Red Sox still searching for another bat; George Springer in play? Is it time to move on from Jarren Duran?

The Red Sox have already made one move ahead of Monday’s trade deadline, but it’s hard to believe chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is finished.

Boston addressed its lineup by acquiring infielder Curtis Mead from the Nationals in exchange for left-hander Connelly Early, but the move immediately hit a snag. Mead fractured his left wrist after being hit by a pitch in just his second at-bat with the club Monday night against the Athletics.

Fortunately for Boston, the news wasn’t as bad as initially feared.

Mead visited a hand specialist in Boston on Wednesday and learned that the fracture will not require surgery, according to MassLive. While he’ll miss significant time after being placed on the 10-day injured list, there’s optimism he could return during the final week of the regular season on a six-to-eight week timetable.

Even before Mead’s injury, however, the Red Sox were expected to remain active.

Shortstop Remains the Priority

Boston has been connected to seemingly every available right-handed hitter, but the organization’s preference appears to be adding a shortstop.

The Angels’ Zach Neto continues to be one of the club’s top targets.

The Red Sox tried acquiring Neto last offseason, and according to The Athletic, they remain interested in the 25-year-old. Under interim general manager John Mozeliak, the Angels could choose to retool by moving controllable talent for a significant return.

Neto won’t come cheaply, but the Sox have the pieces to make a trade. 

He’s under club control through 2029, earning just $4.15 million this season while producing like one of baseball’s better shortstops. He’s hit 19 home runs with a .757 OPS while ranking among the leaders at the position in both wRC+ and fWAR.

A deal almost certainly starts with one of Boston’s premium young position players, likely Marcelo Mayer or Franklin Arias, plus additional prospects.

Arias was recently promoted to Triple-A Worcester after tearing apart Double-A pitching, while Mayer remains sidelined with a bone stress reaction in his forearm.

If the Angels refuse to move Neto, another intriguing option is Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams.

Abrams has quietly become one of the game’s premier offensive shortstops, entering Friday with a .289/.362/.555 slash line and a position-leading 27 home runs. Like Neto, he remains under club control through 2028 and would immediately become Boston’s biggest power threat alongside Willson Contreras.

The asking price would likely be enormous, perhaps even larger than Neto’s, and could require Arias as the centerpiece of any package.

If Boston pivots away from the shortstop market entirely, Detroit second baseman Gleyber Torres remains another logical fit, strictly due to being a right-handed hitter.

The Red Sox showed interest in Torres before he signed with the Tigers last offseason. While he doesn’t provide the defensive value of Neto or Abrams, Torres would add another established right-handed bat and likely cost considerably less in prospect capital. He’d also fit naturally into the middle of Boston’s lineup while filling one of the club’s weakest offensive positions.

Miami’s Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards have also surfaced in trade speculation.

Lopez has emerged as one of baseball’s breakout hitters, leading the majors in batting average while slashing .328/.362/.492. Edwards brings a different skill set, hitting .292 with 18 stolen bases while providing versatility around the infield. Both remain under multiple years of club control, making either acquisition expensive.

Sox Should Be In On Goodman 

The Rockies continue to receive interest in All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman, and the Red Sox should be among the clubs checking in.

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, any deal to bring Goodman to Boston would likely have to be headlined by top prospect Arias. That’s a steep price, but it’s understandable given Goodman’s age, production and years of club control.

Goodman has emerged as one of baseball’s premier offensive catchers, slashing .254/.326/.545 with 31 home runs before August. His pull-heavy power profile (30.2% pull-air rate) would play extremely well at Fenway Park and would give Boston a formidable middle of the order alongside Contreras.

The biggest knock on Goodman is swing-and-miss. His 139 strikeouts rank fifth in the majors, and he’s just 14 away from setting a career high in a single season.

Still, the upside is obvious. Goodman is earning just $810,000 this season, won’t reach arbitration until this winter and remains under club control through 2029. 

Any club that acquires him is getting one of the game’s best young power-hitting catchers for three-plus additional seasons.

For a Red Sox lineup still searching for another impact bat, Goodman would be one of the most intriguing, and impactful, additions available, even if the acquisition cost is substantial.

Jarren Duran Continues to Create Headlines for the Wrong Reasons

Thursday’s comeback victory over the Athletics should have been remembered for Boston’s late rally.

Instead, much of the postgame conversation centered around Jarren Duran.

After flying out to shallow left field with Contreras on third base in the sixth inning, Duran appeared visibly frustrated when third base coach Chad Epperson held Contreras at third. 

Duran gestured toward third base before continuing to voice his displeasure as he entered the dugout.

Given Tyler Soderstrom’s above-average throwing arm and the shallow depth of the fly ball, Epperson’s decision appeared to be the correct one. Contreras likely would have been out by a comfortable margin.

Duran declined to explain the incident afterward.

“That’s nothing,” Duran said. “It’s something within the team that we have that we work on… Nobody needs to know. That’s something between us and the team.”

Contreras, meanwhile, took the high road.

“I love Jarren,” Contreras said. “He’s one of the guys that plays with emotion… I would never take that personal. I think I’ll find the best moment to talk to him. It could be a mental thing. It could be something baseball is taking away from him. But it’s nothing personal.”

According to MLB.com’s Ian Browne, Duran’s frustration continued inside the dugout, where he slammed his helmet into a pipe, causing water to spray throughout part of the dugout.

Regardless of what was said internally, the optics weren’t good.

Those moments become much harder to overlook when paired with Duran’s season at the plate.

Entering Friday, he was batting just .195 with a .337 slugging percentage and a .589 OPS. Among qualified major league hitters, he ranked last in batting average, second-to-last in OPS and among the bottom handful in slugging percentage.

At some point, you have to stop talking about tools and start looking at results. Duran turns 30 this fall, and his production simply hasn’t been there. He’s hitting .195 with a .589 OPS, numbers that rank near the bottom of every qualified hitter in baseball.

According to CBS Sports' Julian McWilliams, the Sox are open to trading Duran ahead of the deadline on Monday. 

The Padres have shown interest in Duran in the past, and the Twins were said to have had interest last summer. 

Duran’s elite athleticism and defensive ability remain valuable, but his offensive struggles, emotional outbursts and recurring headlines have become increasingly difficult to ignore. 

If another club still views him as an everyday cornerstone, the Red Sox should seriously consider whether moving him, either before Monday’s deadline or this offseason, ultimately makes the most sense for both sides. 

His value will be low, but trading Duran might be addition by subtraction at this point. 

McWilliams also reported that veteran outfielder George Springer would be open to waiving his limited no-trade clause for a move to Boston.

Springer has long enjoyed hitting at Fenway Park, slashing .323/.400/.540 with a .940 OPS and 10 home runs in 51 career games.

While he’s no longer an everyday outfielder, Springer provides value as a designated hitter while still seeing occasional time in the outfield. His postseason pedigree, veteran leadership and knack for delivering in big moments would make him an intriguing fit for a Red Sox club with October aspirations.

Swapping Duran out for Springer would give the Sox a much-needed right-handed bat and one less headache moving forward.