Report: Suns exploring trade options involving Boston Celtics Kristaps Porzingis
Could Boston Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis be traded to the Phoenix Suns? Recent reporting from the Stein Line's Jake Fischer hints that just such a move might be in the works, with the two teams reportedly talking about a trade for the Latvian center. Per the Stein Line reporter, "Phoenix has done some background work on ... Porzingis with Boston known to be exploring its trade options up and down the roster."
With both ball clubs currently well over the second apron, incurring all the harsh team building penalties that brings with it, a third team would need to be involved for this sort of deal to work. But the Suns need big man depth and hope to remain competitive while trying to reshape their roster, making KP an interesting option with low risk involved as an expiring contract.
Whether his deal would be part of the salary moving to a third team for that same reason or as a potential Phoenix target given his upside when healthy would be the most important part of the equation on that side of the deal.
What it might bring back to Boston is another question, given his value to the Celtics for both cap relief and his chemistry with the team and fan base when not out of commission. Buckle up, things are starting to heat up.
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
What's next for the Red Sox after Rafael Devers trade?
Congratulations, Red Sox: You won't have to pay Rafael Devers a bunch of money when he (probably) isn't very good anymore. You have successfully rid yourself of the unpleasant burden that is paying a player when he is well past his prime. More pertinently, you have shipped away a player whose inflexibility about his position proved too problematic to keep in the clubhouse. His unwillingness to pick up a glove to help the team in its time of need had pushed your relationship beyond repair, and now he's gone. You did it. Hooray. Now what? Advertisement For a franchise famously known for going eight-plus decades without a World Series, the Red Sox have had quite the surplus of success in the 21st century. Boston has won more World Series titles in the past 25 years than any other franchise — not to mention the gaudy collection of championships amassed by the city's other sports teams — cementing a sky-high standard for a fan base that has come to expect not just competitiveness but also contention nearly every season. But now, after a maddeningly uneven first 73 games and an industry-rattling trade that exported the team's best hitter to the other league and other side of the country, the Red Sox are staring down the possibility of missing the postseason for a fourth consecutive year — something this franchise hasn't done since 1991 to '94. Or maybe not. Following an emphatic and invigorating series sweep of the Yankees, the Red Sox are above .500 for the first time since May 24 and have won five in a row for just the second time this season. Maybe the unpopular and bold decision to trade the face of the franchise and a world-class bat is the first in a series of moves that will better position this team for short- and long-term success. Or maybe the American League is wide-open enough that the Red Sox roster as currently constructed is good enough to snag a playoff spot. Advertisement Exactly how the Red Sox proceed from here is uncertain, but what's clear is that some big-picture questions need to be answered sooner rather than later. Let's dig into three of those now. How do you replace one of the best hitters in baseball? It'd be plenty difficult to replace Devers' bat if the Red Sox had dealt him amidst one of his more standard seasons, one that saw his offensive stats rank among the 20-or-so best in baseball. But Devers has seemingly gone up a level this year. Since his bizarre 0-for-19 slump with 15 strikeouts to start the season, Devers has hit .292/.418/.542 with 15 homers in 68 games, good for a 162 wRC+ that ranks seventh in MLB over that span. Devers' .389 wOBA, .400 xwOBA, 55.6% hard-hit rate and 16.8% walk rate are all career-best marks. He had been designated to hit, and he sure was hitting. Now he'll likely keep hitting, but for another team, which means the bats still in Boston have some serious work to do to backfill Devers' production. The first task will be to identify a new designated hitter — or an assortment of hitters who can cycle through that spot. Having a rotation of sorts at DH is hardly uncommon, as it grants a manager the flexibility to deploy a deeper array of bats depending on the matchup and affords position