Red Sox Versatile Infielder Called 'Most Likely Trade Candidate' This Winter

Boston has one too many cooks in its middle infield kitchen

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The Boston Red Sox have a logjam at middle infield heading into 2025.

Boston stands to have up to eight middle infielders deserving of playing time at the Major League level, and something’s got to give. 

While Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow would love to rid himself of Trevor Story’s humongous contract, Story’s injuries have made him untradeable at present. One would assume that Breslow avoids trading Ceddanne Rafaela (who could soon be considered a bargain contract), but anything could happen.

That leaves Vaughn Grissom, David Hamilton, Nick Sogard, and Enmanuel Valdez in the fray, with top prospects Kristian Campbell and Marcelo Mayer putting immense pressure on Boston’s brass and coaching staff to insert them into the MLB lineup.

Breslow needs to move one or two of Grissom, Hamilton, Sogard, and Valdez in order to make room for his rising stars, that is unless Breslow ventures way outside the box and considers trading the recently injury-riddled Mayer.

From a more realistic perspective, the most likely Red Sox middle infielder to be dealt this winter is Hamilton, according to a new report from FanSided’s Katie Manganelli.

“The Red Sox will have quite a traffic jam in the middle infield next season,” Manganelli said. “Trevor Story, Ceddanne Rafaela, Nick Sogard, Vaughn Grissom, Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell, Enmanuel Valdez and David Hamilton will all compete for middle infield jobs next season.”

“Of those many options, Hamilton is the most likely trade candidate, and the Red Sox may opt to alleviate some of the pressure on the middle infield by trading him. The soon-to-be 27-year-old could slot into either middle infield slot after his defense improved significantly this season and his speed would be a great boost to any roster.”

“Hamilton has slumped in recent games, like the rest of Boston's offense, but he's shown he can hit big league pitching. He's slashing .248/.303/.395 with 17 doubles, a triple and eight homers and he leads all American League rookies with 33 stolen bases.”

As Manganelli alluded to, there’s no doubt that Hamilton can add value to a big league roster. Hopefully, Breslow will be able to acquire decent value in return for Hamilton if and when a move is made.

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