MLB Rumors: Boston Red Sox could look to deal an outfielder?

It seems like only yesterday that we were discussing trade rumors in which the Boston Red Sox would trade for somebody to bolster their outfield.

Now, with the success of Grady Sizemore this spring, the presence of Shane Victorino, the potential of top prospect Jackie Bradley, Jr., and the solid play of understated players like Mike Carp and Daniel Nava, the Red Sox might be the team looking to send an outfielder out in a trade.

Increasingly folks are wondering if Sizemore is going to seize the everyday center field job. If he does, that leaves the team with a tough decision about Bradley and whether or not they should send him to Triple-A. Even if they do, they still have the conundrum of finding enough at-bats for everybody else.

This could create an opportunity for a trade, something Nick Cafardo noted in the Boston Globe. The first possibility would be a deal that sends the versatile Carp to a team that needs help at first base, something that was rumored earlier this off-season as well:

"Most of the trade speculation centers around Carp, who doubles as a first baseman and triples as a third baseman. There’s always speculation about Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, teams that might want to upgrade at first base.”"

Then there is the Detroit Tigers as a team that might be interested in trading for an outfielder. Detroit has already called the Colorado Rockies about their glut of outfielders, so it makes sense that they might be a potential trade partner for Boston:

"Lately, the talk among scouts is that the Tigers have had some interest because Andy Dirks had back surgery and will be out three months at least, leaving the left field job mainly to Rajai Davis, a righthanded hitter, with Don Kelly also in the mix.”"

Of course it is also reasonable to think that the Red Sox will just keep everybody and shuffle them around as needed to protect themselves in the event that Sizemore gets hurt again or one of the other players regresses from their 2013 production.