players more days off their feet without taking them out of the lineup. At the same time, Devers was the rare slugger who warranted every-day reps at DH — he had started all 73 games this year for Boston — and replicating his production through any means is a tall task. Advertisement Alongside Alex Bregman, Devers formed one of the most dangerous 2-3 duos in the league. Now Devers is gone and Bregman is still on the injured list nursing a quad strain, leaving an enormous hole in the lineup. Jarren Duran has been solid as the leadoff man but notably worse than during his breakout campaign a year ago. Abraham Toro and Romy Gonzalez have performed admirably at first base in place of the injured Triston Casas. Rookie catcher Carlos Narvaez has been a revelation, but it's hard to believe having him bat cleanup was ever Plan A. Veteran Trevor Story has shown modest signs of life recently after a wretched start to the season, but he's hardly the impact bat he used to be. These players, among others, will need to step up their game at the plate if the offense is to stay afloat, particularly until Bregman returns. Another fascinating character who could reemerge is Masataka Yoshida. In the third year of a five-year, $90 million contract and still on the injured list working his way back from shoulder surgery, Yoshida has faded into the background to an almost amusing degree amidst all the roster construction drama in Boston over the past few months. He was hitting in games during spring training but has had multiple setbacks in his attempts to throw at maximum effort, which have slowed his progress toward becoming a viable option in the outfield. Granted, it was and still is unclear how Yoshida would fit in the ultra-crowded Boston outfield even if able to throw. But with Devers gone, the DH role that Boston seemingly preferred for Yoshida is once again vacant. It might seem a bit strange to re-clog the DH spot with a hitter who, while perhaps underrated, is objectively much worse than Devers, but that might be the most obvious path forward for Boston given where things stand. More broadly, the spotlight now burns even brighter on Boston's heralded trio of top prospects: Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell. Campbell raked in April before going ice-cold in May but has slowly started to rediscover his stride at the plate, albeit while still struggling mightily at second base. Mayer's and Anthony's careers are still in their infancy, with markedly less data than Campbell at the major-league level. No one is questioning these players' star-level ceilings, but expecting them to approach their potential as rookies for a team with playoff aspirations feels like a lot to ask. On a team that is still without Bregman and just dealt away its best hitter, the kids have seemingly been given a vote of confidence that their time to make an impact is now. Let's see how they respond. How much will the players acquired from San Francisco help now and in the future? It's apparent that the frayed partnership between player and team and Devers' potentially onerous contract were the driving forces behind this blockbuster transaction. But the Red Sox did receive four players in this deal, a quartet offering varying levels of promise moving forward. So, who are these guys? Advertisement Jordan Hicks is the most accomplished of the bunch, a 28-year-old flamethrower in his eighth major-league season. The Red Sox reportedly had interest in Hicks before the Giants signed him as a free agent two offseasons ago and made the decision to transition him to the rotation after years of coming out of the bullpen. That transition flatly failed, and now Hicks has a 6.47 ERA in the second year of a four-year, $44 million contract, the remainder of which now falls on the Red Sox. Currently on the injured list due to a toe injury, Hicks last pitched on June 1. He still throws tremendously hard and gets a ton of groundballs, but he isn't especially good at anything else; his command and ability to get whiffs remain poor. Hicks' elite velocity unquestionably remains an attractive ingredient, but he hasn't been an effective pitcher for a while. He immediately becomes a top-priority project for Boston's pitching infrastructure to try to reestablish as a reliable relief option whenever he returns from injury. Kyle Harrison, a 23-year-old left-hander with just 182 ⅔ major-league innings to his name, is a bigger upside play for Boston, as he's not far removed from being one of the top pitching prospects in baseball and is under team control through the 2029 season. The Red Sox optioned Harrison to Triple-A upon