Red Sox Trade Lucas Sims, Yankees Add Mark Leiter Jr. to Strengthen Their Bullpens

A common refrain in baseball is that you can never have enough pitching, and that doesn't just apply to beginners. A well-stocked bullpen can be valuable to a club, which is why many contenders are dealing with relievers as the trade deadline approaches. Two such clubs were the Boston Red Sox, who acquired Lucas Sims from the Cincinnati Reds and Luis Garcia from the Los Angeles Angels, and the New York Yankees, who acquired Mark Leiter Jr. to the Chicago Cubs and Enel De Los Santos to the San. Diego Padres.

Let's take a look at two of those deals — the Garcia and De Los Santos trades will be covered in another post — starting with Boston getting Sims in exchange for 19-year-old prospect Ovis Portes.

With setup men Chris Martin and Justin Slaten both on the injured list — their return dates uncertain — the Red Sox were in dire need of proven bullpen arms. Late appearances contributed to the team losing seven of 10 games coming out of the All-Star break, with Chase Anderson, Bailey Horn, and Greg Weissert among the losers. If you're fighting for a Wild Card berth, those aren't the best options for high-level situations.

Since the start of last season, the 30-year-old Sims has made 110 appearances — 20th most in the majors — and allowed 63 hits while posting a 3.27 ERA over 96 1/3 innings. . This season, the righty has posted a 3.57 ERA in 43 games (35 1/3 innings), but his numbers aren't encouraging; he has a 4.11 xERA, a 4.88 FIP, and a 4.79 xFIP. Command has been a problem for Sims; his 13.0% walk rate this season is down from last year's 15.1%, though not great. His strikeout rate, on the other hand, is a healthy 26.0%, and overall he represents an improvement on what has been a depressed bull. As Boston manager Alex Cora said, “Great slide. A good cutter. We need arms. He will be part of the late innings mix.”

With Kenley Jansen serving as the closer, Martin and Slaten on tap to return, Liam Hendriks a chance to make his Red Sox debut sometime before the end of the season, Brennan Bernardino providing quality innings from lefty, and With Sims and Garcia joining the mix, Boston's bullpen could be a force in the final two months of the campaign.

As for what the Red Sox gave up to get Sims, here's our lead prospect analyst Eric Longenhagen on 35+ FV Portes, the newest addition to the Cincinnati Reds organization:

Portes was one of the hardest-throwing youngsters in the Red Sox system. He has hit 98 mph and has sat 93-96 in every start. That was too hot for FCL to handle and Portes was promoted to Salem, where he stayed 95-97 for most of the first season. He was working about three innings per outing, using his fastball and slider almost exclusively and struggling with walks. Portes has a very short arm action but still has trouble getting a consistent release, as his heater is spread all over the place and the quality of his slider is inconsistent. When he's at his best, he creates a rise/run angle in the hands of the right guys and bends his two-shot 70s away from them. His delivery lacks the fluidity required to show the progress of the change, and that, along with his raw sense of space, pushes Portes into the bucket of help. He goes down the Reds list as an exciting development.

Yankees acquisition Leiter Jr. from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Ben Cowles, a 35+ FV center fielder, and 40 FV right fielder Jack Neely was based on the same need. The club owned by Aaron Boone also has some helpers on the injured list, while others, like the recently traded Caleb Ferguson, are expected to perform well. Without Clay Holmes, Luke Weaver, and Tommy Kahnle, the Yankees lacked reliable relief arms. More depth was needed.

The most concerning part of their bullpen has been its inability to generate swing-and-misses. This is where Leiter really shines, with a 34.9% strikeout rate that ranked fifth among NL pitchers at the time of the trade. Yankees pitchers entered Tuesday's game with a 23.0% strikeout rate, which ranked 17th in the majors. Leiter had a 4.21 ERA across 39 games (36 1/3 innings) with the Cubs this season, but his peripherals were much better: 2.61 xERA, 2.11 FIP, 2.43 xFIP.

The Yankees wasted no time getting Leiter acclimated. Yesterday, shortly after being traded, the 33-year-old righty flew from Cincinnati, where the Cubs were playing, to meet his new team in Philadelphia. Then, he was entered into a 6-6 game in the 10th inning, and although the Phillies loaded the bases, Leiter escaped without allowing a run. The Yankees won, 7-6, in 12 innings.

Another thing to note is that Leiter Jr. he is the third member of his family to pitch for the Yankees, joining his father, Mark Leiter Sr., and uncle, Al Leiter.

Here's what Eric had to say about the two Cubs prospects:

Jack Neely is a young giant who bounced around several schools (Texas, San Jacinto, Iowa Western, Ohio State) before pro football. He was completely pitched as a reliever in pro ball and posted double-digit strikeouts per 9 IP at the top of the minor league ladder, culminating in 2024 when he reached Triple-A and led Yankees pitchers in a full season in swing rate. by 20.2%. He's sitting 94-98 with a straight break that's almost as good as backspinning even though he's releasing in another three-quarter gap. He also has an 84-88 mph dot-style slider that produces a high rate of swings and misses. According to Synergy, Neely's slider has a 54% miss rate and a 42% rush rate as a trade. He has kept his swing under control for most of the past two seasons and projects as a regular middle innings option.

Cowles' numbers in Double-A are good, but his on-base data is average and he looks worse than he should be considering his age (he's 24). All of Cowles' offensive tools are in the 40- or 45-grade range but he's a shortstop defender (his arm is short, but all of his skills are equal across the infield) and a well-built athlete. . His 140 wRC+ is a caricature of the offensive landscape at the Yankees' Somerset affiliate, but Cowles will still be a worthy bench player.