The Boston Red Sox could be gearing up for a blockbuster trade.
Boston is looking to make a bold move ahead of the trade deadline and has been linked to acquiring an impact shortstop. The Red Sox have been linked to the likes of Zach Neto, CJ Abrams, and Otto Lopez to bolster the shortstop position and lineup.
Ahead of the trade deadline, MLB insiders Buster Olney and Jeff Passan of ESPN gave the team some positive news on their pursuit of a shortstop.
“The biggest name to drop outside of Skubal could be one of the shortstops who are marginally available, and the Red Sox are the biggest threat to land one of them. Zach Neto, Otto Lopez … even CJ Abrams — the Red Sox have the pieces for any of them, and teams are hoping to be the beneficiary of Boston’s aggressiveness. Because all are excellent and controllable for multiple years, though, the asks are exorbitant,” Passan wrote.
Olney, meanwhile, echoed Passan and said he expects Boston to be aggressive to try and land one of the top shortstops.
“It depends on what you mean by available. CJ Abrams is available, theoretically, and sure, if the Red Sox or some other team goes all-in, the Nationals would be open to the conversation. Any trade for Abrams would have to be a blockbuster,” Olney added.
Boston also has the prospect pool to pull off a blockbuster.
Red Sox Dangling Top Prospect
As Boston is looking to bolster its roster, the Red Sox are open to trading their top prospect.
Franklin Arias is the seventh-ranked prospect in all of baseball, and Red Sox insiders Jen McCaffrey and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic revealed the team is open to trading him.
“Arias is a popular trade target, but the Red Sox have not yet found a deal worth discussing, a person with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to discuss it publicly said. Breslow declined comment on the availability of any specific players,” the article read.
“One rival executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity to be candid, said he believes the Red Sox might only trade Arias for the Washington Nationals’ CJ Abrams. … A trade of Arias could bring Boston a player who would give them a postseason push while potentially offering a long-term solution at short.”
Arias was also scratched from the lineup in Triple-A today, which could be trade-related.
Boston Surging up Standings
The Red Sox have turned their season around and are firmly in the playoff mix.
Boston has been one of the top teams as of late, and they will look for a series sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
“I mean, that’s obviously a good formula,” interim manager Chad Tracy said of stacking series wins. “You want to do that all the time. It’s not going to happen all the time like that, but to stack wins in this way and keep playing this way and keep momentum that we built and keep pushing — we have to do that again. We have to come out with the mindset tomorrow, winning another game.”
The Red Sox are 59-51.
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