MLB trade rumors: Red Sox looking at Mike Moustakas?
By John McCarty
Injuries and poor performance at the hot corner could make the Kansas City Royals’ Mike Moustakas a hot commodity at the MLB Trade Deadline.
Perhaps no team will be more hotly debated and discussed approaching the deadline then the Kansas City Royals. And perhaps the most intriguing player will be third baseman Mike Moustakas. Teams with a need at the hot corner are surely waiting to see if the Royals will cash in on their abundance of soon-to-be free agent talent at the deadline. One team could be the Boston Red Sox.
During an interview with CSN New England, Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports indicated the slugger could be at the top of the list of Red Sox targets for the stretch run. They are currently beset by the disaster that is Pablo Sandoval, who is hitting .208 with only four home runs. Currently, Sandoval has provided little to no return to Boston after leaving San Francisco after the 2014 World Series.
As was also pointed out in the interview, utility man Brock Holt has been dealing with vertigo since April and as of late May was shut down indefinitely by the organization to address the lingering affects. There is no timetable for his return.
Due to be a free agent after the 2017 season, Royals Mike Moustakas is having a solid season at the hot corner, hitting .282 with 18 home runs. Moustakas also plays a good defensive third base.
Currently, the Royals are on a five-game win streak and are within four games of the AL Central. Still, Kansas City has to be thinking about the future, and would love to the opportunity to turn departing players into a bevy of young controllable assets.
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Should the Red Sox be unable to land Moustakas, they could turn their attention towards a couple other players mentioned by Heyman. Todd Frazier of the Chicago White Sox and Yangervis Solarte of the Padres. Neither provides the punch Boston would net in Moustakas, but are likely cheaper to acquire and both the Padres and White Sox are for sure going to be sellers at the deadline.