After the Boston Red Sox wrapped up a 4-2 homestand against the Orioles and Blue Jays this week, with the acquisition of infielder Curtis Mead coming over the weekend, fans of the team find themselves in an oddly positive frame of mind here as July winds to a close. The team has now gone 22-4 since bottoming out at 32-46 back in June, and that alone is cause for celebration because what once looked like a dreadful season has taken a 180-degree turn. But the Red Sox are showing the locals something decidedly different here with a little more than a week to go before the trade deadline. The front office is being aggressive.
Now, that does not always indicate good things and, indeed, the trade for Mead has been criticized for being an overpay–the Red Sox gave up Connelly Early in the deal.
But the fact is that the lineup will soon welcome a player–Mead–who is in the midst of a breakout year, with 17 homers and an .852 OPS. That the Red Sox so early and decisively is a departure from the norms of this ever-cautious front office. That the team is on the hunt for still more is an even bigger departure.
Red Sox ‘Approached’ Astros on Jeremy Pena
In fact, according to Ari Alexander of 7 news in Boston, the Red Sox have made an initial approach to the Astros in an attempt to land shortstop Jeremy Pena, who has hit 17 home rums and has a career high batting average of .315, with an OPS of .849, also a career high. The Red Sox got a quick answer, according to Alexander, but at least they’re knocking on the doors.
Alexander also pointed out that the Red Sox are in on Zach Neto, if the Angels ultimately decide to move him.
He wrote on Twitter/X: “The Red Sox are indeed interested in SS Jeremy Peña and SS Zach Neto. On Peña: A league source tells me the Red Sox approached the Astros about the star SS and were shut down immediately. The Astros do not want to trade Peña, and industry sources are treating the Astros as buyers. On Neto: The Angels have told teams they are ‘evaluating everything,’ but league sources are skeptical they actually move him.”
Options Are Wide Open at Trade Deadline
Credit Red Sox president Craig Breslow for recognizing that the team has a strong opportunity here in 2026, with a very strong pitching rotation and adequate depth, especially in the outfield, to withstand a trade. Of course, it is a lot easier to talk trade than to pull the trigger on deals, but Breslow does seem more interested in taking advantage of a weak American League by loading up with another big bat.
And as he said in an MLBNow interview, Breslow said the Red Sox’s roster flexibility means they could add at any position: “When you look at our position player group, there’s no secret that we struggle to score runs at times, and recently we’ve seen some signs of life in the approach and what we’re able to do. The players deserve credit for that and our coaching staff deserves a ton of credit for that. Our position player group has a ton of flexibility. …
“So if we look to upgrade offensively, I don’t think we have to pinpoint a particular position in order to make that improvement.”
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