A Red Sox-Tigers trade to fill need for pitching and right-handed bat

The Boston Red Sox have closed the gap in the American League. As of now, they are only six games back from first place in the AL East and a single game back from the third Wild Card spot in the American League. Boston will have to be aggressive buyers at the deadline if they want to truly compete for a World Series title. I think Red Sox fans would burn down the city if the front office did anything less, anyway.

Two of Boston's biggest needs include a starting pitcher and an impact bat that can crush lefties. The Detroit Tigers could be the perfect place to turn to for both of these players.

Detroit has Jack Flaherty and Mark Canha, two expiring contracts, that they would like to trade and get some value for in the coming days. They fit two glaring Boston needs, so this hypothetical deal could be a match made in heaven for the Red Sox.

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A Red Sox-Tigers trade for Jack Flaherty and Mark Canha

Flaherty, 28, has been absolutely dominant this season. He currently holds a sub-3.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP, both being stats that indicate how elite he's been this season. While being on an expiring deal, the Tigers are shopping him hard.

Canha has been almost unusable against righties this year. He's hitting close to .200 against them. But against lefties, he's slashing an incredible .294/.410/.471 with an OPS approaching .900. That's the kind of bat that needs to be in the lineup whenever the opposing team is starting a southpaw.

This deal sends two top 10 prospects in the Red Sox system as well as a backend top 30 talent over to the Tigers for their two rental players.

Zanetello, 19, is a project player, no doubt about it. He's slashing .190/.316/.331 with five home runs on the season. He's built like a shortstop and he has all the tools to develop into a good one, but the Red Sox have shortstops in their system that are simply just better than he is. He would fit better in another organization with a change of scenery.

Perales, 21, has been incredible in nine starts this season. He currently holds an ERA below 3.00 between his starts at High-A and Double-A. He has a dominant fastball and a solid slider. Walks have hurt him in the past, but he's looked much improved this season.

Guerrero, a reliever by trade, has been solid in 38 innings at the Triple-A level. His walk rate has been high, but that is sort of to be expected at this current state of baseball. If he can get the walks under control, his call-up to the big leagues will be sooner rather than later.

The Red Sox have holes they need to fill, and this trade does exactly that. They can hold onto their top prospects while dealing from the depth of their system. The Tigers would get some solid prospects in exchange for two expiring players. It could result in a true win-win hypothetical.