MLB trade rumors: Yankees, Red Sox want infielders
By John Buhler
The New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox need some help on the corners. Will either team strike up a deal with the Miami Marlins before the deadline?
Now that the New York Yankees look to be back to good, they find themselves in a tight divisional race with the hated Boston Red Sox. Along with the Tampa Bay Rays, the AL East should be a lot of fun to watch this summer. At least two and maybe all three teams make it to the postseason.
However for the Yankees or Red Sox to do that, they’ll need to upgrade their play on the corners. Boston has gotten close to nothing out of third baseman Pablo Sandoval. For New York, first baseman Greg Bird hasn’t been healthy and third baseman Chase Headley has largely underwhelmed.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports, “The Yankees and Red Sox have recently informed the [Miami] Marlins that they have interest in third baseman Martin Prado.” Nightengale adds that New York “would like to acquire power-hitting first baseman Justin Bour.”
While Bour has spent his four-year big league career entirely with the Marlins, Prado has bounced around a good bit. He first broke in with the Atlanta Braves in 2006, making an All-Star team in Atlanta in 2010. Prado is one of those players that his teammates rave about. He briefly played for the 2014 Yankees. A return to the Bronx could be in order.
However, he does seem to have that lunch pail mentality as a ball player that Boston would go nuts about during a pennant race. Though he’s no longer an All-Star level player, he’s certainly more reliable, versatile and less expensive than Sandoval.
Next: Best MLB player from each state
As for Bour, he would tear it up with that short porch in left field at New Yankee Stadium. In a way, the Yankees would be getting a younger version of Mark Teixeira in Bour as he is about this hit his prime. He could be a huge, long-term pickup for the Yankees if he is traded to New York from Miami.