New Red Sox Rumors Reveal Surprise Trade Targets After Mead's Injury Including Ex-Yankees Star

After Curtis Mead suffered a broken wrist in his Boston Red Sox debut, the team is once again exploring the trade market for infield help.

Per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal, Will Sammon and Katie Woo, the Red Sox preference is for a shortstop but Detroit Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres, who was a two-time All-Star for the New York Yankees, "could appeal" to them after they tried to sign him as a free agent after the 2024 season.

The report also cites Miami Marlins infielders Otto Lopez, Xavier Edwards and Los Angeles Angeles shortstop Zach Neto as players the Red Sox have interest in.

Mead was acquired by the Red Sox on July 25 in a one-for-one swap with the Washington Nationals receiving Connelly Early.

The expectation was Mead would fill Boston's void at second base as the club looked to continue its surge up the American League standings.

Instead, Mead was hit by a pitch in his second at-bat with the Red Sox and will likely miss at least six to eight weeks but is not expected to require surgery.

Per Baseball Prospectus' recovery dashboard (h/t Davy Andrews of FanGraphs), the average recovery time for a fractured wrist is 52 days.

Mead would be back around mid-September if he follows that timeline, so there's a chance the Red Sox don't need to make an acquisition with the hope he can return before the end of the regular season.

However, there's still a lot of time until then and the Red Sox have received very little production from second base. Their second basemen are hitting .234/.284/.349 and tied for 26th in fWAR.

Andruw Monasterio has done a good job of holding things down with the bat as the starting shortstop with Trevor Story out due to a sports hernia, though his defense isn't a strong suit. Story is planning to begin a rehab assignment in August.

Torres is the biggest name among those mentioned as being of interest to the Red Sox. He might also be the easiest to acquire just based on his contract status. The 29-year-old is making $22 million this season and will be eligible for free agency in the winter.

Neto, Edwards and Lopez all have at least three more years of team control remaining. It stands to reason their teams would have a significant asking price for them as a result.

The Red Sox are 20-4 in July and have played themselves firmly back into playoff contention in the AL. They are only 3.5 games behind the Yankees for the top wild card spot.