MLB Rumors: John Schreiber Traded from Red Sox to Royals for David Sandlin

The Boston Red Sox have moved on from one of the key members of their 2023 bullpen by trading John Schreiber to the Kansas City Royals.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Red Sox will receive minor-league pitcher David Sandlin from Kansas City in exchange for Schreiber.

Schreiber was entering his fourth season with the Red Sox after being claimed off waivers in February 2021. He was a 15th-round draft pick by the Detroit Tigers in 2016 and made his big-league debut with the club three years later.

In 28 appearances with the Tigers across the 2019 and 2020 seasons, Schreiber posted a 6.28 ERA with 35 hits and five homers allowed in 28.2 innings.

After spending most of his first season with the Red Sox in the minors, Schreiber became a reliable setup man for the club over the past two years. He had a 2.90 ERA with 127 strikeouts in 111.2 innings over 100 appearances since the start of 2022.

Among 80 American League relievers with at least 50 innings pitched over the past two seasons, Schreiber is tied for 18th in FanGraphs' wins above replacement (1.9). His 10.34 strikeouts per nine innings ranks 25th on that list.

Sandlin was an 11th-round draft pick by the Royals in 2022. He had 87 strikeouts in 66.2 innings over 14 starts across two levels in the minors last season.

Going into last season, FanGraphs' Eric Longenhagen noted Sandlin "might just be scratching the surface" of his ability after playing two seasons at an Oklahoma junior college before transferring to the University of Oklahoma for his final year in college.

"He's a short-striding, athletic righty with a mid-90s heater and a potentially plus breaking ball, a two-planed slider in the 83-86 mph range. The movement on both his fastball and slider is a tad above average and his changeup's action is only slightly below," Longenhagen wrote.

If the Red Sox can continue Sandlin on a positive development track, he could be a factor in their starting rotation possibly as soon as 2025.

The Royals are seemingly focused on being a competitive team in the AL Central this season. Schreiber is the latest addition to the team after they already brought in Michael Wacha, Seth Lugo, Will Smith, Chris Stratton, Nick Anderson and Matt Sauer to help their pitching staff.