ESPN: Pittsburgh Pirates talked about trading Jared Jones with a familiar partner at the Winter Meetings.

Following reports from the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings that the Pittsburgh Pirates were actively shopping starting pitcher Jared Jones on the trade market, rumors began to circulate about which teams were interested – and who would make suitable trading partners. Some of those reports began to take shape when Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported earlier this week that the Boston Red Sox were among the teams that discussed a possible deal for Jones with the Pirates during Winter Meetings.

It’s unclear how serious the negotiations were, but the Red Sox have since filled their starting pitching void by trading for Garrett Crochet and signing Patrick Sandoval and Walker Buehler. However, they may still be interested in obtaining Jones if the Pirates have made him available. Pirates Rumors: Pittsburgh talked about trading Jared Jones to the Red Sox at the Winter Meetings.

It’s uncertain how keen the Pirates would be to move Jones considering that they’re already without a starter after trading Luis Ortiz to the Cleveland Guardians for Spencer Horwitz. Even if they are willing to consider offers for the 23-year-old after a successful rookie season, such bids would have to be quite persuasive.

In the case of the Red Sox, any offer for Jones would most likely have to include first baseman Triston Casas or at least one of the “big three” prospects (Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, or Kristian Campbell). If the cost-conscious Pirates were to lose Jones, who has several years of team control, they would need to obtain at least one similarly controllable talent in exchange.

It wouldn’t be the first time the Pirates and Red Sox swapped young players to meet the requirements of their respective teams. At the July trade deadline, the teams swapped past first-round picks in a prospect transaction that sent right-hander Quinn Priester to Boston and infielder Nick Yorke to Pittsburgh. Perhaps a comparable transaction between Jones and one of the Red Sox’s excellent young position players would not be so bad for either team.