As the trade deadline nears, the Red Sox need to make some decisions on who they want to pick up to try and make a playoff run. This article will cover a few players who could offer the most to the Sox in their campaign to the playoff picture.
The White Sox are doing pretty bad this season, and it looks like they may push the button to blow up the team in favor of a rebuild. Giolito is pitching ok this season, with a 3.75 ERA.
However, he is doing much better than most of the Red Sox’s pitching staff. If the Red Sox could get him, it would be a major help.
Another White Sox pitcher the Red Sox could get is the runner up for the Cy Young last year, Dylan Cease. While Dylan is having an mediocre season right now, he could bounce back.
Since there are a couple months until the deadline, the Red Sox could monitor his progress. If he seems to be returning to his former self, he would be a great arm in the starting rotation.
Aroldis Chapman is a legendary closer, and the past few years have been rough for him. However, this season with the Royals has him looking like his old self again.
However, his current team is not sharing in prosperity. The Royals are one of the worst teams in baseball this year, and if they could trade chapman and get something in return, they would probably do it. Otherwise, he will probably walk at the end of the season.
Chapman has a 2.95 ERA this season, with 35 strikeouts in 21 innings pitched. Chapman could solidify the Sox’s end of the bullpen, and pairing him with Kenley Jansen to close games would be insane. Plus, since Chapman is lefty, he could close games where the final batters are mostly or all lefty, and Jansen could do the opposite.
Tim Anderson is probably the most far fetched of all these possible players. However, if the Red Sox could grab him, their position player problems would be over.
Anderson is hitting .265 this year, which is better than most of the Red Sox’s middle infielders. Also, if the Red Sox got Anderson they could have him and Trevor Story, and either put Anderson or Story at second, and the other at shortstop. Story is expected to make his return soon, so this could be a deadly pair, and add him to the already powerful batting lineup the Sox have.
Finally, Charlie Blackmon could be a great pickup for the Sox. Blackmon is hitting around .270 this year, with five homeruns.
What is most enticing about Blackmon is he could replace Triston Casas as the lefty first baseman. Casas is having a very rough season, barely hitting over .200 for a couple games, and then back into the .100’s.
This allows for Casas to be sent down to Triple A, and hopefully experience the same rebirth as Jarren Duran did, who went from hitting around the same as Casas in his first season, to now hitting around .300 after his stint in the minors.
Overall, these are just some picks for the Red Sox to think about. While the trade deadline nears, it is still a couple months away, and leaves time for players to start going hot or cold.
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