Red Sox Reportedly Targeting Former All-Star Shortstop At Trade Deadline

Boston could use a middle infielder to pair with Trevor Story

Scott Neville | Jul 27, 2023

Red Sox Reportedly Targeting Former All-Star Shortstop At Trade Deadline /

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The Boston Red Sox are looking to buy with the trade deadline just days away and rumors are really starting to heat up.

One area Boston reportedly has been looking into as of late is the addition of a middle infielder to pair with Trevor Story. The latest news adds fuel to the fire.

The Red Sox and Miami Marlins reportedly are both in talks with the St. Louis Cardinals for middle infielder Paul DeJong according to baseball informant Anderson Vargas. His word alone would not carry a ton of weight but Héctor Gómez, a reliable source, retweeted the information. Gómez broke a lot of news regarding the Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts negotiations last winter and would not endorse a report blindly.

DeJong is hitting .238 with 24 extra-base hits including 13 home runs, 32 RBIs and a .728 OPS (97 OPS+) in 77 games this season.

While his overall offensive production is nothing to write home about, he ranks as just a slight tick below average and would provide pop at the bottom of the lineup.

His greatest strength this season has been his defense. The 29-year-old ranks in the 94th percentile in outs above average despite his 24th percentile arm strength. DeJong can play second base and shortstop, with an obvious bias toward the former should he come to Boston.

DeJong has a $12.5 million club option nobody would accept, essentially making him a rental.

The semi-versatile slugger would not be the worst addition to the club but it would not exactly inspire fans to fill up Fenway Park. If they get DeJong, he would be marginally better than Pablo Reyes, Yu Chang and Christian Arroyo.

The middle infield market is thin so DeJong might be the best Boston can do without making a massive investment of prospect capital.

More MLB: Red Sox Loosely Linked To Dodgers With Trade Involving All-Star Outfielder

Published Jul 27, 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