The Boston Red Sox are having a bounce back season after a rough 2024 campaign. However, the team still has holes it needs to address, particularly on the mound. Walker Buehler could miss time with a shoulder injury. Aroldis Chapman is as erratic as ever and is near the end of his career. As the Major League Baseball trade season inches closer, the Red Sox are a team that will be shopping for upgrades.
Boston didn’t go all-in on this season, but putting Buehler and Alex Bregman in Red Sox jerseys is a risk. Both players are older and by bringing them in, the team sent a message to the rest of the league. Alex Cora believes that he has enough on his roster to seriously contend and return to the top of the American League East.
The Red Sox are right on the heels of the New York Yankees for the lead in the division after a good start. One month in, and the Garrett Crochet addition looks like the move of the offseason. Boston’s biggest goal now is to keep their momentum going and ride it through the rest of the season. Bringing in more help via trade is one of the best ways for them to increase their chances of doing so.
Here are three potential trade targets that the Red Sox could pursue this summer.
Miami Marlins Reliever Anthony Bender
The Red Sox are winning games, but one of their glaring weaknesses is the quality of their bullpen. Their starters are going deep into games, but the team is losing leads in the seventh and eighth innings. It has struck as recently as Wednesday, when Boston was walked off by the Blue Jays after giving up a lead. The blame lies with the pitchers Cora is relying on to maintain a lead until the end of games where their closer can take over and shut things down.
Bender solves that problem well, and the righty would be a great addition to the team. The 30-year-old carries a career-best 2.25 ERA after 12 appearances this season. He’s given up just three earned runs on the year and has proved effective in later innings for Miami. However, the Marlins aren’t close enough to contention to turn down calls for Bender. If Boston provides a good enough package for him, he is available.
If he were to join the team, Bender would walk through the door as Cora’s best setup option. He and Garrett Whitlock are two relievers who can deliver leads into the ninth inning, putting less pressure on the Red Sox offense. While their bats can continuously pour on runs throughout a game, Boston won’t have to worry about the well going dry when they are winning.
Washington Nationals Reliever Kyle Finnegan
When considering careers as a whole, very few relievers in MLB have a better resume than Chapman. Unfortunately for him, he is 37 years old and simply isn’t as effective as he used to be. His velocity is still high, but his control comes and goes, a dangerous problem for any closer. The Red Sox also have former closer Liam Hendricks on their roster, but he isn’t the same player either.
Finnegan, on the other hand, is having another good year at 33 years old. He has secured 10 saves for the Washington Nationals this season and will smash his career-high if he continues his current pace. If he leaves Washington and enters a situation where he will have more opportunities to get saves, he could easily reach a new mark.
Finnegan is one of the best closers in the game one month into the season, but his availability will depend on where the Nationals stand. If they still have a chance at a playoff spot when the deadline nears, Washington could choose to hold onto him. If they falter, he immediately becomes a big name in the trade market.
Pittsburgh Pirates Pitcher Andrew Heaney
Heaney has bounced around the league, playing for five teams in the last six seasons. At every stop, however, the 33-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance. He was a key pitcher on the 2023 Texas Rangers team that won the World Series. This season, he is off to a mediocre start, but a change of scenery to Fenway Park could be the jolt he needs to get back on track.
The Red Sox took a calculated risk when they signed Buehler away from the Los Angeles Dodgers after he closed the World Series. He is another older pitcher who only becomes more prone to injury. With the latest news that he could be dealing with a shoulder injury, the team needs to be thinking about replacement options. Heaney isn’t the flashiest name, but he can eat innings and give Buehler time to recover.
The Red Sox are in a unique position to make things interesting in the AL playoff picture. Their talent on paper is impressive, but they are still putting things together. Their pitching remains their biggest point of focus when it comes to transactions. They will almost certainly be exploring all of their options in order to put the team in the best possible position to succeed.
