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Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox.
With the Boston Red Sox losing third baseman Alex Bregman after just one season, when the three-time All-Star chose to opt out of his three-year, $120 million contract, a new trade rumor sees Boston making a dramatic deal for a replacement at third base that would come as a surprise, and perhaps a shock, to Red fans, were it to actually happen.
The possibility of the rumored trade, which would see outfielder Jarren Duran as well as the organization’s top pitching prospect Payton Tolle shipped out along with two other prospects, became at least slightly more realistic on Wednesday when the team on the other end announced that it may be sold soon.
According to a statement issued Wednesday by San Diego Padres chair John Seidler, brother of late owner Peter Seidler who died almost exactly two years earlier at age 63, his family which controls the team through a trust was now considering “a potential sale of the franchise.”
The Padres have seen a decline in revenues over the past two years due to the collapse of Diamond Sports Group, parent company of Bally Sports San Diego, which held local broadcast rights to the team until 2023 when it abruptly defaulted on its contract with the Padres and filed for bankruptcy.
With the turmoil at the top of the organization, the Padres could be expected to look toward unloading some of its larger, more burdensome player contracts — none weightier than seven-time All-Star third baseman Manny Machado.
The Padres have three players on nine-figure contracts that run at least through the 2030 season. Outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr., 26, is still owed $286 million on his deal that takes him through 2034, while 33-year-old shortstop Xander Bogaerts is signed through 2033 with $200 million remaining to collect.
But Machado, signed an 11-year, $350 million contract that takes him through the 2033 season. The Padres owe the 33-year-old former No. 3 overall draft pick another $301 million on the deal.
His stratospheric cost would seem to make Machado a likely trade candidate for an ownership looking to streamline costs, making the team more attractive to potential buyers.
The Red Sox, of course, have a significant hole to fill at third base if they hope to improve on a 2025 campaign that saw them get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021, and only the second since 2018.
The Red Sox and Padres have interests that converge, but that doesn’t mean Machado would come cheaply if the Red Sox decided to target him. One rumored trade package sees not only Jarren Duran — the outfielder most often named as a potential trade candidate for Boston this offseason — but also Payton Tolle headed to San Diego.
Tolle, a 6-foot-6, 250-pound left power pitcher, is rated as the Red Sox’ top pitching prospect and No. 2 prospect overall by MLB Pipeline.
But that’s not all. The trade rumor also has Boston’s No. 3 prospect, slugging outfielder Jhostynxon “The Password” Garcia included in the Machodo trade package, along with at least one more high-ranking prospect.
Seeing Machado in a Red Sox uniform would certainly come as a surprise for Red Sox Nation, and not only due to the unlikelihood that Padres woudl let him go. In 2017, Machado — then playing for the Baltimore Orioles — slid into second base, injuring the left knee of one of Boston’s most valuable and popular stars, second baseman Dustin Pedroia.
Pedroia never fully recovered, playing through pain for the duration of the 2017 season, then appearing in only three games in 2018 and six in 2019 before finally making his retirement official on February 1, 2021.
Machado has been reviled as a villain by many Red Sox fans ever since.
The Pittsburgh Steelers could really use a second pass-catcher to be a bigger part of their passing attack in Week 11. Only D.K. Metcalf has eclipsed the 260-yard mark for the season. In more recent weeks, it’s become too easy for opposing defenses to stop the Steelers attack by just double covering Metcalf.
One pass-catcher who has the talent to play a bigger role is tight end Pat Freiermuth. The good news for the Steelers is Freiermuth has a knack for excelling against the Cincinnati Bengals, who is the next opponent on Pittsburgh’s schedule.
Freiermuth isn’t 100% sure why he has performed so well versus the Bengals in the past. But he gave credit to his father.
“My Dad’s from Cincinnati, so maybe that’s it,” Freiermuth told Heavy Sports in an exclusive interview. “Maybe he’s given me some, like Cincinnati magic or something. I don’t even know. But yeah, maybe that’s it.
“I think they are just one of them teams, and schematically, I think I just play well against them.”
Freiermuth said his dad was a Bengals fan until the day he was drafted. The Steelers tight end has made a career out of carving up his father’s former favorite team.
In nine games against the Bengals, Freiermuth has averaged 5.3 catches and 66.7 receiving yards per contest. He has also scored six touchdowns.
Overall, Freiermuth has 600 receiving yards in his career versus Cincinnati. He doesn’t have more than 199 career receiving yards against any other team in the league.
During the 2023 season, Freiermuth did post zero receptions in a game against the Bengals. However, he has at least 75 receiving yards or a touchdown in the other eight contests versus Cincinnati in his career.
In Week 7, Freiermuth had his best outing of maybe his entire career in the Queen City. The tight end posted five receptions for 111 yards and scored twice.
Freiermuth doesn’t have more than 33 receiving yards in any other game this season.
On Tuesday, head coach Mike Tomlin chalked up Freiermuth’s success against Cincinnati as more than just fatherly magic.
“They play a lot of zone, or they’ve played a lot of zone, particularly with their previous coordinator, and that’s why he’s had some big games against those guys,” Tomlin told reporters. “There is no secret that Muth has very good zone awareness, and he is a zone killer, and that’s why he’s had some of the games he’s had against those guys.”
The Steelers would love for Freiermuth to be among the team leaders in receptions and receiving yards in the final seven weeks. Away from the field, the tight end is leading a blood drive to combat blood shortages around the United States.
The global health leader Abbott and the Big Ten Conference created the blood drive campaign called “The We Give Blood Drive.” In its second season, the drive is a competition among all Big Ten schools to see who will donate the most blood. The winning school will receive $1 million from Abbott to advance student and community health initiatives.
The Steelers tight end is campaigning for Big Ten fans, students and alumni to donate blood. He is especially pushing for Penn State students and alumni to make donations.
Freiermuth played at Penn State from 2018-20.
“It’s super big because there’s a blood shortage,” Freiermuth said. “Every two seconds in the United States, people need blood. So this is obviously important.
“With the blood shortage, I’m encouraging people to donate blood.”
Donations will be accepted through December 5. The Big Ten will announce the winning school at the conference’s championship game on December 6.
To sign up to donate blood for a particular school, visit BigTen.Org/Abbott.