Red Sox Rumors Intensifying For $12 Million All-Star Slugger

The American League is wide open and the Boston Red Sox have a star-studded roster that can go on a run.

Boston's season has been full of inconsistency so far, but it showed just how good it can be with a 10-game winning streak just before the All-Star break. It's important to note that the Red Sox have navigated serious injury after serious injury all season to this point. The Red Sox's starting rotation has been hit hard from the start. Right now, the rotation doesn't have Tanner Houck or Hunter Dobbins and Kutter Crawford hasn't been ready to go for a start this season.

Offensively, the Red Sox lost Triston Casas for the season and Alex Bregman for a while. Recently, the Red Sox lost Marcelo Mayer to a wrist injury as well.

Boston has been bitten by the injury bug and yet it finds itself firmly in the mix for a playoff spot and entered play on Sunday with a 56-50 record. There were just three teams in the American League with more wins than Boston entering play on Sunday. The standings are wide open and if the Red Sox add some more pop to the lineup, they can firmly cement themselves as contenders.

With four days to go until the trade deadline, rumors have begun picking up steam between Boston and the Tampa Bay Rays involving All-Star first baseman Yandy Díaz. ESPN's Buster Olney is the latest to talk about the possibility.

"The Rays' struggles over the last month have really surprised other teams -- and the Rays' staffers, too -- and now Tampa Bay could shift to become sellers," Olney said. "Yandy Díaz would be an absolutely perfect fit for the Red Sox. He's making $10 million this year (the Red Sox would be on the hook for about a third of that), and he has a very attractive $12 million option for 2026."

Olney isn't the only insider who has openly talked about Díaz and Boston. He would be the perfect fit. He's currently slashing .286/.345/.475 with 18 homers and 61 RBIs in 99 games. Getting that type of production at first base would be a game-changer. Luckily, the deadline is just four days away so we won't have to wait long to see if this is just speculation, or something that has a real chance of happening.