The Boston Red Sox's acquisition of Curtis Mead hasn't taken them out of the deadline market. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is still searching for an impact bat — likely another infielder — to prepare for a playoff push.
Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto has been linked to multiple clubs, including Boston. His home run power and right-handed swing make him an especially good fit for Fenway Park. But his standing as a highly-coveted trade piece will also make him an expensive target.
Recent reports suggest the Sox could be too willing to pay the hefty price to land Neto. According to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, top shortstop prospect Franklin Arias would likely be part of the Angels' return in a Neto trade (subscription required).
While the idea that teams must surrender talented players to get talent back in trades is absolutely true, there are too many holes in Neto's game to send the Angels a top-10 prospect in baseball for him (Arias is ranked No. 7). Neto's 146 strikeouts lead the American League and he ranks in the lower quartile of the league in whiff, chase and strikeout percentage. His strikeout percentage is just over a percent less than Trevor Story's from this season and Story's at-bats were a brutal watch when he was healthy. Neto also plays rough defense, to the tune of nine outs below average, a second-percentile rate among shortstops.
Red Sox should walk away from Zach Neto trade if Angels demand Franklin Arias
Arias, meanwhile, has flashed elite defense. His eye is far better than Neto's, as are his bat-to-ball skills. Arias is slashing .309/.396/.570 over 77 games between Double-A and Triple-A this season. He's experienced a sudden power surge and he's hitting home runs like never before in his career — he's launched 19 bombs this season, more than doubling his career-high from any previous year. Arias is also only 20 years old and he has plenty of growing to do.
The point of targeting a shortstop with multiple years of control on his contract is to build for the future. Since Arias' power breakout, there's little in Neto's skillset that Arias doesn't also have. Granted, Arias has only been a power hitter for half a season and he still has no major league experience, but Neto's struggled to limit strikeouts and play clean defense for his entire big league career.
If the Red Sox were going for an utterly game-changing player like Elly De La Cruz, or maybe even Bobby Witt Jr. (in our dreams), then Arias should be made available. But Neto doesn't meet enough of the Sox's long-term needs to justify giving up Arias for him, especially since Boston's confidence in Marcelo Mayer seems shaken from his brief tenure in the big leagues. Arias is one of the best young players in baseball and his improvements from this season look legit — he shouldn't be the Angels' entire return for Neto, let alone part of a larger package.
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