Having more good players than open roster spots is never a bad thing, but it also creates difficult decisions.

Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow faces that situation with his team’s 40-man roster. Breslow has already been forced to make tough calls, and he will face tricky decisions as November goes on and baseball marches toward a seemingly inevitable lockout on Dec. 2.

Seven players came off the Red Sox’s 40-man roster last week. Left-hander Patrick Sandoval, right-hander Sonny Gray, and infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa became free agents. Still, seven players had to be activated from the 60-day injured list, though the Red Sox had just three open spots.

Red Sox start addressing roster crunch

So, Breslow got creative and traded outfielder Nate Eaton to the Athletics, infielder Tsung-Che Chen to the Detroit Tigers, and left-hander Eduardo Rivera to the St. Louis Cardinals for low-level prospects. The Red Sox also designated reliever Zack Kelly for assignment.

The Red Sox allowed outfield prospect Allan Castro to become a minor-league free agent because they felt they had better players to protect. MLB Pipeline ranked Castro as the organization’s No. 25 prospect.

The deadline to place players on the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft is Nov. 17.

Five of the Red Sox’s top 30 prospects could be subjected to the draft, including right-hander Blake Wehnet (No. 16), infielder Mikey Romero (No. 19), left-hander Hayden Mullins (No. 26), outfielder Miguel Bleis (No. 27), and catcher Johanfran Garcia (No. 28). Also Rule 5-eligible is outfielder Braiden Ward, who stole 61 bases for Triple-A Worcester in 109 games last season.

The Red Sox are unlikely to protect all six players. Yet they seem certain to keep some. As a result, multiple players are likely to be removed from the 40-man roster, including four recognizable names who are arbitration-eligible and must be tendered contracts by Nov. 20.

OF Eli White

White is clearly No. 1 on this list after having Lisfranc repair surgery on his right foot on Sept. 22, and it is questionable whether he will recover by the time spring training begins. White was OK for the Red Sox after they acquired him from the Atlanta Braves in a trade at the Aug. 3 deadline, hitting .276/.300/.379 with 12 RBIs in 27 games, but the organization is well-stocked with outfielders.

1B Triston Casas

It is difficult to give up on Casas, who is 26 and hit 24 home runs with an .856 OPS as a rookie for the Red Sox in 2023. However, injuries have wrecked Casas’ last three seasons, and he did not play all of 2026 while recovering from knee surgery. The Red Sox have Willson Contreras entrenched at first base, so Casas needs a change of scenery.

INF Romy Gonzalez

Gonzalez was a favorite of former manager Alex Cora and slashed .305/.343/.483 in 96 games in 2025. However, Gonzalez played just 19 games for the Red Sox this year. A shoulder injury sidelined the 30-year-old then was eventually sent to the minor leagues for the remainder of the season on Aug. 4 after losing playing time to Nick Sogard, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler.

RHP Kutter Crawford

Once a rotation mainstay, the 30-year-old Crawford hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2024 because of knee and wrist injuries. His ’24 season didn’t go well: he went 9-16 with a 4.36 ERA in 33 starts, leading MLB in losses and home runs allowed (34).

Crawford would likely earn the same $2.75-million salary he has this year if he goes through arbitration, which could also work against him.