3 players Red Sox should consider trading first

2. OF Kevin Pillar

Pillar snapped out of a multi-game hitless funk at the plate with a four-hit game Wednesday night against the Rays. For the season (entering Thursday) he’s hitting .327 with an .802 OPS. He has most played right field for the Red Sox this season, as the de facto replacement for Betts, but he can play all three outfield spots capably. He’s no longer the elite defender he was with the Toronto Blue Jays, but Pillar is not a tree stump with a glove on just yet.

It’s easy to miss that Pillar hit 21 home runs and drove in 88 in 2019, mostly with the San Francisco Giants. He also swiped at least 14 bases in each of the five seasons before this one, with a 77.4 percent success rate over that span (82 stolen bases in 106 attempts). He also hit more than 30 doubles each season from 2015-2019. (at least 35 doubles in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019).

Pillar is on a one-year deal in Boston, and a fairly cheap one at that ($4.25 million) based on what he can offer. The Red Sox have a case to keep him, as Andrew Benintendi (ribcage) faces an IL stay a good bit longer than the minimum 10 days. But an expiring deal is a selling point, and Pillar has sneaky value whether he’s hitting particularly well or not.