LAS VEGAS — Do the Red Sox have the prospect inventory left to make deals this winter?
Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has used trades as a central team-building strategy. At this year’s trade deadline, he was particularly aggressive in reshaping his roster, swapping lefthander Connelly Early to the Nationals for infielder Curtis Mead, dealing Marcelo Mayer to the Giants for reliever Erik Miller, and sending five prospects to the Orioles to land catcher Adley Rutschman.
That volume of deals — along with graduations to the big leagues by top prospects Roman Anthony, Payton Tolle, Jake Bennett, and more in recent years — has left the system depleted. Top prospect Franklin Arias (who finished the year in Triple-A) is knocking on the big-league door, but beyond him, the Sox are shorter than they’ve been in recent offseasons on major league-ready talent, a fact that could impact the team’s trade discussions this winter.
“I think it’s pretty clear that we have thinned out the system,” acknowledged Breslow.
So does that mean the Sox’ trade talks will focus more on big leaguers for big leaguers — such as the Early-for-Mead deal that occurred in July?
“Not necessarily, I would say, though it could,” said Breslow.
First, the “not necessarily” side of things: Breslow suggested that with young controllable players at several positions, the Sox have time to restock their farm system.
“We’ve got a number of drafts and international signing periods and opportunities to make sure that we replenish the talent pipeline so that we don’t face a situation where our major league team is maturing and there isn’t a talent pipeline behind them that can continue to succeed,” said Breslow.
On the other hand, the Sox might trade from the big league roster as they try to upgrade the club for 2027 both to protect the remaining inventory of young players and to free playing time for new players.
That said, Breslow feels the flexibility of a number of players, particularly infielders, means that the team won’t necessarily be forced to trade away big leaguers.
“Depth is always a really good thing and talented depth is even better,” said Breslow. “I think the positional flexibility gives us a lot of ways to roll out a team that we think is capable of competing.”
Tracy recognized
Chad Tracy finished third in AL Manager of the Year voting, the Baseball Writers’ Association announced.
He received 47 points, including three of 30 first-place votes. That was well behind the winner, the White Sox’ Will Venable, who totaled 111 (15 first-place votes). Kevin Cash of the Rays was second, with 98 points and 12 first-place votes.
Tracy, who stewarded the team to a 77-58 (.570) record following the late-April firing of Alex Cora, was eventually signed to a three-year contract. He expressed gratitude Tuesday for advice from his father, Jim Tracy, who led the 2009 Rockies to the playoffs as an interim manager.
“He gave me plenty of advice,” Tracy said on MLB Network. “The biggest one — he’s been giving that advice to me for a long time — is just be yourself and be honest with the players.”
Trade candidates
As the Red Sox explore ways of upgrading their lineup, the GM Meetings offer a chance to define the landscape of trade candidates. A few star players whom the Sox had pursued (or at least inquired about) in the past have different levels of availability.
Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen didn’t hide from his willingness to consider deals involving second baseman Ketel Marte, whose disappearance during a series at Fenway in August disrupted the team.
“I’d have to be open to making adjustments to what the roster looks like,” said Hazen, who said his team is looking for pitching and lefthanded bats.
Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall didn’t completely rule out a trade of superstar shortstop Elly De La Cruz, but made clear that such a deal was unlikely.
“We haven’t had any conversations about [dealing] him this offseason,” said Krall. “I’m never going to say never [about dealing a player], but we haven’t had any conversations.”
The Royals, meanwhile, will not consider any deals involving superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr.
“We’re fortunate in our market to have a player that is that impactful,” said Royals GM J.J. Picollo. “We’re going to want to savor every moment that we have with him in a Royals uniform. I think it’s safe to say Bobby Witt Jr. isn’t going anywhere.”
An Arias idea
Former Red Sox assistant GM Taylor Smith, who was hired recently as the A’s president of baseball operations, offered an interesting window into his former team’s thinking about how Arias might fit in 2027.
“I think the ballclub’s in a very good spot,” Smith said of the Sox. “You have Arias, who’s going to be ready [for the big leagues]. I’d been looking forward to getting to watch him play. I think he’ll be a very, very welcome addition.
“Returning that really good rotation — or almost all of it, but with some of those young guys — will be even better [in 2027] than they were last year.”
Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier.