2018 Off-Season Potential Trade Partner: the Boston Red Sox

After an quick exit from the postseason at the hands of the Astros, the Red Sox have already started to re-tool for next year. While the priority is obviously filling their managerial vacancy, the team has other issues to address: a big bat to replace the hole David Ortiz left in the lineup when he retired before the 2017 season (he’s a big man, it’s a big hole), a backup for the aging Pedroia, and a replacement for Mitch Moreland, who is a free agent after this year. The Red Sox also need to shore up their pitching. First, they need to decide if the most highly-paid player on their team, David Price, is a full-time reliever now; if he is (he is not), they’ll need another arm to slot in at the back of the rotation to replace Doug Fister, who is a free agent. If Price doesn’t move to the bullpen, the bullpen becomes an area of need. Fangraphs lists the Red Sox as having the fourth-most valuable bullpen in baseball, at 6.9 fWAR; however, 3.3 of that came from Craig Kimbrel alone. Three bullpen arms are free agents: the sixth and seventh most valuable relievers by fWAR, Blaine Boyer and Fernando Abad, as well as Addison Reed, acquired from the Mets to help with a playoff push.

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