After a 12-game winning streak and a stretch of winning 17 of the last 19 games, the Boston Red Sox have gone from the American League cellar to a playoff spot. Everything is clicking for Craig Breslow's roster, starting with the elite pitching and trickling into a resurgent offense. With the MLB trade deadline looming, the conversation now becomes about adding the missing piece — and that might be Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers, who suddenly might be available.
Langeliers, who was one of the A's representatives at the All-Star Game, has been a force for the offense in Sacramento this season. However, the Athletics have seemingly bottomed out and could be open to selling. Furthermore, Jon Heyman of the New York Post ($) reported that the A's offered the catcher an $80 million extension, which he turned down. Now, he could potentially be had for a blockbuster trade offer, especially with 2.5 years of control remaining. And that's something the Red Sox should jump at full-force.
Red Sox trade package to lure Shea Langeliers from the Athletics
The two years of control beyond this season remaining for Langeliers means that the Red Sox are going to have to pay a pretty penny to get this trade done. However, they have the ammo to do exactly that, offering a former top prospect in Connelly Early (who already has a proven major-league track record), the No. 2 prospect in the system and 51st-best prospect in MLB, Anthony Eyanson, and then some future catcher depth in 21-year-old Johanfran Garcia.
There could be different iterations of this trade that come about. Maybe the Athletics want Marcelo Mayer in there somehow, perhaps over Early, as another offensive addition. Maybe they like another arm in Boston's system more than Eyanson (though that feels unlikely). Maybe there's another down-ranking prospect they prefer to Garcia. In any case, though, it's going to be costly for the Red Sox, but it'd also be worth it.
Why the Red Sox make this trade
Langeliers is a clear offensive upgrade that the Red Sox could use. All reports to this point about Boston's trade plans have indicated that they're seeking a right-handed bat, preferably one with power. One could argue that the Athletics catcher might be the ideal version of that, and also help upgrade a position at catcher.
Admittedly, the Red Sox would be taking a downgrade from Carlos Narvaez from a defensive standpoint with Langeliers, but the offensive upgrades are too substantial to really care about that. Over the past two seasons, Langeliers has 53 home runs and 49 doubles in 211 games with a slash line of .268/.326/.517/.842. His bat is legitimately good enough to also insert into the DH spot of the lineup on days when he's getting rest from behind the dish defensively.
Boston hasn't had that type of catcher in many moons at this point, and no one on the roster or close to the big leagues can offer that. And what makes it even more enticing is how phenomenal of a fit Langeliers could be for Fenway Park as his home stadium. Langeliers, as a right-handed bat, boasts an elite pull-air percentage (23.0% for his career when the MLB average is 16.8%). He could absolutely pepper the Green Monster over and again.
And if that weren't enough, though he turned down the extension offer from the Athletics, Langeliers could potentially be signed long-term for the Red Sox. He checks boxes across the board in terms of what he brings to the offense and how he could slot into the lineup as well, which is exactly the type of move that the Red Sox should be trying to make as they surge into contention — especially if there are potential long-term benefits as well.
Why the Athletics make this trade
Unfortunately, the wheels have fallen off again for the A's this season. After hovering around .500 and flirting with a wild card spot, they just stopped a 10-game losing streak on Saturday, and now sit 14 games below .500, 7.5 games back of Boston for that final wild card spot in the American League.
Trading one of the best offensive players on the Athletics roster might seem counterintuitive as they continue to build. However, this franchise has always done a fine job of selling valuable pieces for a big haul when they still have plenty of team control left to work with. In fact, that's how they got Langeliers back from the Braves in the Matt Olson trade. And with the two sides being clearly far apart in extension talks, the All-Star catcher would make sense as the next in line.
As far as the return goes, it helps set the Athletics up in a much better spot moving forward. The biggest deficiency that this roster has right now is the pitching. There are promising options like J.T. Ginn and Gage Jump, but the depth is sorely lacking organizationally. Landing a player like Early, who has a 3.24 ERA through 21 big-league starts at this point, would help that in the immediate.
But beyond that, Anthony Eyanson has been near unhittable as he's surging through the Red Sox' system in his first year of pro ball. It's not outlandish to think that the could be on track for the majors by next year, which provides more help. Then Johanfran Garcia would help bolster the catching depth as he's been mashing in Double-A this season with an .800+ OPS.
All told, the Athletics have plenty of core pieces locked up, but still need to secure their future. At this point, they should be prioritizing extending Nick Kurtz, even if that means not being able to retain Langeliers. And if that's ultimately the case, then trading him for a haul like this, overall, puts the A's in a much better spot for their future as things keep building in the seemingly right direction.
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