An emergency Red Sox-Angels trade to end Alex Cora's bullpen madness

Things haven't gone to plan for the Boston Red Sox coming out of the All-Star break, even though no one in their right mind would've ever thought it would be easy. Despite having late-game leads in the first two contests against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Alex Cora's team has watched his bullpen cost him the game and drop back into a tie for the third AL Wild Card spot.

Saturday night may have been the most painful instance thanks to Greg Weissert. In extra innings, he blew a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the 10th by giving up a double to Andy Pages and then an RBI single to Kiké Hernandez (who also homered off Kenley Jansen to force extras in the ninth inning). Then, when the Red Sox failed to score in the 11th, he quickly loaded the bases with a sac bunt, walk, and intentional walk. He finally left a meatball for Will Smith to belt into left field for the walk-off single.

Weissert has been perhaps the worst offender for the Red Sox bullpen of late and one of the primary reasons that Boston and Craig Breslow need to address the reliever situation in emergency fashion. His 4.40 ERA and 1.44 WHIP might look concerning, it's actually not even indicative of just how bad he's been. He had a 5.73 ERA in June over 10 appearances and that has ballooned to 7.88 over seven outings in July thus far.

With Chris Martin on the IL for the second time this year and Justin Slaten also hitting the IL, the Red Sox bullpen isn't built to withstand these injuries. They need to act fast to trade for a replacement, which one call with the other LA franchise, the Angels, might provide them.

A Red Sox-Angels trade for Carlos Estevez to get Greg Weissert away from Boston's bullpen

The Angels are 16 games under .500 as of Sunday, July 21 before the series finale against Oakland and going nowhere fast. As such the expiring contract of closer Carlos Estévez is going to be coveted. And the Red Sox should be among those coveting the right-hander given their need. As such, they should be willing to make an offer such as this one.

The Red Sox would be giving up a pair of Top 20 prospects for a reliever on an expiring contract, which speaks to the market for Estévez right now and Boston likely needing to pay up at least a bit to get the deal done, particularly in short order.

It would absolutely be worth it for Estévez, though. In 31 appearances this season, the veteran closer has a 2.61 ERA and minuscule 0.77 WHIP on his ledger with 31 strikeouts in as many innings compared to only four walks. Not only could he give the Red Sox some flexibility with veteran Kenley Jansen's innings but he could also fill in for Martin as a setup man or late-inning, high-leverage arm as well.

As for the Angels, they would have to be happy with what this deal would bring them. David Sandlin starts that as the 23-year-old is intriguing. While he's still in High-A after being an 11th-round pick by the Royals in the 2022 draft, his stuff is impressive with a fastball that tops out at 98mph with run and a splitter that moves nicely. He is still a bit raw at his age and needs to develop more control but the potential with his stuff is enticing to any team looking to further build the farm system as the Angels are.

Then there's Blaze Jordan, the 21-year-old corner infielder who has a big bat. After a slow start to this season in Double-A Portland, he's found his groove to now slash .275/.322/.436 on the season wioth six home runs and 15 doubles. He's also lowered his strikeout rate, fanning only 22 times in 55 games this season after striking out 75 times in 122 games and 94 times in 120 games the previous two seasons.

Sandlin and Jordan would give the Halos a pair of young prospects nearing being MLB-ready who could help the immediate look for the Angels as well as the future. Meanwhile, the Red Sox would get the crucial right-handed bullpen arm they are in desperate need of at the moment.