It's no secret that the Boston Red Sox haven't been the same since trading away designated hitter Rafael Devers.
Devers was the best hitter on the team, bar none, and with the second-best hitter (Alex Bregman) still out with a quad strain, the offense is struggling to produce runs. Players like Wilyer Abreu, Ceddanne Rafaela, and even Trevor Story have tried to help right the ship in a post-Devers world, but it's clear the team needs more offensive firepower if it's going to make any noise down the stretch.
Luckily, some reinforcements of that variety may be on the way. According to Mac Cerullo of The Boston Herald, the Red Sox will be pursuing bats at the trade deadline (even if they sell other pieces), including, potentially, a ready-made replacement for Devers at DH.
Braves' Marcell Ozuna rumored to be Red Sox trade candidate
In his piece, Cerullo highlights Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna as a middle-of-the-order threat who would step into the designated hitter slot in Boston's lineup.
Though he's not quite the caliber of hitter that Devers is, Ozuna is slashing .244/.369/.392 (116 wRC+) with 11 home runs through 81 games. He's also riding on the heels of back-to-back 39-homer, 100 RBI campaigns, posting an OPS over .900 in both 2023 and 2024. As a right-handed hitter who pulls the ball a ton in the air (18.9% this year, 24.5% last year), he'd be a perfect fit in Fenway Park, taking aim at the Green Monster.
As Cerullo notes, Ozuna, 34, is an impending free agent. He's got a $16 million salary which is about halfway paid up, and a $15 million AAV that shouldn't affect the Red Sox's bottom line on the luxury tax too much sans Devers.
Of course, a move like this would only be executed by Craig Breslow and company if the Red Sox turn in a blistering month of July prior to the trade deadline. Spending capital, be it prospect and/or financial resources, on a rental in a lost season is simply bad business.
Plus, the team already has a plan at designated hitter moving forward. Currently, the Red Sox are using the spot to juggle their four-man outfield, but once an inevitable trade happens to clear that logjam, the proposition is to deploy a platoon of Rob Refsnyder and Masataka Yoshida at DH.
That tandem could probably produce similar numbers to what Ozuna is doing this year, and they won't cost the front office anything extra. However, if the Red Sox do play winning baseball in July, and they find themselves within striking distance of a Wild Card spot by the trade deadline, it would make a lot of sense to bring in a hitter like Ozuna to fortify the lineup.
The next few weeks are going to be crucial in determining the direction of this team.