We now have just two days left until the 2025 trade deadline, and it's still unclear exactly which direction the Boston Red Sox are looking to go in. Despite a brutal, rain-soaked 5-4 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, the team is now neck-and-neck with the fading New York Yankees both in the AL Wild Card race and for second place in the AL East. Their playoff odds look pretty good, despite all the adversity they've endured, and there's still a ton of talent on this team.
That said, their rotation is also in tatters at the moment, and Craig Breslow doesn't seem sold on mortgaging the team's future to help the 2025 team try to make a run. So: Will Boston buy, sell or something in between? It feels like everything is on the table, and that means that any number of Red Sox players should be looking over their shoulder right now. Sure, Roman Anthony isn't going anywhere, but here are three notable names that might not be as safe as they think when the deadline dust settles.
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3. DH/OF Masataka Yoshida
While Yoshida worked his way back from the shoulder issue that dogged him since last year, the Red Sox talked about him as though he were an impact bat, someone whose return could reshape the team's lineup. Well, he's back now, and the early numbers are anything but: Yoshida is hitting a miserable .220/.238/.293 over his first 12 games, beating just about everything into the ground (nearly 70% ground-ball rate).
It's possible that's just a timing issue, the product of so much time spent rehabbing and missing out on live reps. Given a long enough runway, Yoshida might well get back to looking like the hitter he was for much of 2023-24. But the Red Sox don't have that much longer to wait, especially if they're going to hang on to Jarren Duran past the trade deadline. If Duran is still in Boston come August, and if the team finds a way to upgrade at first base, the math suddenly doesn't look great for Yoshida.
2. LHP Aroldis Chapman
Chapman has been nothing short of sensational in his first year in Boston, with a 1.30 ERA and 0.816 WHIP to go with 61 strikeouts in 41.2 innings of work. His stuff is still electric as ever at 37 years old, and he's cut back dramatically on the bouts of wildness that have plagued him elsewhere in his career. He's been a godsend to a Red Sox bullpen that's struggled to find a late-game formula behind their star lefty.
Of course, Chapman is also going to hit free agency again in a few months' time, and Emmanuel Clase being abruptly removed from the market has even further narrowed the choices for contenders looking for relief help. We know that Breslow always has one eye on the future, and we know that relievers are volatile and that Chapman's command could revert back to its previous level at any time. If a team like the Philadelphia Phillies calls offering a haul for his services, would the Red Sox really turn down the chance to add meaningful pieces for the future without torpedoing the present?
1. RHP Walker Buehler
His most recent start against the Los Angeles Dodgers was rough, but Buehler has at least started to turn things around a bit in recent weeks, with a 3.57 ERA in the month of July. Granted, the underlying numbers aren't quite so rosy, and his inability to miss bats or find the strike zone consistently are both serious red flags. But that's sort of the point: Given that the Red Sox are certainly moving on from Buehler once he hits free agency this winter, why wouldn't they try to sell high and get something of value rather than losing him for nothing over the offseason?
Granted, Boston isn't swimming in starting pitching depth right now, especially with Hunter Dobbins and Kutter Crawford out for the year and the futures of Tanner Houck and Patrick Sandoval very much in doubt. But the newly acquired Kyle Harrison is rounding into form at Triple-A, and Breslow could also look to snag someone like Adrian Houser on the cheap to backfill things. Both for the present and the future, Buehler staying in Boston might not be in the cards.