Over the past two years Jhostynxon Garcia has risen through the ranks to become one of the Red Sox top prospects, but he always faced difficult odds of breaking through in Boston given the club’s crowded outfield picture.
Now he’ll get his big league opportunity elsewhere.
Thursday night the Red Sox announced they’ve traded Garcia to the Pittsburgh Pirates alongside minor league right-hander Jesus Travieso in exchange for right-hander Johan Oviedo, left-hander Tyler Samaniego and minor league catcher Adonys Guzman.
Samaniego has not yet made his MLB debut but was recently added to Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 Draft. As first reported by Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, the Red Sox designated right-hander Cooper Criswell for assignment to clear space for Samaniego.
Garcia, 22, ranked as Boston’s No. 6 prospect in Baseball America’s most recent Top 10 list. The outfielder, who garnered the nickname “The Password” thanks to the unusual spelling of his name, led the Red Sox minor league system in home runs each of the last two seasons, and this year he batted .267 with 21 homers, 75 RBI and an .810 OPS in 114 games split between Double-A and Triple-A.
He also made his MLB debut in late August but appeared in only five games and went 1 for 7 with a double and two walks.
Oviedo is a five-year MLB veteran coming off an abbreviated season in which he posted a 3.57 ERA over 40.1 innings in nine starts. The 27-year-old right-hander missed all of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and then his return was postponed after he suffered a lat strain during spring training that sidelined him until early August.
Prior to the injury Oviedo enjoyed a breakout season, making 32 starts in 2023 with the Pirates and posting a 4.31 ERA over a career-high 177.2 innings.
Oviedo, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 275 pounds, should give the Red Sox additional starting pitching depth and effectively replaces Richard Fitts on the club’s depth chart after the former Boston righty was traded to St. Louis in the Sonny Gray deal. Oviedo should be among the numerous pitchers competing for one of the Red Sox’s last rotation spots in spring training, along with guys like Hunter Dobbins, Connelly Early, Payton Tolle and Kyle Harrison, among others.
Samaniego is coming off a season in which he posted a 3.99 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 38.1 innings over 30 appearances, the majority coming in Double-A. The former 15th-round pick will give the Red Sox additional left-handed relief depth following the trades of Brennan Bernardino and Chris Murphy and the possible losses of Steven Matz and Justin Wilson in free agency.
Guzman was a fifth-round pick out of Arizona in this past summer’s draft and has so far only appeared in one game as a professional. Prior to that he started his college career at Boston College before transferring to Arizona in 2024, and this past season he batted .328 with a .907 OPS as a junior.
Travieso, the other prospect heading to Pittsburgh, is an 18-year-old right-hander who signed as an international free agent out of Venezuela in 2024. He struck out 90 batters in 64.2 innings split between the Florida Complex League and Low-A Salem this past season.
