It's not AI! Tolle nearly duped in immediate reaction to Mead-Early trade

BOSTON -- Artificial intelligence almost got the best of Payton Tolle, until the Red Sox lefty realized that this news carried nothing but the truth.

Fellow southpaw starting pitcher and teammate throughout the Minor Leagues and now parts of two MLB seasons, Connelly Early, was dealt to the Nationals late last night in exchange for infielder Curtis Mead. A friend of Tolle’s wife, Devin, broke the news via text last night.

“Call her,” Tolle said, “because we’ve got to tell her it’s AI!”

Not quite.

“I didn’t think it was real for a while until it was a Jeff Passan tweet,” Tolle said.

TRADE DETAILS
Red Sox receive: INF Curtis Mead
Nationals receive: LHP Connelly Early

Early and Tolle anchored the starting rotation in Double-A Portland, Triple-A Worcester and with the big club since last September. Early, 24, was 7-5 with a 3.44 ERA across 17 starts before hitting the 15-day injured list on July 1 with left shoulder inflammation that popped up during a start against his new team.

Mead, 25, is batting .254 with 17 home runs and 48 RBIs for the Nationals. He’s expected to travel to Boston later on Sunday and make his Red Sox debut during a four-game set against the Athletics in West Sacramento.

There was a “clear and obvious need about how our team improves offensively,” Red Sox skipper Chad Tracy said, “and Curtis fits that.”

The Australian-born former top-50 prospect made his MLB debut with the Rays in 2023. He played 38 Major League games for the Rays in 2024 and 90 games for the Rays and White Sox in 2025. Mead isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2030 season. He had manned third base for 864 of his 1,600 career defensive innings in the Majors and split all but four innings of the rest of the time between second base and first base. This year, he’s played mostly third and first base.

The Red Sox plan to try Mead as the starting second baseman to keep Caleb Durbin at the hot corner, the only position he’s played this year. But both Durbin and Mead told Tracy they’re flexible.

Durbin said the front office “has been great” with communication about his role. He’d also talked with Tracy about potential changes even before the trade.

“They just asked me about my willingness to play anywhere, and I was clear with them with just that,” Durbin said, “that I’m willing to play anywhere.”

Should Durbin need to shift over to second, all he’ll need is some pregame grounders. He split time between third and second, and even played a little bit of shortstop, in the Minor Leagues.

Tracy expects Mead to slot into the top half of the order, but exactly where he bats in the lineup may be pitcher-dependent. A right-handed hitter, Mead owns better than an .810 OPS against righties and lefties this season. He’s better against lefties (.897) than righties (.817), though.

“It does seem like there were meaningful changes to his setup … to where he’s consistently doing more damage,” Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said. “He’s always had good bat-to-ball skills. He’s never really chased and doesn’t swing and miss a ton. He put it all together in a way we think that’s real and sticky.”

Tolle called Early immediately after confirming the hard truth, and was one of the first to get through. They spoke briefly as Early processed and planned to catch up Sunday. Early said goodbyes in the clubhouse in the morning, dishing out hugs to numerous members of the organization, Tracy said.

Tolle plans to stay in touch, and root for Early from afar, except when facing the Red Sox.

“We had moments where we could bounce off of each other, which was big for us and helped along the way,” Tolle said. “Now, he’s gotta go be a little bird and flap his wings.”