospects such as Roman Anthony (No. 2), Marcelo Mayer and Franklin Arias (No. 73) already listed in the top 100.

Yophery Rodriguez will not be another Richie Sexson. His potential added to the plentiful Boston Red Sox farm system, however, makes the organization even stronger down the line.