Red Sox Ship 6-Foot-7 Lefty Eduardo Rivera to White Sox in Offseason Swap

The Boston Red Sox have officially opened their offseason by trading away a 6-foot-7 pitcher who spent most of his rookie year nursing a bad back.

According to MLB Trade Rumors and SoxProspects, Boston is shipping left-hander Eduardo Rivera to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for right-hander Juan Garcia.

"MLB Trade Rumors and SoxProspects reported the trade of Rivera for Juan Garcia."

Rivera had an absolutely chaotic 2026 campaign. The 23-year-old giant started the year looking like a cheat code at Double-A Portland, striking out 16 batters in just 10 innings with a 0.90 ERA. Boston panicked about an overworked bullpen in April and fast-tracked him straight to the majors, completely skipping Triple-A.

Reality hit him immediately. Rivera managed just 9.1 innings in the big leagues, posting a 6.30 ERA before a lumbar strain banished him to the 60-day injured list in July.

Trading a guy who just spent half the summer with a broken back for another minor-league arm is peak offseason baseball. It is the equivalent of trading a scratched lottery ticket for a mystery box. For anyone looking at early futures markets, this is not the kind of blockbuster that shifts a pennant race, but it is exactly the type of depth gamble rebuilding teams have to make.

The White Sox are betting they can fix his control issues and keep him healthy. Rivera now gets a fresh start in Chicago, where the rotation stakes are significantly lower and he can actually take time to develop. We will find out if that back is fully healed when pitchers and catchers report in a few months.