Red Sox ship starter Connelly Early to Nationals for Curtis Mead - The Boston Globe

The Red Sox traded promising lefthander Connelly Early to the Nationals for hard-hitting infielder Curtis Mead late Saturday night. The 25-year-old Mead has been primarily a third baseman this season, but has experience at first base and second base. The righthanded hitter has enjoyed a breakout season offensively, hitting .254 with an .856 OPS, 17 home runs, and 48 RBIs for Washington. Mead, a native of Adelaide, Australia, has hit .276 with an .897 OPS against lefthanders this season. Since joining the Nationals, Mead has raised his on-base percentage from .300 over parts of three seasons to .351 this year. The deal marks the third time in less than a year that Mead has been traded. He went from the Rays to the White Sox as part of a four-player deal last July 31. The Nationals then acquired him on March 28 for catching prospect Boston Smith. Mead could slot in as a third baseman for the Sox with Caleb Durbin shifting to second base, or he could play second base. The price was steep. The 24-year-old Early is 8-7 with a 3.24 ERA in 21 starts since making his major league debut last season. He was 7-5, 3.44 in 17 starts this season before landing on the injured list with elbow inflammation. Early has since restarted a throwing program, and was lined up for a bullpen session in a few days. The trade fills a need for both teams. The Nationals have been the highest-scoring team in baseball this season but lack starter depth. The Red Sox, conversely, have struggled to score over the course of the season but have the second-lowest ERA in the American League. First-year Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is a former Red Sox executive, and worked closely with chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. They made a deal in January that sent righthander Luis Perales to the Nationals for lefthander Jake Bennett, who is since 6-3 with a 2.58 ERA in 10 starts. Bennett establishing himself as a rotation pillar made trading Early more palatable for the Sox. The deal was first reported by ESPN and was confirmed by the Globe before it was announced by the teams at 12:25 a.m. Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social‬.