Red Sox have one clear issue with a potential trade for Luis Arraez

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The Boston Red Sox are going to be trade deadline buyers this season after their 15-game win streak brought them right back into postseason contention.

There are plenty of options they could consider on the trade market, and a lot of the focus will be on the catcher and the middle infield spots. Shortstops are going to be pricey and hard to acquire, but when it comes to Luis Arraez, he'd be a readily available option.

However, as Mike Petriello of MLB.com noted, there is one clear issue for the Red Sox in a potential trade for Arraez. The Red Sox really need to upgrade their power-hitting, which is not a part of Arraez's game.

Red Sox face power problem with Luis Arraez trade

"The one problem? Boston, currently sitting 29th in homers, badly needs power, and that's one skill Arraez won't provide," Petriello writes.

Even though the Red Sox would make sense in a vacuum for Arraez as a good left-handed hitting upgrade at second base, his lack of power production likely makes him less of a realistic option.

Craig Breslow and company could still trade for Arraez, but if they're trying to make the best addition possible, adding a power-hitting infielder is probably more up their alley.

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This season, Arraez is hitting .320 with 122 hits and 22 doubles with seven triples. But he has just four home runs, and his home run rate is below 1.0% at just 0.9%.

While his .446 slugging percentage isn't bad, and his .805 OPS is one of the best marks of his career, his lack of home-run power is something that could hold the Red Sox back from beating out the top competition in the Arraez sweepstakes.

The San Francisco Giants are almost surely going to trade Arraez, and maybe even to the Tampa Bay Rays, an AL East rival. Even though the Red Sox would make sense with their infield need, pursuing CJ Abrams or Zach Neto might be a better use of resources.

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