acquiring him, but it's reasonable to assume he could play a meaningful role in the big leagues at some point later this season. Advertisement Although his velocity has fluctuated since his call-up in 2023, Harrison's heater is a truly terrific pitch when it's sitting 95 mph, as it has more recently. He also throws from an unusually low arm angle, giving him a unique look for a starting pitcher. It's now on Boston to help him round out the rest of his arsenal and develop starter-quality command to ensure a promising future in the middle of the Red Sox rotation for years to come. It's unclear how much he'll contribute this season and what role he'll be deployed in if there are no rotation spots available, but Harrison is a talent worth getting excited about. Outfielder James Tibbs III was my 11th-ranked prospect for the 2024 MLB Draft and was ultimately selected 13th overall by San Francisco. Without much added speed or defensive value — he played primarily first base and both corner outfield spots in college and has played exclusively right field as a pro – the lefty-hitting Tibbs' calling card is his bat, which produced an epic statline (1.264 OPS) as a junior at Florida State en route to his first-round selection. There were real concerns from scouts leading up to the draft about Tibbs' ability to hit left-handed pitching, but he has done quite well so far this season in a small sample, with an .857 OPS overall in 57 games in the High-A Northwest League. That said, anyone who demolished high-level collegiate competition to the degree Tibbs did should be expected to hit well in A-ball. Double-A looms as a far more telling test that will help forecast Tibbs' potential impact in Boston's lineup. As for his defensive fit in Boston's still overcrowded outfield depth chart … we'll cross that road if/when we get there. Advertisement Jose Bello is the third pitcher heading to Boston in the Devers deal. The right-hander has been exceptionally effective early in the Arizona Complex League season (2.00 ERA in 18 IP, 28 K, 3 BB), working out of the bullpen in mostly multi-inning stints. At just 20 years old and yet to throw a pitch at a full-season affiliate, Bello is likely years away from contributing in the majors. He's off to a promising start to his career, but he isn't considered an elite prospect at this stage. How will the Red Sox reallocate the money they no longer owe Devers, and how soon should we expect another move? With San Francisco assuming the entirety of Devers' contract, the Red Sox have cleared more than $250 million from their future books. In theory — and hopefully in practice — these savings can be reinvested in the roster in a significant way. But when? Doing that now would be next to impossible; it's not like there are a bunch of All-Star free agents just hanging out in the middle of June. Advertisement That said, without a contract of such length and magnitude on their payroll for years to come, perhaps the Red Sox will be more comfortable pushing harder for a top free agent in the near future or pursuing another long-term extension with a key player already on the roster or finding a way to keep Bregman in Boston for the long haul if/when he opts out of his short-term pact after this season. Boston's financial ceiling has been rather amorphous over the past half-decade. Devers' presence on the roster last winter didn't stop the team from reportedly being willing to offer $700 million to Juan Soto, but we've also seen the Red Sox act with self-imposed payroll restraints on multiple occasions in recent years. Maybe the Sox spend big on a free agent this coming winter. Maybe they don't. More pressing now will be how the front office retools a Devers-less lineup with a playoff berth still in mind. There's little reason to take this trade as indication that the Red Sox will be sellers this July, but it's fair to expect them to add further. Even with Devers out of the mix, this Red Sox roster is riddled with confusing conundrums and difficult puzzle pieces for the front office and coaching staff to put together. Perhaps the increased financial flexibility enables the team to add an expensive star veteran ahead of next month's trade deadline, but we're still weeks away from knowing what players will be available. More simply, this is not a franchise that should use this dramatic Devers divorce as a sign that this season is suddenly a year of transition, rather than one of contention. More moves must be on the way in short order, someway, somehow. Based on what we've seen from this franchise in recent years, I feel pretty good that there's plenty more drama to come.
