The Boston Red Sox’s decision to move Connelly Early at the Major League Baseball trade deadline stood out, and not just because they got Curtis Mead back. Early had started to look like the kind of pitcher who could stick around the organization for a long time, and at 24, he still had the profile of a controllable arm with real upside.
Instead, Boston chose to take a different path. Mead arrived in the deal, giving the Red Sox a player with major league experience, but the move still carried a sense of surprise because Early had flashed enough to make people think he might develop into a frontline starter.
There was also another layer to the story: Early was not some hidden name on the market. He was available enough that other clubs were circling, and the Chicago Cubs were among them.
According to Pat Ragazzo, the Cubs had interest in Early before the deadline. “One of the other many names that the Cubs front office and president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer discussed has now come to light. The Cubs had interest in then Boston Red Sox left-handed starter Connelly Early ahead of the deadline, as sources tell FanSided,” Ragazzo wrote.
That makes the Red Sox’s eventual deal even more interesting, because it suggests there was real league-wide awareness around Early’s availability. It also raises the question of what Chicago might have offered if Boston had gone that route.
Still, the Cubs and Red Sox were both trying to win, and that means any package from Chicago likely would have looked different from the one Boston accepted. Mead, after all, was a big-league-ready player with experience, and that kind of return shapes a deadline deal in a very specific way.
For now, Early’s situation is complicated by health as well. He is dealing with left elbow inflammation and is currently on the 60-day IL.
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