The Red Sox made a flurry of roster moves Tuesday night, trading left-handers Chris Murphy and Brennan Bernardino to the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies, respectively, while adding minor league pitchers David Sandlin, Shane Drohan and Tyler Uberstine to the 40-man roster ahead of next month’s Rule 5 Draft.
The Red Sox acquired minor league catcher Ronny Hernandez in exchange for Murphy, and utility man Braiden Ward in exchange for Bernardino. To clear additional space, the club designated right-hander Josh Winckowski for assignment.
The club also traded minor league righty Alex Hoppe to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for catcher Luke Heyman, a 14th-round pick in this past summer’s draft.
The moves, all of which were confirmed to the Herald by a Red Sox source, came hours after the Red Sox traded minor league right-hander Luis Guerrero to the Tampa Bay Rays for infielder Tristan Gray and DFA’d first baseman Nathaniel Lowe.
Red Sox make roster cuts, swing trade with Rays ahead of Rule 5 deadline
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Bernardino and Murphy are both coming off productive seasons in Boston, but each had bounced up and down between the majors and Triple-A. Bernardino has been one of the club’s workhorses in recent years, posting a 3.14 ERA over 51.2 innings and 55 appearances, and Murphy posted a 3.12 ERA in 23 appearances after completing his recovery from Tommy John surgery.
Ward, 26, plays both infield and outfield and enjoyed a strong stretch at the plate after being called up to Triple-A this past season, batting .331 with a .906 OPS in 44 games. Hernandez, 21, batted .251 with a .679 OPS in 82 games with the White Sox’s Low-A affiliate.
Hernandez and Heyman, who hit 41 home runs in three seasons at Florida but who has yet to make his professional debut, will give the Red Sox some badly needed organizational depth at catcher.
Originally acquired during spring training of 2024 in exchange for righty reliever John Schreiber, Sandlin has established himself as one of Boston’s top pitching prospects and was considered a lock to be protected. The 24-year-old ranks as the organization’s No. 10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and this past season he was among a number of candidates for a late-season MLB call-up, though the Red Sox ultimately opted for Payton Tolle and Connelly Early instead.
Standing at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds, Sandlin’s fastball sits high-90s and has been clocked as high as 101 mph in an offseason workout. This past season the righty posted a 4.50 ERA with 107 strikeouts in 106 innings split between Double-A and Triple-A, though Sandlin struggled upon earning his promotion to Triple-A.
Even with those growing pains, Sandlin projects as someone who could impact the Red Sox pitching staff as soon as next season, either as a depth starter or as a reliever.
Drohan, a 26-year-old lefty, is coming off a productive bounce-back season in which he posted a 2.27 ERA with 67 strikeouts in 47.2 innings over 12 outings (11 starts) with the WooSox. Drohan was previously picked in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft but was returned to Boston and limited to just 16.1 innings due to a series of shoulder injuries in 2024.
Uberstine, a 26-year-old righty, did not pitch in 2023 and was limited to 4.2 innings in 2024 due to Tommy John surgery but delivered a breakout season in 2025. He threw 120.2 innings over 25 outings (21 starts) between Double-A and Triple-A, posting a 3.58 ERA with 137 strikeouts.
The Rule 5 Draft exists to provide big league opportunities for minor leaguers who might be blocked in their current organization. Players become eligible after they’ve spent either four or five years with their organization, and those selected are immediately added to their new team’s active roster, where they must stay for the entire season or be offered back to their original team.
Garrett Whitlock and Justin Slaten were both recent Rule 5 selections who went on to enjoy fast success in Boston, and Danvers native Shane Smith earned All-Star honors as a rookie this past season with the White Sox after being taken No. 1 overall in last winter’s Rule 5 Draft.
This year’s Rule 5 Draft will take place on Dec. 10 during the MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando.
Four accept qualifying offers
A record four players who were extended qualifying offers by their teams accepted before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline, the MLB Players Association announced. Those players, including Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff, Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham, Cubs right-hander Shota Imanaga and Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres, will all return to their teams on one-year, $22.025 million deals.
The other nine players who received qualifying offers, including shortstop Bo Bichette, outfielder Kyle Tucker, designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, starting pitchers Dylan Cease, Ranger Suarez, Framber Valdez, Michael King and Zac Gallen, and closer Edwin Diaz, rejected the offer and are now free agents.
Prior to this year only 14 players had ever accepted a qualifying offer since the system was first implemented in 2012. The most players to accept in one offseason before this winter was three in 2015.
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