It isn’t news to Boston Red Sox fans that Quinn Priester turned out to be really, really good. The 24-year-old Priester has won a franchise-record 11-straight games for the Milwaukee Brewers. He’s 12-2 on the season for Milwaukee, and Red Sox Nation is clawing at its head and wondering, ‘why not us?’
Change-of-scenery situations like Priester’s are impossible to judge accurately with hindsight. But in Priester’s case, even if a move to Milwaukee contributed much to his newfound success, the level of that success shows without a doubt that he would have been at least moderately effective in a Red Sox uniform (probably much better than that!).
The Priester trade stings all the more because Boston could really use a starting pitcher right now who is even 60 percent of what Priester presently is. Maybe … that could have been Priester himself if he’d never been traded!
And yes, Boston got some stuff back for Priester — Yophery Rodriguez, John Holobetz and Marcus Phillips. If any of those guys become All-Stars, you can come back to this article and bash it.
The Priester deal can’t be viewed as anything other than highly regrettable, even if Priester was only going to become a slightly lesser version for the Red Sox compared to what he is now for the Brewers. There are fascinating questions to be asked about why Priester wasn’t this good in Boston, and one answer is that maybe he just needed more time to develop. He’s 24!
Story continues below advertisement
If the Red Sox had exercised more patience with Priester, they’d be looking at an awesome combination of present and future starting pitchers in the fray.
Garrett CrochetLucas GiolitoQuinn PriesterBrayan BelloPayton Tolle
There’s not a Red Sox fan on Earth that wouldn’t be over the moon about having the above rotation, not only for the present moment but for the excitement it would provide about the years ahead.
Story continues below advertisement
2025 may have been completely different for Boston if they’d never traded Priester. Dustin May — with all due respect — may have never been acquired. Walker Buehler — with all due respect — may have been kicked to the curb much earlier.
Red Sox fans aren’t strangers to waking up in the middle of the night and screaming about a completely botched trade. Still, this one hurts.
Did the Red Sox see something in Priester that turned them off to him? Why did they lose faith? All the road signs said he was just around the corner from greatness, but Boston missed every single one somehow.
Story continues below advertisement