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
For rudderless Red Sox, Mookie Betts is the ghost in the machine
Boston is again the capital of the baseball world, history repeating itself yesterday when the Red Sox, who have never faltered in this great classic, defeated the Cubs 2 to 1. – Boston Globe, September 12, 1918 The Red Sox own the World Series in this century. – Boston Globe, October 29, 2018 History repeating itself. You would think the Boston Red Sox had learned something in the century between those dispatches. But here we are. Advertisement To recap: The Red Sox won several championships in the early part of the century, the last in '18. After the '19 season, they gave away their best player, in his mid-20s prime, in a staggeringly lopsided trade. That player became the centerpiece of his new team, which soon replaced the Red Sox as the sport's dominant franchise. What was true in the 20th century is true again today. The sale of Babe Ruth cast an enduring curse on Boston's American League club. The trade of Mookie Betts is doing the same. The San Francisco Giants acquired Rafael Devers from the Red Sox on Sunday night for four players and significant salary relief for the Olde Towne Team. The Giants are in a better position now to challenge Betts and the Los Angeles Dodgers for National League supremacy. And the Red Sox, for the first time in decades, have nobody left on the roster who has won a World Series in Boston. Turnover happens. Teams must decide which stars are good bets – pun intended – for the long term. Nobody pines for the departed Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts and Eduardo Rodriguez, stalwarts of 2018 who have all aged poorly, at premium prices. Maybe Devers, never a model of conditioning, will also struggle as he ages. This isn't about that, really. It's about Betts, always and forever, until the Red Sox can properly heal that self-inflicted wound. In year six without him, they are still bleeding. Signing Devers for 10 years and $313.5 million, in January 2023, was largely a reaction to losing Bogaerts to the San Diego Padres a month earlier. With Betts long gone, ownership was eager to prove that it could actually keep homegrown talent. Devers was the best one left, so he got the money. It was an imperfect choice. Teams like the Red Sox need a cooperative frontman for the clubhouse, the cameras and the community – think Aaron Judge in the Bronx, Francisco Lindor in Queens, Bryce Harper in Philadelphia. Devers was never built like that. The Red Sox were paying for his bat. That's it. Advertisement For a team with Boston's resources, though, a bat like his could be enough. Juan Soto, a more inward type, fits with the Mets because Lindor and Pete Alonso do all the front-facing stuff. Devers is one of baseball's best hitters, year after year. If the Red Sox were the big-market bullies they used to be, they could have spent aggressively elsewhere and let Devers do his thing. Now you wonder how well they really understand Devers. After Alex Bregman arrived to play third base, Devers very reluctantly accepted the designated hitter role, then swung-and-missed his way through the first week. When he quickly established himself as the league's premier DH, they should have just left him alone. Why even raise the idea of replacing the injured Triston Casas at first? Devers is a poor defender, anyway. And first base is incredibly hard. It's easy to say that Devers should have accepted whatever his employer wanted. Plenty of premier sluggers – Miguel Cabrera, Jim Thome – have switched from third base to first. Even the greatest third baseman ever, Mike Schmidt, moved across the diamond for a rookie named Rick Schu. Devers is not Cabrera or Thome or Schmidt, and he had already telegraphed his sensitivity to change. Through it all, he produced, departing the Red Sox as the MLB leader in games played this season with the second-best OPS of his career (.905). But the Red Sox had to provoke him, and everything blew up. How might this have unfolded if, say, the Red Sox hadn't traded a certain team-first leader known for changing positions? What if, after 2019, they had grasped where the market was headed for a player (and person) like Betts and offered him the kind of contract extension he got from the Dodgers: 12 years, $365 million? Instead, they ended up paying Devers even more per year than the Dodgers paid Betts. And by asking the Dodgers to assume David Price's contract in the Betts deal – as the Giants are taking on Devers' money now – the Red Sox lowered the value of the package they got in return. Advertisement Jeter Downs was a bust and Connor Wong is hitting .145. Alex Verdugo played four seasons and was traded to the Yankees for Greg Weissert, Richard Fitts and a prospect. Now with Atlanta, Verdugo has an OPS+ of 100. Precisely average. When Verdugo struck out to clinch the World Series for the Dodgers last October, Fox took five seconds to cut to Betts charging in from right field, flinging away his glove and cap to mob his teammates. It was Betts' second title in his first five years with the Dodgers, one more than Ruth won in his first five years with the Yankees. Ah, but what about the pitcher who got the last out? That was Walker Buehler, and the Red Sox snagged him on a one-year deal in free agency. Now Buehler has a 5.01 ERA in 11 starts. Last year, he had a 5.38 ERA in 16 starts. He is part of a rotation with Lucas Giolito, who has a 5.45 ERA