Red Sox bring back Paxton in trade with Dodgers

BOSTON -- The Red Sox had been on the hunt for a starting pitcher -- preferably a left-hander -- and they secured one who happens to be a familiar face on Friday, four days in advance of Tuesday’s Trade Deadline.

James Paxton, who spent the 2023 season with the Red Sox re-establishing his health after years of injuries, is coming back.

The 35-year-old lefty was acquired from the Dodgers for Minor League infielder Moises Bolivar. In 18 starts for Los Angeles this season, the Big Maple went 8-2 with a 4.43 ERA, logging 89 1/3 innings.

“He’s a guy with a proven track record on this team and in this division,” said Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. “He’s left-handed, and checked a lot of boxes for us. We went into this stretch right now thinking that adding starting pitching was important for us, and we were able to get something done pretty early on, which is great and enables us to continue to look at opportunities to improve the club.”

Paxton is in the process of working with the Red Sox on plotting his arrival in Boston at some point this weekend. Manager Alex Cora isn’t sure yet when he will make his next start.

Though Breslow remains focused on adding a reliever and a right-handed bat prior to the Trade Deadline, he said the addition of Paxton won’t preclude the club from adding another starting pitcher.

“I think we're going to continue to look for opportunities to get better. If those take the shape of a starting pitcher, we're definitely open to it,” Breslow said. “But we felt like we didn't want to walk out of the Deadline without having added a starting pitcher. So I’m glad that we have done that, especially at this point, but we'll continue to look.”

Breslow was asked if he would look at his first Trade Deadline as the leader of a baseball operations team as a failure if he can’t supplement the bullpen and get a right-handed bat.

“I mean, ultimately we would like to walk out of Tuesday's Deadline having added in both of those places,” Breslow said. “So many of these things require lining up across a bunch of things. We have guys that I think are very capable on the team right now. We also have a strong system that enables us to operate from areas of surplus.

“We have to be willing to make some of those tough decisions, because I think this team has put themselves in a place where if we have a chance to add, a chance to improve, we should do so, so it’s hard to know what success or failure looks like right now. But I think our expectation is we can walk out of the Deadline a better team than we were going into it.”

Paxton had just pitched against the Red Sox this past Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, allowing an early two-run homer to Jarren Duran but settling down to get the win, yielding three runs over five innings.

The next day, Paxton was designated for assignment by a deep Dodgers team that got Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw back from the injured list this week.

Paxton is now the only lefty in Boston’s rotation, and he will slot somewhere in a group that also includes Tanner Houck, Nick Pivetta, Kutter Crawford and Brayan Bello.

Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski have been the main pitchers used in the fifth spot.

After a sizzling start from the rotation under new pitching coach Andrew Bailey, Boston has dipped a little lately, but their starters have compiled a solid 3.75 ERA, fifth in the American League.

The other benefit of adding Paxton is that it deepens the rotation that doesn’t have much protection in the upper Minors if another starter gets hurt.

The Sox had already lost Lucas Giolito for the season in Spring Training due to a repair of the UCL ligament in his right elbow. Garrett Whitlock didn’t pitch after April 16 and wound up undergoing the same internal bracing procedure in his right elbow as Giolito.

Paxton signed with the Red Sox prior to the 2022 season, but he didn’t make his Boston debut until May 12, 2023, due to his recovery from Tommy John surgery before the signing and other injuries that popped up along the way. Paxton went 7-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 19 starts for the Sox last season.

“Those guys down there [in the training room], they understand what they have to do for him to post every five or six days,” said Cora. “We'll decide what we're going to do in the upcoming days. I talked to him this morning. He seems excited. At least it's a place that he understands and he knows. It’s good to have him.“

The Red Sox had interest in bringing Paxton back this past offseason, but he opted to sign with the Dodgers instead.

The 17-year-old Bolivar, who did not rank among Boston’s Top 30 Prospects, is batting .270 with three homers and 19 RBIs in 31 Rookie League games this season.

Paxton is 72-40 with a 3.76 ERA in 11 seasons with the Mariners, Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers.