Red Sox's Updated Trade Targets with 2023 MLB Deadline Approaching
The Boston Red Sox are baseball's best last-place team, as they have spent much of the season hovering around the .500 mark in an AL East division that is stacked with postseason contenders.
They are only a handful of games out of a wild-card spot, but there are five teams ahead of them in the AL wild-card standings, so don't be surprised if they approach the trade deadline with an opportunistic mind to be both buyers and sellers.
Rotation help to solidify things behind James Paxton and Brayan Bello will be a must if they do have their sights set on contending, while outfielder Adam Duvall looks like a potential trade chip with solid numbers playing on a one-year deal.
Ahead, we've highlighted three players—two trade targets and one potential trade chip—to keep an eye on leading up to this year's deadline.
Buyer: RHP Shane Bieber
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Shane Bieber is not the same pitcher he was when he won AL Cy Young honors unanimously during the shortened 2020 season, and Zack Meisel of The Athletic recently wrote a terrific piece on how he is working to reinvent himself.
With a 3.69 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in an even 100 innings, he has looked more like a middle-of-the-rotation option than a staff ace this year, and his 18.5 percent strikeout rate is a career low, down 41.1 percent during his Cy Young season.
The 28-year-old will be a free agent following the 2024 season, and a tight-fisted Cleveland organization is unlikely to give him a long-term deal. Trading him now makes a ton of sense, especially with young arms like Logan Allen, Tanner Bibee and Gavin Williams bursting onto the scene in the Guardians rotation.
Bieber should come cheaper than what the Seattle Mariners had to part with to acquire Luis Castillo at the deadline a year ago, and the Red Sox would be vastly improving their rotation now and in 2024.
Seller: OF Adam Duvall
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With Enrique Hernández shifting to the infield following news that Trevor Story would miss significant time recovering from elbow surgery, the Red Sox signed Adam Duvall to a one-year, $7 million deal in late January to serve as the team's center fielder.
The 34-year-old hit .455/.514/1.030 with four home runs and 14 RBI in eight games to start the season, but he then missed the next 54 games with a wrist injury.
In his absence, former top prospect Jarren Duran seized a starting job in the Boston outfield, and that has left Duvall as an expendable piece.
With 30-homer power and the defensive tools to handle all three outfield spots, he could appeal to a number of contenders.
Buyer: LHP Rich Hill, Pittsburgh Pirates
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If the Red Sox are not willing to part with the type of prospect talent it will cost to acquire someone like Shane Bieber but still want to do something to upgrade the rotation, they could do a lot worse than a reunion with Rich Hill.
The 43-year-old resurrected his career with the Red Sox in 2015 following a stint in independent ball, and he has provided a veteran presence on a young Pittsburgh Pirates team this year, posting a 4.45 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and 80 strikeouts in 89 innings.
Pitching on a one-year, $8 million contract, he seems primed to be flipped to a contender, and he could slot in nicely as a No. 3 or No. 4 option in the Boston rotation for the stretch run.
All stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and accurate through Tuesday's games.
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