Red Sox Division Rival Could Make Sense As Intriguing Trade Partner

There’s been increased trade chatter around the Red Sox in recent days and some of it has revolved around selling off pieces. What if, however, Boston instead looked to add as summer heats up?

Making some sort of trade is increasingly like a lever that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow will need to pull for Boston. It’s not exactly early anymore. The Red Sox lost to the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night in game No. 62 of the 2025 campaign, meaning there are 100 games left for the club to turn things around.

If the Red Sox fail to stack wins moving forward, it could be another uncomfortable conversation or two inside the front office as the deadline nears. If, however, the signs of life this past weekend in Atlanta can at all be sustained, perhaps the club would again look to add.

As such, first base remains a big question mark, even with the reveal that Kristian Campbell actually won’t play over there, and Romy González and Abraham Toro will hold things down for the time being. As the Red Sox survey the trade landscape, however, they could look at an American League East rival, the Baltimore Orioles, as a potential trade partner.

If the Red Sox season has been a disappointment to this point, the Orioles are an unmitigated disaster. The O’s are 14 games under .500 entering play Tuesday. They’ve already fired their manager. There’s not a lot to hang a hat on, and it might be time to start thinking about selling off pieces.

If they do that, the Red Sox might want to give the two Ryans a look: Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn.

The Athletic’s Jim Bowden on Tuesday wrote about the teams most likely to be sellers at the deadline, and the Orioles, unsurprisingly, were included. Bowden noted both Mountcastle and O’Hearn could have new addresses before summer’s end.

“The Orioles can shop both of their first base/DH power bats in Ryan O’Hearn and Ryan Mountcastle,” Bowden wrote. “O’Hearn, who is slashing .329/.416/.535 with nine homers and 22 RBIs, has the most trade value of any Oriole. He will be a free agent after this season.”

There are arguments both for and against each player. With O’Hearn, he’s having a tremendous season as Bowden noted, but the Red Sox — or anyone — will have to pay up for that. He plays first base, so that helps. But he’s also left-handed, and adding him to a lineup that’s already lefty-heavy before it even adds Roman Anthony to the mix might not make sense. There’s also the necessary question of whether the Red Sox feel they’re good enough to part with prospects for a rental who might not cure all that ails them.

Mountcastle probably makes more sense as a low-risk move. The problem, as Bowden notes, is he’s injured. The 28-year-old is on the injured list with a hamstring injury, and those can linger. He’s a right-handed bat, though, so he’d help balance the batting order when healthy. He has seen his power numbers dip over the years, and he has struggled to replicate his rookie season in 2021 when he hit 33 home runs and drove in 89 runs.

Still, a guy who pulls the ball 38% of the time would probably have more success at Fenway Park than Camden Yards where the Orioles just this season changed course and decided to move the left-field wall back in after moving it back just a few years ago.

He’s also signed beyond this season, so it could be good Triston Casas recovery insurance, too.

As for trading in the division, that shouldn’t be an issue. Over the last 15 months, the Orioles are the only AL East team with which Breslow hasn’t made a trade.