Red Sox Eyeing $24M Batting Champ With Time Running Out

The Boston Red Sox have a 58-51 record right now and are closer to the top overall spot in the American League than you'd likely expect.

Boston had an inconsistent few months to kick off the 2025 Major League Baseball season while injuries piled up. The Red Sox certainly turned things around right before the trade deadline. Boston won 10 straight games ahead of the All-Star break and have survived a gauntlet to kick off the second half of the seaosn. Right now, the Red Sox are just five games back of the top spot in the American League East -- and top spot in the American League overall. Boston also has the No. 2 Wild Card spot and is one game back of the top one.

There's just one day to go until the trade deadline and Boston is so close to contention. Will the Red Sox make another move? First base and the starting rotation specifically have been talked about at length.

For first base, one guy who has been floated as a target is Tampa Bay Rays star Yandy Díaz. With time running out, both Sean McAdam of MassLive.com and Jon Heyman of the New York Post both mentioned the star slugger.

"It’s well-known that the Red Sox covet Tampa Bay first baseman Yandy Díaz, who would give the Sox a run-producer and a right-handed bat, all in one," McAdam said. "What’s less certain is whether the Rays are inclined to move any significant players off their roster.

"I keep hearing they might be ‘soft-selling,’ whatever that means," said one executive with a team that has been in touch with the Rays. "I don’t know if they’re buying or selling, and I don’t know if they know either."

Heyman weighed in.

"The Red Sox still need a first baseman, and if the Rays make Yandy Díaz available, he’d be their first choice. Díaz was made for Fenway," Heyman said.

That's the exact type of move Boston should be all over. Díaz signed a three-year, $24 million deal with the Rays with a $12 million club option for 2026. This is the move that would put Boston over the top.