A quarter of the way through the season, the Boston Red Sox look like they still need a spark to get going. Moving on from Alex Cora and instituting Chad Tracy as manager has seemingly helped, but Boston's offense is still severely lacking in a division topped by the slugging New York Yankees and the gutsy, small-ball Tampa Bay Rays.
Trading for a big bat could be the answer to the Sox's woes. Mike Felger of 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Felger and Mazz" show on May 12 offered a trade proposal Red Sox fans will have to see to believe.
"Don't be surprised if we end up with Mike Trout," Felger said, quoting his "source," a term he admitted to using loosely. "He's 100 years old but they think he's a better leader than [Alex] Bregman and will hit a bunch of home runs at Fenway Park, and LA likes [Jarren] Duran and [Brayan] Bello."
Whether Felger's source is reliable or not, the Red Sox need some power to get their lineup humming, which Trout could provide in spades. The Angels could be looking to offload his money after years of mediocrity in the American League West, but Trout has a full no-trade clause on his deal — any moves that LA hopes to make would have to be approved by Trout, and he's been incredibly loyal to the Angels organization throughout his career.
.@mikefelger has a brown-checkmark source that says "don't be surprised" if the Red Sox trade for Mike Trout 🍿@FelgerAndMazz @TonyMassarotti @bigjimmurray @IAmJamesStewart @MaggioreKevin @_JakeSeymour pic.twitter.com/xln3NN2dai
— 98.5 The Sports Hub (@985TheSportsHub) May 12, 2026
Trout is 34 and has over four seasons remaining on his deal with the Angels. If the Red Sox trade for him and take on his entire contract, they'd owe him over $142 for the remaining years of his deal, which the front office might not be eager to do — Boston reportedly doesn't believe in long-term deals for players over a certain age, and Trout is well over that age with a long history of injuries behind him.
Trout is batting .248/.414/.510 with 23 RBI over 41 games this season. He's fanned 48 times and walked 38 times. His skilled eye at the plate would make Boston's lineup much longer.
Boston radio host says unnamed "source" reports Red Sox could land Mike Trout in trade from Angels
The veteran and future Hall of Famer is back in the trade rumor mill after his torrid start to the year, power-wise. Trout has hit 11 home runs already (the Red Sox have hit 29 as a team so far), and he's already almost halfway to his 2025 total of 26 bombs over 130 games. All but one of his 2026 home runs has left the yard over left field, suggesting he could make easy work of Fenway Park's dimensions.
There are a few issues with this Angels-Red Sox trade proposal. Duran and Bello are a curious return package for the Angels, as they're both having career-worst years. Duran is slashing only .194/.253/.324 and Bello has posted a 7.44 ERA to this point.
Trout is an outfielder, and swapping Duran for him doesn't help to alleviate Boston's outfield traffic jam. It would still be left with five outfielders and nowhere to play Masataka Yoshida. Trout could become a full time designated hitter since Ceddanne Rafaela and Wilyer Abreu are definitely better defenders than him at this point, but the lineup would still be a tight squeeze.
Still, as Felger and Mazz pointed out, the Red Sox have made more rash decisions before, like trading Rafael Devers in the middle of one of his best offensive seasons in hopes of replacing him with Bregman — a move not making sense won't prevent John Henry and Craig Breslow from doing it anyway. Trout's home run power makes sense for a floundering Boston offense, and that might just be enough for a desperate front office.
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