Red Sox promote former Phillies prospect Connor Seabold

Former Phillies prospect Connor Seabold has been added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster.

Teams throughout Major League Baseball made several transactions, ahead of Friday’s deadline, to protect Rule 5-eligible players by adding them to their 40-man roster. The Philadelphia Phillies selected the contracts of six prospects, while leaving off some notable names in the process.

The Boston Red Sox made sure to not leave off one notable prospect becoming increasingly known throughout Major League Baseball, especially among Phillies fans — in case of the outside chance the John Middleton-led organization tried to make up for a since-deemed failure trade.

The Red Sox purchased the contract of Connor Seabold from Double-A Portland, who was acquired three months ago from the Phillies, along with fellow right-hander Nick Pivetta, in exchange for veteran RHPs Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree.

Seabold, who will turn 25 in January, combined to post a 2.24 ERA, 1.012 WHIP, and 58-to-11 strikeouts to walks ratio spanning 56 1/3 innings and three Phillies minor-league levels in 2019. The team’s 2017 third-round draft selection has been praised for his mix of pitches, as well as his overall feel for pitching and command.

“If [Seabold] becomes even a league-average starter for the Red Sox, we’re going to look back on the Workman-Hembree deal as one of the worst things Klentak did here,” SportsRadio 94 WIP’s Joe Giglio said in a mid-September tweet.

When the August swap was announced, on paper it seemed the Phillies made a good deal, considering Workman and Hembree both won at least one World Series champion with the Red Sox. Then-general manager Matt Klentak had no choice but to reach for this deal; the Phils bullpen was costing the team too much in a 60-game season where each victory meant that much more.

Ultimately, Workman and Hembree did not help to reverse the 2020 bullpen woes; if anything they probably made it worse. The two went 1-4 with a 6.92 ERA and 1-0 with a 12.54 ERA in red pinstripes, respectively, spanning 22 1/3 combined innings. Both have since entered free agency.

The California native Seabold will surely get a look this coming spring training to possibly enter the Red Sox rotation. If not, he is a prime candidate to receive a call-up at some point during the 2021 season.