{"id":126320,"date":"2026-07-20T22:27:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T02:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=126320"},"modified":"2026-07-20T22:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T02:27:43","slug":"red-sox-trade-rumors-breaking-down-the-athletics-hunter-goodman-proposal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/20\/red-sox-trade-rumors-breaking-down-the-athletics-hunter-goodman-proposal\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox Trade Rumors: Breaking Down Hunter Goodman Hypothetical"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s trade deadline season, and that means endless rumors are bound to come up until the deadline on August 3rd. And for the surging Red Sox, that means, hopefully, buying at the deadline to make this team a contender. Their pitching staff is pretty loaded as is, but it\u2019s the lineup that could use some help. Everyone seems to be clicking at the right time, but other than first baseman <\/span>Willson Contreras<\/span><\/a>, there\u2019s no real consistent power bat in the lineup, save for a streaky <\/span>Wilyer Abreu<\/span><\/a> here and there.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Red Sox Trade Rumors: Breaking Down Hunter Goodman Hypothetical<\/h2>\n

\"Hunter<\/p>\n

The lineup can also be lefty-heavy at times, emphasizing the need for the bat to be right handed. Although they\u2019ve <\/span>reportedly been looking at options<\/span><\/a> the whole season, none of the options have really stuck out. Recently, though, a mock trade from The Athletic\u2019s Jim Bowden (<\/span>subscription <\/span><\/a>required) has\u00a0hinted towards the possibility of one of MLB\u2019s best catchers being available.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Trade<\/b><\/h3>\n

Red Sox Get: <\/b>Hunter Goodman<\/b><\/a> (C)<\/b><\/p>\n

Colorado Rockies Get: <\/b>Connelly Early<\/b><\/a> (P), <\/b>Kyson Witherspoon<\/b><\/a> (P, Red Sox #4 Prospect), <\/b>Marcelo Mayer<\/b><\/a> (SS), <\/b>Carlos Narvaez<\/b><\/a> (C)<\/b><\/p>\n

Why Do This Trade?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Boston:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Boston does this trade for a few reasons. One, the aforementioned need for a right-handed power bat. Goodman\u2019s got 30 homers on the year (and was arguably <\/span>a snub from the Home Run Derby this year<\/span><\/a>). But he\u2019s got 18 of those on the road, proving he\u2019s not a Coors Field merchant. Secondly, he\u2019s under team control until 2030. With<\/span> Connor Wong<\/span><\/a>\u2019s deal expiring in 2029, and Narvaez potentially going in this deal, the catcher situation seems to be up in the air in the long term.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there were also discussions a couple of months back around not really <\/span>having a defined starter<\/span><\/a> at the position. Between Wong, Narvaez, and <\/span>Mickey Gasper<\/span><\/a>, none of them really stand out above the rest in the eyes of the team. Goodman could provide that should a shakeup happen over there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colorado:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Colorado needs a fresh start. They\u2019ve lost 100+ games in each of the last three seasons, including an abysmal 119 games last season. In addition, they haven\u2019t been over .500 since 2018, when they finished second in the NL West. With the 2026 squad currently 21 games under .500, some players with value, such as <\/span>Mickey Moniak<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Willi Castro<\/span><\/a>, may be out the door in two weeks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This team needs a fresh start. Early provides them with an ace-level pitcher with years of control (2032 free agent), as well as a projected star pitcher in Witherspoon. Although Narvaez\u2019s bat may be questionable, his glovework isn\u2019t bad. Narvaez threw out roughly the same number of runners (19.4% to Goodman\u2019s 20%) this season but caught a league-leading 32 runners last year. He has half the errors that Goodman committed so far (four to Goodman\u2019s eight), and he\u2019s proven with more playing time how valuable he can be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mayer is a toss-up, but hopefully the hitting and the different environment can help him. He was a former top five pick and top prospect after all, and at just 23 years old, he still has potential to improve at the plate. His glove\u2019s pretty good as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why Say No to the Trade?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Boston:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Red Sox may likely jump at this right away. The offer of a slugging catcher with years of control like him is too good to pass up on. But as mentioned, they would get worse defensively. Narvaez isn\u2019t what he was last year, but he\u2019s still a solid defender. Wong\u2019s a good defender overall, but less experienced the past couple of years after splitting time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Colorado:<\/b><\/h3>\n

Goodman might be the type of guy that the Rockies want to build around. Especially if they\u2019re trading other hitters, the lineup will look a lot different. Having a centerpiece like Goodman to build around could be intriguing, as the catcher has back-to-back 30+ HRs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Last Word: Does This Trade Work?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Ultimately, as big of a loss Early would be, newcomer <\/span>Jake Bennett<\/span><\/a> seems to be filling the role of young lefty pretty well in his absence. The Red Sox have a <\/span>deep pitching staff<\/span><\/a> (which is never a bad thing), and eventually, when this team gets fully healthy, someone\u2019s going to get bumped out, whether it\u2019s a player being sent down or traded for a big bat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And Goodman provides not only a need in the power department, but also a catcher. That combo for Boston hasn\u2019t really been seen since <\/span>Jason Varitek<\/span><\/a>. He would be a welcome addition to the Red Sox, and Colorado would have a nice return package. In the end, though, it\u2019s unlikely he gets moved. But if he were to go on the market, this offer seems a little hard to pass up.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Main Photo Credits: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s trade deadline season, and that means endless rumors are bound to come up until the deadline on August 3rd. And for the surging Red Sox, that means, hopefully, buying at the deadline to make this team a contender. Their pitching staff is pretty loaded as is, but it\u2019s the lineup that could use some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5767,"featured_media":126342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1071],"tags":[1854,5014,6394,5964],"class_list":["post-126320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redsox","category-mlb","tag-connor-wong","tag-hunter-goodman","tag-mickey-moniak","tag-willi-castro"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126320"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126343,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126320\/revisions\/126343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}