Red Sox Trade Deadline Blueprint: Boston’s To-Do List/Biggest Needs

The Boston Red Sox have done some pretty solid work in July, putting themselves in a prime position to buy at the Aug. 1 Major League Baseball trade deadline.

In their first 17 games of July, the Red Sox were one of the hottest teams in all of baseball. Boston, with some help from the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays, closed the gap in the American League East by procuring a 12-5 record to begin the month and are in striking distance of an AL Wild Card spot.

Boston entered Tuesday only 2.5 games back of a playoff spot, tied with the New York Yankees as the first two teams out. The AL East has its fingerprints all over the playoff standings, in fact, so Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom is certainly thinking about joining the rest of the division in buying at the deadline.

He’s even admitted to as much, so here’s where the Red Sox can make their most impactful moves as we enter August.

TO-DO LIST

Starting pitcher
In a perfect world, this wouldn’t be anywhere near a need for the Red Sox.

There’s no such thing as a perfect world, though. Chris Sale, Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock and Corey Kluber have all spent the majority of 2023 on the injured list, totaling one inning of work in July. The Red Sox haven’t been able to count on any of them to stay in the rotation on a consistent basis, and the results haven’t been superb when they have, either.

Those four pitchers have combined for a 5.61 ERA in 226 1/3 innings this season, which is a stark contrast to the 3.70 ERA that Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and James Paxton have combined for in the same exact amount of work. Boston almost certainly won’t try to shoehorn everyone into the rotation once they’re healthy, so the logical choice would be adding one or two more options for Cora to play with.

Paxton is the only left-hander out of the Red Sox’s current rotation pieces, so it would behoove Bloom to target a southpaw at the deadline. There are a few options available for Boston that wouldn’t require much to obtain, as a Rich Hill (4.84 ERA) reunion is always a possibility and Patrick Corbin’s contract/effectiveness (5.01 ERA) could tank his trade value. José Quintana (3.60 ERA) could also be an option if the Red Sox want to roll the dice on another oft-injured pitcher. If they want to swing big, Eduardo Rodriguez (2.69 ERA) and Blake Snell (2.67 ERA) will cost a lot but are having tremendous seasons.

Looking to find the middle ground? Boston could target Jordan Montgomery (3.37 ERA), a player with tons of upside. There are also a couple right-handed options in Paul Blackburn (5.06 ERA) and Carlos Carrasco (5.82 ERA) — neither of which would cost very much.

Left-handed middle infielder
The Red Sox currently have three middle infielders on their roster (Yu Chang, Christian Arroyo and Pablo Reyes) after trading Kiké Hernandez, with another one gearing up for a return (Trevor Story). All of those players are right-handed.

Bloom is intent on grabbing a lefty, and there should be plenty at his disposal before the deadline.

Adam Frazier is a fun option to look at should the Orioles be open to an in-division trade. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the season and is on the block due to Baltimore’s youth movement. He’s slashing a respectable .237/.302/.415 with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs. He’s not going to be cheap, but could benefit Boston greatly in a playoff run. Brendan Donovan is a long shot due to being under team control through 2028, but he’s one of the best defenders at the position and gets on base at a .371 clip.

Tommy Edman is another Cardinal that could be targeted, and would come at a much cheaper price than Donovan.

Left-handed relief pitcher
There are a lot of people who will claim that Boston needs a right-hander for its bullpen. Au contraire mon frère.

The Red Sox have done a 180 in the bullpen, with John Schreiber’s return giving them five (Schreiber, Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin, Nick Pivetta, Josh Winckowski) arms that would certainly be part of a postseason roster. Brennan Bernardino, Richard Bleier, Joe Jacques, Joely Rodríguez and Chris Murphy all throw from the left side, but have seen far less stressful situations this season. That could lead to Boston attempting to acquire a high-leverage lefty.

Let’s roll through some options. Amir Garrett (3.33 ERA) has regained his form with the Kansas City Royals and should be available for cheap. Brad Hand (4.54 ERA) and Brent Suter (2.62 ERA) are two of the many Colorado Rockies relievers that the Red Sox should be targeting. Chasen Shreve (4.46 ERA) can be had for practically nothing. Heck, we mentioned Rich Hill earlier, he could be a potential bullpen arm.

There is no shortage of options for the Red Sox entering the trade deadline. It’s just a matter of who they decide is worth their price.