Red Sox Tried Bringing $24 Million All-Star to Boston: Report

The Boston Red Sox had a much quieter trade deadline than many expected them to have.

After the Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants, the front office made it crystal clear that the organization was planning on buying ahead of the trade deadline. That was even before the Red Sox went on their 10-game winning streak to end the first half of the season.

Boston was around .500 when it started saying its plans to buy. The Red Sox turned things around and look like contenders. Boston currently has a 59-51 record but the trade deadline wasn't as expected.

The Red Sox did improve the bullpen by acquiring Steven Matz from the St. Louis Cardinals and then landed Dustin May to fill a spot in the rotation, but there weren't fireworks. Rumors circulated for weeks about who Boston could target. There was buzz about rotation targets, like Joe Ryan of the Minnesota Twins or Sandy Alcántara of the Mami Marlins. On top of this, there was some chatter about the possibility of the Red Sox landing more firepower for the middle of the lineup at first base, namely Yandy Díaz of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Rob Bradford of WEEI reported that there was real interest in Díaz and Boston showed interest but Tampa Bay wasn't "super interested" in cutting ties with him.

"While the Red Sox were one of the teams to inquire about Yandy Díaz that was never going to be a reality. Rays weren’t super motivated to move him," Bradford said.

Díaz would've been the perfect pickup for Boston, but unfortunately Tampa Bay plays in the division and a deal never seemed likely.