Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox Star Reportedly Receiving Trade Interest From Pair Of NL West Contenders

Could Boston sell a key piece after all?

Scott Neville

Mar 30, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; A general view of Fenway Park before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 30, 2023; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; A general view of Fenway Park before a game between the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports / Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
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Could the Boston Red Sox start a bidding war between two National League West rivals for one of their more valuable trade assets at the July 30 deadline?

At 43-37, Boston appears to be closer to buying than selling this summer but there has been wide-reported interest in one of their impending free agents that could make Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow contemplate trading an asset away from the big-league roster.

The New York Post's Jon Heyman had an interesting note regarding the pitching market and noted that closer Kenley Jansen is drawing interest from some teams on the other side of the country.

"(Boston is) contending so a trade is no certainty now," Heyman wrote regarding Jansen. "The (Los Angeles) Dodgers and (San Diego) Padres like him."

Jansen has a 2.30 ERA with a 32-to-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .189 batting average against and a 1.06 WHIP in 27 1/3 innings this season. Most importantly, he's converted 15 of 16 save opportunities.

It would make sense that just about every contender would have some level of interest in the four-time All-Star closer amid another very strong season.

With that said, the Red Sox are in position to add at the deadline and likely will retain Jansen, Tyler O'Neill, Nick Pivetta and Chris Martin should they remain in the American League Wild Card race in July.

Hopefully there will be a lot more talk about who Breslow could bring in versus who to shop in the coming weeks. That's up to manager Alex Cora and his players to keep the momentum going.

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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