Red Sox Blockbuster Trade Piece Emerging Amid Boston Struggles

The Boston Red Sox currently are four games below .500 at 32-36 and are in fourth place in the American League East behind the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Rays, and the Tornto Blue Jays.

There's a lot of excitement with Roman Anthony now in Boston with Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell. If the Red Sox don't want to sell off ahead of the July 31st trade deadline, they need to turn things around fairly quickly. Boston is five games behind the Blue Jays and Rays and nine games behind the Yankees.

There's already been a lot of chatter about who could be moved if the Red Sox sell. MLB.com shared a column highlighting each team's top trade chip and had seven-time All-Star Aroldis Chapman for Boston.

"Red Sox: LHP Aroldis Chapman," MLB.com's Ian Browne said ahead of the Monday's matchup vs. the Rays. "If the Red Sox continue to fade from contention, Chapman, on a one-year deal, becomes a valuable rental chip for a contender that needs to bulk up the back end of the bullpen. Although Chapman is 37, he is having his best season in years and closing full time again for the first time since 2021. He continues to throw in the upper 90s, and he has eliminated the control issues that have plagued him at some of his recent stops. In his first 29 outings, Chapman has a 1.71 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP."

This isn't the first time Chapman's name as been thrown around. Over the last week or so, it seems like Chapman has been speculated about left and right. It's not hard to see why. He is one a one-year deal and has a 1.65 ERA in 30 appearances. If the Red Sox end up falling completely out of contention, why keep a superstar closer around? If Chapman keeps firing like he has, he would bring back a significant package at the deadline. Hopefully, Boston is winning games instead, though.