Red Sox trade LHP Connelly Early to Nationals for Curtis Mead - ESPN

The Boston Red Sox and Washington Nationals swapped young talents in the first major trade of deadline season Saturday night, with the Red Sox acquiring infielder Curtis Mead for left-hander Connelly Early.

The deal adds the 25-year-old Mead, one of the breakout hitters in 2026, to a Red Sox lineup in need of offense to buttress the pitching that carried the team to a 15-game winning streak.

In exchange, the Nationals landed the 24-year-old Early, a well-regarded prospect whose five-pitch mix has led to sustained success over the first 21 starts of his major league career. Early is currently on the injured list with elbow issues, but doctors do not believe there is structural damage. Although arms of Early's ilk rarely get dealt so early in their careers, Boston regards Mead as an increasingly rare commodity: a right-handed bat with impact potential.

With the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaching, the deal to open the season materialized between a team that won its way into acquisition mode and another that has hung on the periphery of contention all season and is trying to balance today and tomorrow.

Mead has been a revelation for the Nationals' MLB-best offense — he has hit .254/.352/.500 with 17 home runs in 87 games while taking over their full-time third-base job — following a late-spring trade after the Chicago White Sox designated him for assignment.

As large of a presence as Mead was in Washington's lineup, to turn a DFA trade less than four months later into a starter of Early's ilk is an organizational win for Washington. Despite their prolific offense, the Nationals have languished around .500 all season because of a severe lack of pitching.

In Early, the Nationals get a mid-90s fastball that has helped him to a