Elly De La Cruz is being linked to 1 team in trade rumors

Elly De La Cruz might be trading one shade of red for another.

The Boston Red Sox will be making calls to the Cincinnati Reds if they decide to trade away their star shortstop De La Cruz, Jim Bowden of The Athletic reported on Tuesday. Bowden adds that the Red Sox are expected to make an “aggressive” push to add bats this offseason and could also target Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams via trade.

De La Cruz, the switch-hitting 24-year-old, just completed his fourth season with the Reds and already has two All-Star appearances under his belt. In 2026, De La Cruz batted an impressive .283 with 30 home runs, 79 RBIs, and 30 stolen bases over 143 games.

But Cincinnati continues to go nowhere as De La Cruz approaches his prime years. They finished dead-last in the NL Central this past season at 75-87 and still have not won a single playoff series since 1995 (which was well before De La Cruz was born).

A recent report even cast doubt over De La Cruz’s long-term future with the Reds. While De La Cruz remains under club control through 2029, the report claimed that De La Cruz may have bigger ambitions than staying Cincinnati.

As for the Red Sox, they are trending in the right direction after back-to-back winning seasons (albeit with back-to-back AL Wild Card round losses as well). Though Boston will have some notable trade pieces of their own this offseason, it looks like they will be attempting to shore up their weak shortstop spot by taking a major swing.