The list of infielders the Boston Red Sox have coveted at some point this offseason is long, but the group of available options has been whittled down to almost nothing as spring training approaches.
Chicago Cubs Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw are popular trade options among Red Sox fans, as is Houston Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes. Boston hasn't been able to make any headway in trading for these players, though (at least, publicly), and it's even debated turning to free agent outfielders to bring another righty bat into the lineup (subscription required).
Paredes is a great fit for Boston among the options — he plays third base, he's a righty pull hitter, which will play well in front of the Green Monster and he can hit for power. Buster Olney of ESPN believes the Red Sox are the best fit for Paredes, but he also thinks the Astros won't trade with them.
"Given the relative strength of the Mariners, Jays and Yankees, the Red Sox and Astros may well compete for the same playoff spot at year's end," Olney Tweeted on February 5.
Insider Buster Olney doesn't think Astros will be willing to help Red Sox by trading them Isaac Paredes
Olney sees the Red Sox as a Wild Card team this coming season, and the Astros could be in a similar position. In reality, Boston could be in even more trouble than Olney wrote, as he didn't mention the Baltimore Orioles, who also improved this offseason by signing Pete Alonso and trading for Taylor Ward.
The Astros ended the 2025 season with the same record as the Detroit Tigers, but they missed the postseason because Detroit held the tie breaker. The Red Sox won two more games than them after ranking 27th in home runs in the second half of the season — having a slugger like Paredes in the lineup would've helped them win more games and could have kept them alive in the playoffs longer than just the Wild Card round.
Boston turned to Houston when it grew desperate. After whiffing because of a pathetic offer to Alex Bregman and once the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled Ketel Marte from the trade market, it had nowhere else to turn. Now, the Red Sox are scrambling to finish their roster with days until spring training begins, and it makes total sense that a potential playoff opponent wouldn't want to help them.
If the Astros intend to rob the Red Sox blind in a trade for Paredes (as they have every right to do at this point), Boston shouldn't go through with it. The Red Sox have already made nearly a dozen trades this winter and depleted much of their moveable depth, and it would be shortsighted to make another massive trade when they might need the resources to do so if they're in a playoff position at the trade deadline.
The Red Sox have found themselves in a prison of their own making because they put all their eggs in the Bregman basket and waited too long to react after they failed to sign him. They may have to stick to adding free agents to find their way out, if the Astros have anything to say about it.