In the two weeks preceding MLB’s annual Winter Meetings in Orlando, the Boston Red Sox swung trades for a pair of right-handed starting pitchers.

After acquiring veteran Sonny Gray from the St. Louis Cardinals before Thanksgiving, the Red Sox made a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday evening for Johan Oviedo, lefty reliever Tyler Samaniego, and minor league catcher Adonys Guzman. (By some odd coincidence, the Pirates acquired Oviedo from the Cardinals during the ‘22 season.)

Here are some of the angles and implications of these trades, particularly the second, for the Red Sox as they prepare for a frenetic week in Florida.

Gray and Oviedo both bring strong breaking-pitch acumen to Boston, but the former is firmly established and arguably one of the more underrated pitchers of the

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