Red Sox making trade calls for offensive help, preferring a right-handed bat

What happened

The Boston Red Sox are actively making trade calls in search of offensive reinforcement, with a preference for a right-handed hitter, The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey reported. The push comes as club president Sam Kennedy told WEEI's Greg Hill in a radio interview that the organization is looking into trades — a rare instance of a front office saying the quiet part into a microphone, albeit a Boston one.

McCaffrey notes that while some positions represent a more pressing need than others, the Red Sox are broadly "looking to add any offense in general." That framing — any offense in general — is the kind of mandate that tends to make trade-deadline phones ring for a while.

Why it matters

The numbers behind this pursuit are not subtle. Boston reportedly ranks 29th out of 30 teams in both home runs, with 36, and runs scored, with 187. Their collective 89 wRC+ is better than only three other clubs in baseball. For a team with playoff aspirations, that is not a rounding error — it is the sort of structural gap that tends to compound quietly until it becomes very loud in October.

The preference for a right-handed bat is a meaningful detail. It signals that the front office is thinking about lineup construction and balance, not simply adding a warm body with a pulse. Whether the right fit is available at a price Boston is willing to pay is, of course, the part that remains entirely unresolved.

The numbers

Willson Contreras leads the Red Sox with a 140 wRC+, per McCaffrey's report, and has first base locked down. That figure — 40 percent above league average — illustrates both how good Contreras has been and how much the rest of the lineup has needed to lean on him. When one player is carrying that kind of offensive weight, the math on the remaining spots gets uncomfortable quickly.

Catcher Connor Wong is providing roughly league-average offense, per McCaffrey, which the report characterizes as probably not a major position of need. The other option behind the plate has not been hitting much, per the report, though Wong's production keeps that from becoming a five-alarm situation.

Mickey Gasper has also hit well in a small sample since being called up from Triple-A, per the report. Small samples in May are the baseball equivalent of a promising first chapter — encouraging, but the book is not written yet.

The Red Sox's 22-28 record is cited in the report as a direct reflection of the offensive shortfall, with the lack of power described as one of the major factors in that standing.

Where the club stands

Boston sits at 87-74 (.540), third in the AL East and 11 games back in the division race — a gap the club has, per the standings, been eliminated from closing. The Wild Card picture is a different story: the Red Sox rank second in the Wild Card standings, sitting +4.0 relative to the cut line, and have won their last two games heading into the weekend.

That Wild Card cushion is real, but it is not a recliner. A lineup ranked 29th in runs and home runs is a structural vulnerability in a playoff chase, and the front office appears to be treating it as such rather than hoping the offense finds itself organically.

The upcoming schedule offers a useful stress test. Boston hosts the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park on Saturday, with Jovani Morán and Taj Bradley listed as the probable pitchers. The series continues Sunday with Sonny Gray facing Bailey Ober. The following Tuesday brings the Atlanta Braves to Fenway, where Ranger Suarez is the probable for Boston against Spencer Strider — a matchup that will ask the offense to do something against one of the better arms in the National League.

Is there a specific position Boston is targeting?

Per McCaffrey's report, some positions are a more obvious need than others, but the club has not publicly identified a single target position. The preference for a right-handed hitter is the most specific detail available. Catcher is characterized as probably not a priority given Wong's production. First base is described as locked down by Contreras. Beyond that, the report does not specify which spots on the diamond are driving the calls.

That ambiguity is either a sign that the front office is keeping its cards close, or that the answer genuinely is "any offense in general" — which, given the 29th-place ranking in runs, is a coherent if humbling position to be in.

What we don't know yet

The report does not identify any specific trade targets, potential trade partners, or players Boston might be willing to move in return. There is no timetable attached to the search, no indication of how aggressive the front office is prepared to be in terms of prospect cost, and no suggestion that any deal is imminent. Kennedy's radio comments and McCaffrey's reporting establish that calls are being made — not that anything is close.

It also remains to be seen whether the preference for a right-handed bat is a firm requirement or a starting point that flexibility could soften. Trade markets have a way of presenting options that do not match the original wish list, and front offices have a way of adjusting accordingly.

What to watch

The most immediate thing to monitor is whether McCaffrey or other reporters with Boston sourcing add specificity to the search — names, positions, or the shape of what the Red Sox might offer in return. Kennedy's willingness to discuss trade interest publicly on WEEI suggests the front office is not trying to obscure the pursuit, which occasionally accelerates the timeline on these things and occasionally just generates a lot of radio content.

On the field, the Twins series this weekend and the Braves series next week will provide fresh data points on exactly how much the lineup needs. A team sitting +4.0 above the Wild Card cut line with a 22-28 record and an 89 wRC+ is in a peculiar position: good enough to be in the race, not good enough to feel comfortable in it. The front office, apparently, agrees.