The Boston Red Sox have steamrolled into trade deadline buyer-status since their 15-game winning streak. Despite their offense's emergence, their needs are still quite obvious — a righty infield impact bat would be the best possible upgrade.
Those will be hard to come by, as trade deadline competition is always fierce. It will be especially competitive this year, as there are many teams still in the Wild Card conversation in the underwhelming American League, making for few true sellers in the market.
MLB.com has pitched a few second base additions that could make sense for Boston, including the Detroit Tigers' Gleyber Torres, San Francisco Giants' Luis Arráez and Washington Nationals' Luis García Jr. Marcelo Mayer has struggled offensively against righty pitchers and the Red Sox could afford to replace him at second base until he's more warmed up to the big leagues.
The Tigers aren't guaranteed sellers, as they sit just four games out of Wild Card contention as of July 24, but if they decide to sell, Torres could be a great option for Boston. He's on a one-year contract so he would be a true rental, not cost an obscene amount and he wouldn't block second base from Mayer or maybe even Franklin Arias in the future.
Gleyber Torres, Luis Arráez or Luis García Jr. could be great second base upgrades for Red Sox before trade deadline
Torres is slashing .284/.397/.391 with six doubles and four home runs over 47 games (he's spent a considerable amount of time on the injured list with two oblique strains this season). He's also a plus defender this season with five defensive runs saved and an out above average.
Arráez is left-handed so he doesn't perfectly align with Boston's expected trade deadline priorities, but he's had one of the most well-rounded seasons of his career. He's slashing. .320/.359/.446 with 11 outs above average at second base over 96 games.
Similar to Torres, Arráez is on a one-year deal and could be on the less expensive side when it comes to infield additions. However, he's so consistent at the plate and he'll be a popular target among contending teams which could make him cost more than fans might expect. It could be worth it for his unrivaled hitting ability.
García is also left-handed and he's the only option from MLB's article that has more than one year of control on his contract — the 26-year-old's final year of arbitration is in 2027. He could provide the Sox with an extra year of stability at second base while their young middle infielders Arias and Mayer continue adjusting to the big leagues.
García is batting .280/.311/.550 with 70 RBI over 95 games. His 21 home runs would be one shy of Willson Contreras' team-leading total in Boston. His 16.3 strikeout percentage ranks in the upper quartile of the league.
There are plenty of solid trade deadline options for the Red Sox to pursue, but who they land will depend on the level of competition on the market and what they decide their priorities are.
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