Boston Red Sox fans should be ready for a flurry of trades this offseason. Last year, Craig Breslow made a lot of deals to improve the roster and organizational depth, but was also able to attack free agency. This offseason, trades will be a necessity.
The Red Sox started the offseason with 48 players on their 40-man roster. That's not unusual because players who are on the 60-day injured and don't count toward the 40-man total during the season come off in the offseason. Teams can usually handle the extra influx of players because free agents come off the roster and open up spots, but Boston only has three free agents.
While the Red Sox will also non-tender a few players to make room on the roster, they also have the problem of a large payroll. With all of the players with guaranteed contracts, the Sox payroll is already near the second luxury tax threshold. To deal with that, they will need to trade players away.
Breslow showed last offseason that he isn't afraid to make risky moves. But to do so, he is going to need trade partners, and MLB Trade Rumors top offseason trade candidates suggest the Sox may only have one player teams are interested in.
Red Sox might be in for an uncomfortable offseason on the trade front
Jarren Duran landed at No. 12 on MLB Trade Rumors' top 40 trade candidates, and he was the only Red Sox player on the list. Other teams may not be interested in Boston's players this offseason, making trades much harder to complete.
The Red Sox already headed into this offseason in a worse spot than last year. Breslow used most of his prospect surplus last offseason to make trades, especially on the pitching side. Between mid-season trades and not as much internal development, the Sox don't have as many high-level prospects to trade this offseason. That's going to make moving players that much harder.
Teams don't always just use prospects to acquire new players; sometimes they get attached to a less valuable major leaguer to be able to trade them away. That's the position the Sox may find themselves in this offseason: needing to attach prospects to players like Trevor Story or Masataka Yoshida for another team to take on their salary.
If other teams don't value the Red Sox players in the majors, it's going to be very hard to move them. MLB Trade Rumors list indicates that could be the reality this offseason. Breslow certainly has his work cut out for him.
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