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Boston Red Sox: Five Possible Trade Deadline Candidates

By Paul Ashley

DENVER, CO - APRIL 23: DJ LeMahieu (9) of the Colorado Rockies prepares to an at-bat against Bryan Mitchell (50) of the San Diego Padres during the bottom of the first inning at Coors Field on Monday, April 23, 2018. The Colorado Rockies hosted the San Diego Padres. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
DENVER, CO - APRIL 23: DJ LeMahieu (9) of the Colorado Rockies prepares to an at-bat against Bryan Mitchell (50) of the San Diego Padres during the bottom of the first inning at Coors Field on Monday, April 23, 2018. The Colorado Rockies hosted the San Diego Padres. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /
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Heading into the All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox are the best team in the MLB.  Unfortunately for them, the New York Yankees are still hanging around.  As any team prefers winning the division to playing in a one-game wild card playoff, the Red Sox will be looking for any and all upgrades.

Near the 2017 trade deadline, the Red Sox acquired Eduardo Nunez from the San Francisco Giants and Addison Reed from the New York Mets.

To acquire Nunez, Boston sent out a pair of right-handed pitchers, Gregory Santos and Shaun Anderson.  To acquire Reed, Boston sent out a trio of right-handed pitchers, Gerson Bautista, Jamie Callahan, and Stephen Nogosek.

Even with these additions to the team, the Red Sox were ousted by the Houston Astros in the American League Division Series.  The Yankees were ousted by the Astros in the American League Championship Series and reacted by trading for the 2017 National League Most Valuable Player, Giancarlo Stanton.

The Red Sox waited until February to make a significant counter move, but they were able to sign J.D. Martinez.  Martinez finished 14th in the 2017 NL MVP voting.  However, that does not tell the whole story of his elite hitting ability.

Heading into the 2018 All-Star break, J.D. Martinez has 29 HRs and 80 RBI through 393 plate appearances. Through 489 plate appearances in 2017, Martinez had 45 HRs and 104 RBI.  As he only played 119 games last season, it will be exciting to see where his HR and RBI total could end up with 150+ games played in Boston.

Martinez and Mookie Betts are a terrifying duo for any opposing team. Combine them with Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel and the Red Sox are in a great position to win it all.  Nonetheless, there is still room for improvement to secure an AL East title.

According to salaries and contracts on baseball-reference, the Red Sox currently have the highest payroll in the MLB at $227.5 million.  The Red Sox already have $133.6 million committed for next season and that figure could increase to $211.7 million if all arbitration-eligible players are kept along with all options being picked up.  Due to this, they will most likely be looking for players who become free agents at the end of the season.

The following are five trade candidates that could improve the Red Sox chances at securing an AL East title:

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