In a matter of weeks, the entire tenor of the Boston Red Sox season has shifted from being one of a few teams looking to sell ahead of the August 3 deadline to that of a real contender looking to load up for a postseason run. 

Despite the 13-game winning streak giving the Red Sox sole possession of the third wild card spot in the American League, Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow was non-committal when asked about his trade deadline approach. Though he did concede that any potential upgrades to the roster would likely come to the lineup, telling MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo, "At times we’ve struggled to score runs. So, I think that’s a place where we’ll spend time."

When looking at the Boston lineup, there is a clear need for power as the team entered play on Sunday having hit just 93 home runs, the third fewest in baseball. There are three clear positions that Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow could seek to upgrade in order to add that power hitter to the lineup: 

Second base has been a black hole in the Boston lineup since Dustin Pedroia’s final season of full health in 2017, and that has been no different in 2026. The Red Sox have used a number of infielders at the position thus far, including Marcelo Mayer, Andruw Monasterio, and Anthony Seigler, but the results have, for the most part, been underwhelming. Boston second basemen rank in the bottom 10 in the league in batting average (.234, 24th), on-base percentage (.284, 29th), slugging percentage (.346, 26th), and weighted runs created plus (71, 28th). 

Like second base, it’s been a rotating cast behind the plate with Carlos Narvaez, Connor Wong and Mickey Gasper all seeing time as the team’s primary catcher throughout the season. Boston catchers have fared slightly better at the dish than their second baseman, but have still produced rather uninspiring results, posting a wRC+ of 81, or 19 percent worse than a league-average hitter, which is tied for the 15th-best mark in baseball. 

However, both Wong and Narvaez had developed a strong rapport with the Red Sox pitching staff, which has been one of baseball’s best. Replacing one of them with an upgraded bat at the position would risk upsetting the rhythm that the staff has gotten into with their backstops. 

Once the source of massive power in the form of Hall of Famer David Ortiz or 2018 World Series Champion JD Martinez, the Red Sox have not gotten the production they are used to from their designated hitters in 2026.

Thanks to the well-documented outfield logjam, the designated hitter spot has been a revolving door for much of the 2026 season, with Masataka Yoshida and Romy Gonzalez handling the bulk of the work at the position as of late. Boston designated hitters have hit just nine home runs, the fourth fewest in baseball, while their slugging percentage of .369 is the 25th best in the league. 

Designated hitter is, of course, the easiest position to add to ahead of the trade deadline, giving Breslow plenty of options to add a much-needed power bat to the lineup. 

The Red Sox are 50-48 and in third place in the American League East. The MLB Trade Deadline is August 3 at 6:00 p.m. ET. 

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