(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The Boston Red Sox are contending for a spot in the postseason.
With a 56-49 record so far, they are fourth in the AL East, eight games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the top spot.
They are, however, 2.5 games behind the last Wild Card team so they are very much alive in the quest for a postseason spot.
Boston is reportedly looking to bolster its rotation with a controllable starter.
Ideally, they are looking for a young pitcher with several years of cheap team control left: someone like Brayan Bello, for example.
After all, Corey Kluber suffered a setback and is no longer an option at this point and James Paxton, one of their best starters this year, is injury-prone and on the wrong side of 30.
They need more young pitching beyond Bello and other inconsistent hurlers.
To acquire such a pitcher, the Red Sox are willing to trade one of their starting outfielders: Alex Verdugo.
“As we wrote, this doesn’t signal a sale — but Sox could look to turn Verdugo into a controllable starter in the next couple of days. Buy/sell strategy very much alive,” Red Sox insider Chris Cotillo tweeted.
As we wrote, this doesn’t signal a sale — but Sox could look to turn Verdugo into a controllable starter in the next couple days. Buy/sell strategy very much alive.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 31, 2023
The Red Sox could sell Verdugo to buy some pitching, hence the “buy/sell strategy” Cotillo is referring to.
Pitching is always expensive, so Boston might have to add a prospect or two to Verdugo, who is sporting a .769 OPS but has a career-high in home runs of just 13.
In any case, the Red Sox figure to be one of the most active teams in the trade market ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
The post Red Sox Reportedly Open To Trading Starting Outfielder appeared first on The Cold Wire.