Red Sox Could Make 'Panic Trade' For Rays' Former Batting Champion

Maybe Rafael Devers was right to turn down the Boston Red Sox's first base job.

Devers is settled in as the designated hitter now, and he's going gangbusters. He hit his first career walk-off home run on Saturday night, then the Red Sox's first grand slam in almost 700 days on Sunday afternoon.

However, that still doesn't mean the Red Sox have a reliable fix for the first base position. Abraham Toro and Nick Sogard are attempting to carry the load for now, while slumping rookie Kristian Campbell attempts to learn the position for the first time in the middle of the season.

While there are still two months to find a solution before the trade deadline closes off the external option, one baseball writer believes the Red Sox could be drawing a bead on a division rival.

On Sunday, Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller named the Red Sox among the teams "in danger of making a panic trade," but suggested that acquiring Tampa Bay Rays first baseman Yandy Díaz could actually be a sound strategy for Boston.

"Even before Casas' season-ending knee injury, it's not like things were going great at that position. Now, however, they've gone from a near-everyday first baseman with a .580 OPS to just a huge unknown from one day to the next," Miller wrote.

"As far as external options go, though, it's not pretty—at least not compared to this time last year, when Paul Goldschmidt, Pete Alonso, Christian Walker and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. all looked like possible trade candidates. If AL East rivals don't mind trading within the division... Tampa Bay's Yandy Díaz might be (one of) the best options."

Díaz, 33, was the American League batting title winner in 2023 with a .330 average, finishing sixth in Most Valuable Player voting that season. He's come back to earth a bit since then, but he's still got a .272/.330/.410 in 187 games since the start of 2024.

Díaz might be a strong addition to the Boston lineup, but they'd be banking on the Rays to help them out, which would cost them significant prospect capital too.