The Red Sox have been one of the biggest disappointments through the first two-plus months, sitting at 27-35 and 11 games back of the Tampa Bay Rays.
However, with the American League being a disaster in its own right, Boston finds itself just 3.5 games out of a playoff spot. They’re far from guaranteed sellers — even if they probably should be. But they are already fielding trade calls, according to The Athletic’s Jen McCaffery, and they have plenty that could interest the Braves.
“(We’re) having a lot of conversations, a lot of discussions, and I think it’s been kind of true industry-wide,” Red Sox GM Craig Breslow said. “But there are a lot of teams that probably feel pretty similar to us, which is to say that they have confidence in their rosters, they know they’re not playing as well as they’re capable of, and really, nobody is kind of putting the postseason out of reach. So there are a bunch of teams that are in it right now and are thinking along the same lines as we are.”
If the Red Sox continue to scuffle over the next month, Jarren Duran could be a prime target for the Braves — an All-Star caliber left fielder with multiple years of team control, something Atlanta has been in search of for years. The price tag, however, would be significant.
If the Braves didn’t want to meet that number, Boston has a slew of relievers who will be highly coveted — led by pending free agent Aroldis Chapman. He’s been the best reliever in baseball since the start of last season, and while the Braves bullpen has been elite, every relief corps can use the addition of someone like Chapman.
According to McCaffery, Justin Slaten and Garrett Whitlock are two other relievers Boston has already begun fielding calls on.
The Red Sox also have a surplus of catchers — and that’s a somewhat underrated need for the Braves. They don’t need to make a splash at the position, but with Sean Murphy expected to miss several more months, adding depth makes sense. The current situation with Drake Baldwin also on the IL is a perfect illustration of why — it’s been a disaster behind the plate in Atlanta, with primary catcher Sandy Leon sporting a .065 batting average.
McCaffery names Connor Wong — who is hitting .264 with a .713 OPS over 26 games this season — as someone the Red Sox would be willing to move.
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Photo: Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire