Former Cardinals All-Star May Be Perfect Trade Target For Surprising Red Sox

Boston has a clear need at middle infield and the Cardinals could help

The Boston Red Sox may surprise some people in 2023. 

Boston is 12-11 through 23 games and sits at the bottom of the American League East standings, but there is plenty to be excited about. The Red Sox are missing two of their biggest bats in Trevor Story and Adam Duvall but both should be back at some point this season. Boston's bullpen has shown signs of great improvement and the starting rotation started slow, but seems to be turning a corner. 

The Red Sox may not win the World Series this season, but they should compete and be plenty of fun to watch. The eventual return of Story and Duvall should significantly help Boston and another move or two could help put them back into contention. One external candidate that could help out the club in the short term certainly could be St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong. 

The former All-Star missed much of the 2022 campaign and the first few weeks of the 2023 season but is healthy now and made his season debut with the Cardinals on Sunday. DeJong impressed in the St. Louis win and finished the day 3-for-4 with a home run. 

St. Louis seemingly has a surplus in the middle infield with DeJong, Nolan Gorman, Tommy Edman, and Brendan Donovan. If the Cardinals were open to offloading one of their infielders, DeJong would make sense, especially after missing so much time due to injury. St. Louis has a need in the pitching department and the Red Sox have a surplus themselves. 

Young hurler Tanner Houck has been in trade rumors since last offseason, but Boston also has other options if the Cardinals were interested. Boston currently has Yu Chang, Enrique Hernandez, and Christian Arroyo in the middle infield. The Red Sox should get a lift if Story returns, but another addition sooner rather than later wouldn't hurt and DeJong likely could be traded for if the club wanted.

All in all, DeJong should be a player Red Sox Nation keeps a close eye on. 

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