Breaking: As Boston explores the trade market, two Red Sox prospects have ‘drew industry interest

The Boston Red Sox appear to be unwilling to spend for anyone of note this winter but could be able to acquire talent via trade.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has shown an early propensity for trading and might have at least one more move up his sleeve. Fortunately, should he identify a trade target, he’ll have the ammo to make a deal.

“In theory, their depth up the middle also could allow them to trade players with either solid big league floors (Nick Yorke) or high ceilings (Miguel Bleis). Those two, and others, have drawn industry interest,” The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier wrote Friday.

What’s confusing is that despite those players deemed as top-10 prospects in the organization, Speier does not expect them to be involved in a blockbuster or even blockbuster-adjacent move.

Speier also mentioned possibly moving Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela or Tanner Houck. A combination of those players should return a controllable and impactful starter. But alas:

“The Sox are open to deal-making, but there’s little sense they’ll push in the chips to land an established top-of-the-rotation starter either via trade or free agency,” Speier continued. “Further additions appear more likely to the middle or back of the rotation to improve depth and reliability.”

Speier also noted that shortstop Marcelo Mayer, outfielder Roman Anthony and catcher Kyle Teel are expected to be off-limits as the clear top three prospects in the system.

If they are not willing to go big or spend money, they might as well keep all the prospects available in-house. Their only chance of contention without spending is to hit on prospects with regularity.

The game plan for the Red Sox has not made sense for years and this offseason has been as odd as it gets.