Rangers Reportedly Scouting Red Sox Star Player As Potential Trade Target

Texas might try to pry on of the Red Sox's most reliable pitchers

Scott Neville | Jul 29, 2023

Rangers Reportedly Scouting Red Sox Star Player As Potential Trade Target /

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The Texas Rangers have taken headlines for their impending acquisition of New York Mets ace Max Scherzer -- should he waive his no-trade clause. However, the Rangers also are interested in adding a Boston Red Sox star to their pitching staff.

"The Rangers are all over it. They are here to scout James Paxton, too today," The Boston Globe's Julian McWilliams tweeted moments after the Scherzer rumors heated up.

Paxton is 6-2 with a 3.46 ERA, 75-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .198 batting average against and 1.00 WHIP in 65 innings across 12 starts this season.

The southpaw would be considered as one of the most valuable rentals on the market should he become available, especially as the Chicago Cubs are contemplating keeping Marcus Stroman for a playoff push.

The 34-year-old has been a crucial part of the Red Sox's surge of late, and is widely expected to be retained. That said, if Boston were to look purely forward, both Paxton and outfielder Adam Duvall could warrant notable returns to overload a rising farm system.

The Red Sox are expected to buy and almost certainly will keep Paxton around, as they should. To this point, there hasn't been much activity on the trade market on either the buy or sell front.

The next few days should be highly intriguing for Boston, as they've largely kept their plans under wraps.

More MLB: Multiple Reports Link Red Sox, Phillies For Trade Involving All-Star Slugger

Published Jul 29, 2023

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