The Boston Red Sox are down three starting pitchers — Lucas Giolito, Kutter Crawford, and Brayan Bello — to begin the 2025 campaign. Still, this is far from the biggest pitching issue for the Red Sox heading into the regular season.

Boston still has Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler, Tanner Houck, Quinn Preister, and Richard Fitts to round out the rotation. None of these injuries are expected to be significant injuries either.

Boston is missing a closer, though. And they need to add one desperately as they head into the year. As of now, Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman, and Justin Slaten are expected to split closing duties. But Boston could swing a huge trade with the San Diego Padres to fix this issue.

This Red Sox-Padres trade would give Boston its closer in Robert Suarez

Padres closer Robert Suarez is heading into the final year of his contract and it’s unlikely San Diego will be able to re-sign him next offseason. So the idea is the Padres could explore the idea of trading him if the offer is right.

The righty held a sub-3.00 ERA in 65 innings last season. He recorded 36 saves in his first year as the team’s closer, placing himself among the best relievers in baseball.

While this could seem like an overpay on the surface, it’s important to realize the Padres hold all the leverage here. Boston desperately needs a closer and the Padres don’t have to trade Suarez. It would take a haul to bring him to Boston and the Red Sox can afford to give this package of prospects up.

Cespedes, 19, has destroyed rookie ball pitching during his first two seasons with the Red Sox organization. Boston has so much infield depth in its farm system, so a player like Cespedes is a bit expendable, despite his immense talent.

Bleis, 21, has all the tools that scouts dream about. He’s quick and powerful with the arm to throw runners out. His bat has the ability to develop into a 30-home run impact bat, but he doesn’t hit for a very high average and he strikes out a lot. He’ll need to develop a bit more in the minor leagues the next few years.

Dobbins, 25, has a sub-4.00 ERA in over 300 minor league innings. He’s a consistent piece of Boston’s farm system while he seems to be big league ready. The righty gets outs with a four-pitch mix, led by an excellent splinker.

Boston would land the star closer it needs. While Suarez is heading into free agency at the end of the year, there’s no reason the Red Sox wouldn’t be able to re-sign him in the offseason. The flamethrower would be a huge piece of the puzzle that Boston is trying to build to boost itself to an AL Pennant and a World Series championship.

The Padres would land the prospect package that could make a deal like this worth it. Dobbins could step into San Diego as a big leaguer in 2025, while Cespedes and Bleis give San Diego two high-potential position player prospects.