Credit where credit is due: Craig Breslow tried jumping the gun and making a blockbuster trade. His risky one-for-one swap that brought Curtis Mead into town was designed to add the right-handed impact bat Chad Tracy's lineup has sorely needed all year long.
However, because the Boston Red Sox have terrible injury luck and a medical staff that apparently doesn't know which way is up, Mead is now on the injured list with a fractured wrist that could hold him out for an indefinite period of time. That brings us back to square one on that front, while also opening a hole in the rotation now that Connelly Early is in Washington.
Instead of lamenting what can't be changed, maybe it's best we look forward. Breslow has proven far more willing to swing a big deal after his trade deadline dud last year, including a pair of offseason deals with the St. Louis Cardinals that brought the two best players on the team (Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras) into town. So, why not go back to the same well?
Iván Herrera is Red Sox's best bet to fill right-handed slugging need after Curtis Mead's injury
Seeing as the Redbirds aren't parting with superstar rookie JJ Wetherholt and light-hitting Masyn Winn doesn't really solve the primary need we're addressing here, it's time we turn our attention behind the plate. The Cardinals possess perhaps the deepest pipeline of catching talent in the league, including one backstop who just so happens to be a terrific slugger from the right-hand side of the plate.
Yes, Iván Herrera is the new man of the hour, and like Contreras and Gray before him, he's a great match for what Breslow is seeking on the trade market. He's not a sterling defender (-4 Fielding Run Value this year), but his bat more than makes up for his shortcomings on that end.
Thanks to his age (26), remaining team control (3.5 years), and production (113 wRC+, .747 OPS), Herrera is exactly the kind of controllable right-handed slugger Boston just splurged on in Mead, and he'd be a menace in Fenway Park if he committed himself to increasing his rate of fly balls to his pull side. The Red Sox also already have a defensive savant behind the plate (Carlos Narváez) who would form a nice tandem with the offensive-minded Herrera.
He'll also cost a lot less than All-Stars Hunter Goodman or Shea Langeliers (pre-injury) would, which matters now that the front office has already spent one of its best chips in Early. With only Connor Wong standing in his way on the catching depth chart and limited competition in the way of DH at-bats, acquiring Herrera might be the best way for the team to respond to Mead's untimely injury.
Add us as a preferred source on Google