Red Sox Could Cut Ties With Gold Glover After Rafael Devers Trade, Per MLB Experts

The Boston Red Sox's plans in a post-Rafael Devers world will take a while to grasp.

After shipping their best hitter to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday, the Red Sox have kept up their momentum on the field with a series win in Seattle. They'll play an emotionally-charged series against Devers and the Giants on Friday, but they'll also have some reinforcements.

Outfielder Wilyer Abreu has missed the Red Sox's last nine games with an oblique strain, but he's expected to return on Friday. The 2024 Gold Glover not only hasn't played since the Devers trade, but he hasn't shared the field with number-one prospect Roman Anthony, who was called up when he was placed on the injured list.

Anthony's presence, in fact, has led many to believe that a Red Sox outfielder could be traded. Abreu and Jarren Duran have been the names most frequently mentioned, but now that Devers is gone, the designated hitter slot is open, so the logjam is slightly alleviated.

On Wednesday, The Athletic's Tim Britton, Aaron Gleeman, and Eno Sarris ranked a "big board" of potential trade chips across Major League baseball, and Abreu made their list as the seventh-most desirable traget in the game.

"Abreu, like Duran, could become expendable in Boston thanks to the wave of young bats. But he’s also young enough (26) and under team control for long enough (2029) to be part of the Red Sox’s long-term plan, putting them in the driver’s seat for any potential negotiations," the authors wrote.

"Even if the Red Sox are open to trading Abreu, there’s no rush to do so now. He’s putting up very good numbers at the plate that are in line with his strong rookie showing, and he will be in the mix for a second Gold Glove Award and won’t even be arbitration eligible until 2027."

The piece graded each player by their likelihood of getting traded on a traffic light scale, and Abreu was assigned red, meaning the authors don't think there's a very strong chance he's moved.

Abreu is returning to a team that looks and feels a whole lot different than it did when he injured himself in Yankee Stadium less than two weeks ago.

Could he be entering his final month in a Boston uniform? At this point, the Red Sox could trade just about anyone and it wouldn't be a major surprise.