in eight starts. In his last eight starts before joining the Red Sox – in 2023, before Tommy John surgery last spring – Giolito had a 6.38 ERA. Relying on turnarounds by already-struggling pitchers might not be a winning strategy. But there's more where that came from. Patrick Sandoval had a 5.08 ERA with the Angels before Tommy John surgery last June. Sensing a bargain, the Red Sox gave Sandoval a two-year, $18 million contract. The smartest thing the Red Sox have done under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is trading for a prime-age ace, Garrett Crochet, and paying him fair market value. They've also graduated a promising group of prospects – Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, Marcelo Mayer – to the majors. That trio could benefit from a leader like Bregman, the veteran third baseman, but they better learn quickly. The Red Sox only signed Bregman because his deal had so little risk: After one year, Bregman can opt out. If he returns from the injured list and keeps playing well (.938 OPS), that would seem to be a formality. Advertisement The Red Sox are living on sand dunes now. Betts was their foundation, and they pulled it all down when they fell through their own trap door. Yes, yes, it's time to get over it. As an old Celtics coach would say, Mookie Betts isn't walking through that door. He's moved on. 'I genuinely don't care,' Betts said on Sunday night. 'It just is what it is.' Why should Betts care? The Red Sox are 390-391 since trading him, worse today than they were yesterday. If the Betts trade only haunts them for one generation, they're lucky. History calls for eight more decades of pain. (Top photo of Betts and Devers in 2023: Billie Weiss/Boston)
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
David Ortiz responds to Red Sox's Rafael Devers trade: 'You've got to put your ego aside'
Legendary Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz understands why the team traded away Rafael Devers. In his first comments since the deal, Ortiz took the team's side, saying, "You have to give the club the benefit of the doubt." That's a departure from Ortiz's take in early June, when he seemed to agree with Devers' decision to stick at designated hitter following an injury to first baseman Tristan Casas. At the time, Ortiz said, "He's doing great as the DH. They asked for it, and he's doing great as the DH." Advertisement But following Sunday's deal, which saw Devers traded to the San Francisco Giants, Ortiz reversed course, implying ego and maturity played a role in the team's decision, per The Athletic. 'The organization is always going to be there. Players come and go. As a player, sometimes you've got to put your ego aside and understand that once you get paid, you've got to find a way to do what you're told,' Ortiz said. 'That's a message for all young players who think they turn out to be bigger than the game. I'm not saying that Devers was like that. He's humble. He's a good kid. But sometimes when you're young and immature, you (don't realize that)." Ortiz explained that he experienced friction with the Red Sox during his career, but "was mature enough to understand and keep things internal." That wasn't the case with Devers, who made multiple public comments about his dissatisfaction over the Red Sox's approach to having him change positions. After signing Alex Bregman in the offseason, the team asked Devers to play designated hitter. He bristled at the idea initially before eventually signing off on it. That changed a few weeks later, when Casas went down with a season-ending injury. The Red Sox then approached Devers about playing first with Casas out. Devers refused, and ripped team general manager Craig Breslow in the process. Advertisement Despite all that drama, Devers performed on the field. After a glacially-slow start, Devers recovered and was hitting .272/.401/.504 at the time of the trade. He'll take a career-high 152 OPS+ to San Francisco following the deal. Ortiz was careful to avoid directly throwing Devers under the bus, but he implied Devers' youth prevented both sides from reconciling. 'I think it would be easier, if they pay you that kind of money, to go, 'F*** it, let's do it.' But players' egos play a big role sometimes. I've seen it with so many players. Sammy Sosa. A-Rod, my friend. Manny Ramirez, you name it. And guess what? At the end of the day … you know you did wrong. Once you mature, you understand.' Ortiz added that, in these situations, the team holds all the power. He said that's something that can be "hard to understand" when you're a young player. While Ortiz no longer plays for the Red Sox, he's still linked to the organization. He signed a "forever" contract with the team in 2017, allowing him to serve in a variety of roles in the organization. Advertisement He let some of that loyalty show when talking about the Devers trade, saying, "I prefer to play in Boston than freezing-ass San Francisco for the next 10 years." With Devers gone, the Red Sox will try to turn the page on a drama-filled year thus far. Despite all the outside noise, the Red Sox are coming off a three-game sweep over the rival New York Yankees and are still very much in the playoff hunt in the American League. Trading Devers will almost certainly hurt in the short-term, but it wasn't a white flag trade. Maybe Ortiz was right about giving the team some credit, though it doesn't exactly have the best track record when trading away elite talent.
