Buy and Sell? Three Red Sox Mock Trades

With less than a month until the MLB trade deadline, the Boston Red Sox face an outlook similar to 2022. For most of the season, the Red Sox have hovered around .500, last place in the brutal AL East and remain a few games behind the last wild card spot. It’s fair to believe that the Red Sox should be full-time sellers. However, there is still time to get back into the playoff mix as well.

In 2022, the Red Sox were both buyers and sellers. They sold off catcher Christian Vazquez and added 1B Eric Homer and OF Tommy Pham. The mistake within that was staying over the luxury tax threshold. Now in 2023, it’s safe to assume going over the tax will not be happening this year, but that doesn’t mean the Red Sox can’t be buyers at the deadline either. There are some deals that would make sense for the Boston Red Sox no matter what direction they head in. Let’s take a look at three Red Sox mock trades

OF Adam Duvall to the Reds

Adam Duvall started his Red Sox career with one of the most dominating first couple weeks that you could imagine. Unfortunately for Duvall, it was quickly halted by a wrist injury. That opened the door for outfielder Jarren Duran to get another chance in the majors. Between 2021-2022, Duran batted .217 over 335 plate appearances in the majors. It was underwhelming and left many wondering if Duran was peaking as an “AAAA” level player. Now in 2023, Duran has taken advantage of the opportunity and looks like a completely different player. Over 213 at-bats, Duran has produced a .305 BA, .356 OBP, and .835 OPS with 15 stolen bases.

Whether the Red Sox plan to sell or buy at the deadline, giving Duran more consistent at-bats for the rest of the year should be a priority for the Red Sox. If Duran can prove to be worthy of a full-time outfielder role, that’ll be a major boost to the Red Sox as he comes with six more years of team control.

The path to more at-bats leads to moving Adam Duvall. In this mock trade, the Red Sox connect with the red-hot Reds and send Adam Duvall in exchange for RHP Ricky Karcher (Reds #26 ranked prospect), and RHP Lyon Richardson (Reds #27 ranked prospect). Karcher is a 25-year-old starter turned reliever that enjoyed success in the bullpen in 2021 and 2022. Now in AAA, Karcher has had some struggles, but still offers some long-term upside as a potential major league reliever. Lyon Richardson is a 23-year-old starter that is dominating AA this season after returning from Tommy John surgery. The 2018 2nd-round pick would bring a boost to an underwhelming position in the Red Sox farm system.

Red Sox make a splash for Lucas Giolito

Whether the Red Sox are likely to make a playoff run or not, they shouldn’t turn a blind eye to adding a potential long-term piece to the major league roster. Insert, Lucas Gioltio. The White Sox are likely to be sellers over the next month and Lucas Giolito seems one of the most likely to be traded. The pending free agent will be a hot commodity around the MLB, but if the Red Sox like him enough, making the trade now (and ideally signing an extension) would be a big boost to the Red Sox rotation. In 17 games this season, Gioltio has produced a 3.53 ERA and 108 strikeouts over 99.1 innings.

In this mock trade, the Red Sox send 2B Enmanual Valdez, LHP Brandon Walter (Red Sox #7 prospect), and RHP Bryan Mata (Red Sox #6 prospect) to the White Sox. The Red Sox get an established starter and the White Sox add three prospects for a player they may lose for nothing this coming offseason.

Bobby Dalbec Gets a Fresh Start

After a few years of ups and downs for Bobby Dalbec, the Red Sox seemed to have moved on this season. Tristan Casas and Justin Turner have adequately handled first base, so there doesn’t seem to be any room for Dalbec. 

The Red Sox and Tigers connect to send Bobby Dalbec in exchange for pitching prospect Tyler Mattison. Mattison is the Tigers 25th ranked prospect. For the Tigers, they add Dalbec who can play third or first base. These are positions they don’t have clarity on now or in the short term. Spencer Torkelson is a young corner infielder that offers upside for the Tigers, but has had his struggles since joining the Tigers’ major league roster last season. For the Red Sox, they scrape the remaining value from Dalbec and add the 23-year-old reliever to the mix. Mattison was recently promoted to AA after posting a 3.42 ERA and 45 K’s over 26.1 A+ innings. 

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