3 Trevor Story replacements Red Sox can trade for after deflating injury

Red Sox star Trevor Story will miss indefinite time after surgery on his elbow. Now Boston needs to trade for a replacement to fill the middle-infield hole.

Definitely feels more like the Boston Red Sox should’ve made a stronger, more aggressive, and much earlier effort to keep Xander Bogaerts around.

On Tuesday, it was reported that the Red Sox likely replacement for Bogaerts at shortstop (and last year’s starting second baseman) Trevor Story underwent elbow surgery on an injured UCL. H e had been aware of the injury for months but had hoped that rest would allow him to avoid surgery, which it obviously did not.

Now he will miss time early in the 2023 season and his return date is indefinite at this point.

This puts Boston in a horrendous position now as they have no surefire starter at either middle-infield spot with Opening Day just a few short months away. That could put the pressure on Chaim Bloom and he needs to find a replacement. At this point in the offseason, though, the trade market might be his best option to find one with Story out injured.

Red Sox rumors: 3 Trevor Story replacements to trade for after injury

Ha-Seong Kim is expendable for the Padres and gives the Red Sox a nice asset

Over the past few months, it’s become quite obvious that Ha-Seong Kim isn’t part of the future for the Padres — or at least it’s hard to imagine that he would be. After inking Xander Bogaerts to a monster contract this offseason and with Fernando Tatis Jr. set to return early in the 2023 season, San Diego has its third-to-second portion of the infield wholly intact.

Now, to be sure, Kim could be valuable to them while Tatis is still suspended and even thereafter given his positional versatility. At the same time, though, the payroll and star power that the Padres have on the infield essentially causes the franchise to lose some leverage in any trade negotiations they may want to make in order to shed some salary.

That could work heavily into the benefit of the Red Sox with Trevor Story’s injury situation. The 27-yea-old Kim played his first full-time season with San Diego and performed extremely well, slashing .251/.325/.383 with 43 extra-base hits, 59 RBI, 58 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. More importantly, he also posted an impressive 2.2 dWAR and has a 4.3 dWAR over two years.

Aside from the potential value due to San Diego’s lack of trade leverage with Kim, he would also be a defensive asset and a big asset whenever Story returns. He could move to second or allow Story to move back to second. In any case, this would be a totally sensible option for Bloom and the Red Sox to pursue.