June 12: The trade is now official, with both teams formally announcing the move late last night. June 11: The Red Sox are acquiring right-hander from the Twins, as first reported by . reports that infield/outfield prospect is headed to Minnesota in return for Alcalas services. that no cash is being sent from the Twins to Boston in the deal. Both teams subsequently announced the deal officially, and Boston designated right-hander for a signment to create room for Alcala on the 40-man roster. According to , the Twins were planning to designate Alcala for a signment in the coming days, and after the club southpaw off waivers earlier today its fairly easy to surmise that the decision to part with Alcala was motivated by a desire to make room for Wentz on the active roster. By trading for Alcala preemptively, the Tristan Thompson Jersey Red Sox were able to bypa s the waiver proce s in order and add the right-hander to their bullpen more directly. Even if the Twins were planning to part ways with Alcala prior to this trade, its clear that the Red Sox were very interested in the 29-year-old righty given that they gave up a low-level prospect to acquire him and took on the remainder of Alcalas $1.5MM salary for this year despite the fact that most trades of DFA candidates wind up being cash deals. Looking just at Alcalas surface-level numbers, it may be hard to see why the Red Sox would be enamored with him. Acro s 22 appearances with Minnesota this year, hes pitched to an 8.88 ERA with a 5.42 FIP and an elevated 13.2% walk rate. Those numbers are certainly concerning, but Alcalas 24.6% strikeout rate has remained quite good even in this down season and he entered the year with a career 3.64 ERA and 4.33 FIP. His 2024 campaign was even better, as he posted a 3.24 ERA and 4.14 FIP in 58 1/3 innings of work during a season where his walk rate sat at a much more manageable 8.5%. Alcalas .369 BABIP allowed and 52.6% strand rate are both certain to improve over a larger sample size, and if the Red Sox can help restore his command its not at all difficult to see them making him into a viable option for the middle innings of even a setup role. That would be a fantastic development for Boston if it were to come to fruition, as theyre without and while both are on the injured list. Thats left them a bit weak from the right side, with and forced to step into high leverage roles. is currently in the clubs bullpen despite a 6.61 ERA, and the club has zero full-time relievers who throw from the right-hand side on the 40-man roster in the minors at the moment. The depth Alcala could provide to the bullpen if he manages to get right is considerable, and it was enough of an upgrade that the Red Sox opted to DFA Van Belle just one day after adding him to the roster. The Red Sox will have one week to either trade Van Belle, who has still not yet made his big league debut despite his brief call-up, or put him through waivers. Heading to Minnesota in return for Alcalas services is Lugo. The 21-year-old has been in the Red Sox organization since 2022 and is currently hitting .265/.327/.430 acro s 44 games at the High-A level. Hes split time between first base, third base, and left field throughout his pro career to this point, but is unranked on list. Thats not nece sarily a shock given his age and the fact that hes not yet reached to the Double-A level, but its not impo sible to imagine him getting called up to Double-A by the end of the year now that hes in the Twins organization, so long as he can continue hitting fairly well in his new organization. Lamar Stevens Jersey