A Red Sox-Angels trade for Jesus Luzardo backup plan after Marlins ace's tough injury

As of Monday, June 24, Baseball Reference gives the Boston Red Sox a 39.8 percent chance to make the postseason. They sit just half a game out of the third wild card spot in the American League and they have been one of the hotter teams in baseball as of late.

All signs indicate that they will be buyers at the deadline as they look to lock down an AL Wild Card spot through the dog days of Summer.

While their pitching rotation has been solid, they could definitely use an upgrade. For a while, rumors swirled that Boston could pursue the Marlins' ace, Jesus Luzardo. After Luzardo went down with an injury, it leaves Boston looking at other pitcher options on the market.

A Red Sox-Angels trade to solidify Boston's starting rotation

Boston could turn to the Angels, who will almost certainly be selling their ace, Tyler Anderson, ahead of the trade deadline. The Angels are completely out of the playoff picture and Anderson has two years left on his deal.

In 15 starts this season, Anderson holds a 2.48 ERA and a sub 1.20 WHIP. He's been quite impressive at the top of the Angels staff and could provide a consistent lefty in the middle of any rotation in baseball.

The Red Sox could put together a package of their 10th ranked prospect, Richard Fitts and their 22nd ranked prospect, Eddinson Paulino to send to the Angels for the next year and a half of Tyler Anderson.

Starting pitchers typically hold more value, where they would be able to grab a third prospect or a prospect a bit higher ranked than Paulino, but the Red Sox would be taking on the remainder of Anderson's contract, so his value drops a little bit.

Fitts is a tremendous pitching prospect that Red Sox fans would be pretty disgruntled with losing, but the return of Anderson evens that out for anybody that is upset about it.

Fitts has an ERA of 3.86 across 60.2 dominant innings in Triple-A this year. He seems to be on the verge of his big-league debut, especially considering how polished his arsenal appears to be. His control makes him a high floor prospect for whichever organization he's a part of.

Paulino doesn't have the same ceiling that Fitts does, but he has all the tools to develop into a capable big leaguer. He lacks a true "unicorn" attribute, but at the same time, he doesn't really have a gaping hole in his game.

Anderson would be a solid addition to the Red Sox rotation that could help solidify them down the stretch. Boston needs pitching to complement their best arms. If they add Anderson, they increase their playoff odds quite a bit.