The Boston Red Sox are looking to make upgrades in their bullpen and at third base. They might be able to kill two birds with one stone in a deal with the Miami Marlins
The Boston Red Sox enter the All-Star Break with a 3.5 game lead on the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League East. Their off-season trade for Chris Sale has had a huge impact on the rotation and he was named an All-Star. Mookie Betts has started to round into MVP caliber form.
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Two areas of need for the Red Sox are third base and the bullpen. Pablo Sandoval has been a disaster and they haven’t gotten any production out of guys like Josh Rutledge, Marco Hernandez, Deven Marrero among others.
Out of the bullpen, Craig Kimbrel and Joe Kelly have been excellent, but as we all know, come playoff time, you have to have a deep bullpen. Part of the puzzle was supposed to be Carson Smith, who came over from the Seattle Mariners in a trade before the 2015 season. However, Smith needed Tommy John surgery and hasn’t quite made his way back yet. He’s set for mound work this week, and since he’s a reliever, his rehab would be much shorter.
The Boston Red Sox can’t count on him so if they want bullpen help, they should look outside the organization. It’s possible, they can look at the Marlins to fill both holes. Their targets are Martin Prado and David Phelps.
The Boston #RedSox,would like a package deal from #Marlins, where they not only acquire 3B Martin Prado, but also reliever David Phelps.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 9, 2017
Prado is owed $34 million through 2019, so if the Marlins want to move him, they will probably have to eat a little bit of money in order to do so.
Phelps is 2-4 with a 3.56 ERA out of the bullpen this year for the Marlins. He’s struck out 46 batters in 43 innings this year.
Ironically, Prado and Phelps came over in the same trade with the New York Yankees that sent Nathan Eovaldi and others to the Bronx.
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Prado and Phelps would be excellent pickups for the Boston Red Sox to help fill two holes for a team with World Series aspirations. It probably won’t cost the Red Sox a top prospect like Rafael Devers to get a deal done, either.
With the All-Star Break upon us, it should be a very interesting next couple of weeks before the trade deadline and the Red Sox and Marlins should be front a center in trade rumors.