Jim Bowden’s latest trade idea for the Boston Red Sox didn’t just get rejected by the fan base. It got laughed at.
BoSox Injection‘s Brandon Glick dismissed the proposal outright, framing it as little more than a punchline ahead of next month’s deadline before calling the return package “ludicrous.” Along the way, he did the math on exactly how lopsided Bowden’s framework really is.
The former MLB general manager floated the blockbuster in his midsummer trade deadline preview for The Athletic, pairing Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman with a Red Sox return package steep enough to gut both the farm system and the active roster in one swing. Under the framework, Boston sends left-hander Connelly Early, right-hander Kyson Witherspoon, shortstop Marcelo Mayer and catcher Carlos Narváez to Colorado. In return, the Red Sox get Goodman. And no one else.
Glick’s objection boils down to a single number. Add up the four Red Sox players and Boston would be surrendering roughly 21.5 years of team control for Goodman’s remaining three and a half seasons before free agency, a trade he called far too much cost-controlled upside to give up for one player, no matter how good.
Hunter Goodman’s Case for Boston
The skepticism isn’t about Goodman’s talent. The 26-year-old two-time All-Star and 2025 Silver Slugger winner has been one of MLB’s most productive two-way catchers, hitting .255/.325/.556 with 30 home runs this season on the heels of last year’s breakout as Colorado’s everyday backstop.
Goodman has posted a stronger OPS on the road (.964) than at hitter-friendly Coors Field (.791) this year, undercutting the usual doubts about numbers padded by the Denver altitude. He won’t reach arbitration eligibility until 2027, meaning Boston would control him well beyond this season, addressing the right-handed power need general manager Craig Breslow’s front office has acknowledged for months.
Why Even Bowden’s Own Math Works Against Him
Early, though currently on the injured list, has emerged as a legitimate rotation piece in his rookie season, a left-hander already missing bats with a career ERA in the mid-3.00s. Witherspoon, last year’s first-round draft pick, remains a projectable High-A arm with real ceiling, even if his big-league timeline sits a year or more away. Mayer, once a top-five draft pick and consensus top-50 prospect, is still chasing consistency in his first extended big-league look, and is also currently injured. Narváez is Boston’s current starting catcher, a plus defender who would need to be replaced immediately.
That’s Glick’s point. Two controllable arms, a former blue-chip infielder and a serviceable everyday catcher are an enormous price for a team that, riding a 14-game winning streak into wild-card position, no longer needs to blow up its roster to compete.
Boston’s catching situation has been a season-long sore spot regardless. Narváez and backup Connor Wong have formed a workable offense-defense platoon, but neither has been strong enough alone to end the conversation about upgrading behind the plate.
Bowden wasn’t presenting this as an actual negotiation, just one of several hypothetical scenarios he floated ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline, and he drew a comparison to the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ old Tony Peña trade to argue such a deal could still pay off. Whether Colorado would even entertain moving its best player and a fan favorite remains an open question at best.
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