Red Sox trade away 3.14 ERA pitcher for 57-steal outfielder from Rockies

Billy Heyen

Red Sox trade away 3.14 ERA pitcher for 57-steal outfielder from Rockies image

The Boston Red Sox pulled off an under-the-radar trade with the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday evening.

The move was done to line things up on each team's respective 40-man roster, with the Red Sox getting rid of a guy off their 40 for a Colorado minor leaguer.

The terms, reported by MassLive:

  • Red Sox get:  OF Braiden Ward
  • Rockies get:  LHP Brennan Bernardino

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Bernardino is 33 years old but was really solid for Boston in 2025.

The 6-foot-4 southpaw had the lowest ERA of his MLB career, at 3.14. He threw in 55 games and struck out 43 guys in 51.2 innings pitched.

Bernardino all in all has a 3.47 ERA across four big leagues seasons, with 167 of his 169 appearances coming for Boston (and two for the Seattle Mariners).

The new guy to the Boston organization is Ward, a 5-foot-9 outfielder who originally was a 16th-round pick out of the University of Washington in 2021.

Ward turns 27 in January.

He split the 2025 season between Double-A and Triple-A. His most eye-catching stat was his combined 57 steals across the two levels.

Ward batted.290 with a combined.786 OPS. 

He doesn't have much pop. Of his 89 hits, 17 were doubles, four were triples and two were home runs.

But a player with speed like Ward will always have at least a chance of being useful. He's not a bad pickup for Boston considering they had to somehow clear space on their 40-man roster.

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Editorial Team