Red Sox 'aggressively' targeting one type of hitter in trade talks per MLB insider

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Red Sox 'aggressively' targeting one type of hitter in trade talks per MLB insider image

Dec 9, 2024; Dallas, TX, USA; Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow speaks with the media at the Hilton Anatole during the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox are 25-34 in the regular season entering June 3, and they're 11 games back in the American League East, and only 4.0 games back in the Wild Card.

Even though they're well below .500, and things aren't going well overall, they still have a chance to go on a postseason run, and could be buyers at this year's trade deadline.

In fact, according to ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney on the Just Baseball podcast, the Red Sox are "aggressively" targeting one type of hitter in a trade already: right-handed hitters.

Red Sox 'aggressively' pursuing trade for righty hitter

"What I've heard today is, they're aggressively looking for a right-handed hitter," Olney reports. "It might be a case where the Red Sox are willing to take on a bad contract."

Boston needs more offensive firepower, and badly. Looking at their options, Willson Contreras has an .878 OPS, Ceddanne Rafaela has a .774 OPS, Wilyer Abreu has a .766 OPS, and Jarren Duran has a .701 OPS this season.

Those are the only hitters on the Red Sox roster with at least 100 at-bats to have an OPS above .700. They're all lineup locks, but that leaves five other spots up for grabs.

Catcher is an issue, but there's no easy fix there for the Red Sox in a trade. Marcelo Mayer, Caleb Durbin, and Trevor Story have all been disappointing this season.

Adding a right-handed hitting infielder would be an ideal trade pickup based on the Red Sox being aggressive in their pursuit of righty sluggers.

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Isaac Paredes of the Houston Astros would make a ton of sense, as would Matt Chapman if the Red Sox can eat a lot of his contract, and Gleyber Torres as well.

Unlike the case with right-handed hitting outfielders, the right-handed hitting infielders are a lot easier to come by.

Craig Breslow and company are "aggressively" searching for right-handed hitting batters this season in a trade, and there are plenty of interesting options they could consider.

It might be easy to write the Red Sox off as sellers right now based on their record, but this report from Olney indicates the Red Sox are still going to try for a postseason spot this season.

To do so, they're looking to trade for a righty slugger, which most likely would come in the form of an infield upgrade over one of the three disappointing starters.