Red Sox making trade calls in search of offensive help, preferring a right-handed bat

What happened

The Boston Red Sox are actively making trade calls in pursuit of offensive reinforcement, with a preference for a right-handed hitter, according to The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey. Club president Sam Kennedy told WEEI's Greg Hill in a radio interview that the organization is looking into trades, and McCaffrey's reporting adds the directional detail: Boston "is looking to add any offense in general," with a right-handed profile at the top of the wish list.

The front office's urgency is not hard to locate in the standings. The Red Sox rank 29th 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. That is the kind of offensive profile that makes a front office pick up the phone — and, apparently, keep dialing.

Why it matters

A 22-28 record is the clearest summary of what the offensive shortfall has cost Boston so far. Per MLB Trade Rumors, the lack of pop has been identified as one of the major factors behind that mark, and the front office appears to have reached the same conclusion. The preference for a right-handed hitter suggests the club is thinking about lineup construction and balance, not simply adding a warm bat and hoping for the best.

The framing from McCaffrey — that Boston will consider adding "any offense in general" — is worth sitting with for a moment. That is not the language of a team with a single positional target circled on a whiteboard. It reads more like a front office that has looked at 36 home runs and 187 runs scored and decided the whiteboard itself needs more circles.

The numbers

The Red Sox offense tells a consistent story across every measure available. Their 89 wRC+ places them better than only three other clubs leaguewide, meaning the overwhelming majority of teams in baseball have been more productive at the plate on a rate basis. The raw counting stats reinforce it: 36 home runs rank 29th, and 187 runs scored also rank 29th.

Within that broader picture, individual performances are uneven in ways that shape where the need is most acute. Willson Contreras leads the club with a 140 wRC+ and has first base locked down, per MLB Trade Rumors. Catcher is described as less of a pressing need: Connor Wong is providing roughly league-average offense, and while the report notes that Carlos Narvez has not been hitting much, the position is not flagged as a primary target. Mickey Gasper has also hit well in a small sample since being called up from Triple-A, per the report.

That leaves the rest of the lineup — and the preference for a right-handed bat — as the operative question for the front office.

Where the club stands

The Red Sox sit at 87-74 (.540), third in the AL East, 11 games back in the division, and have been eliminated from the division race. On the Wild Card side, Boston ranks second, sitting +4.0 relative to the cut line, which gives the trade pursuit a clear operational context: this is a club trying to protect and improve a Wild Card position, not chase a division title.

The team enters Sunday on a two-game winning streak, hosting the Minnesota Twins at Fenway Park with Sonny Gray scheduled against Bailey Ober. The week ahead brings the Atlanta Braves to Fenway for back-to-back games Tuesday and Wednesday — Ranger Suarez against Spencer Strider on Tuesday, and Connelly Early against Bryce Elder on Wednesday. That is not a schedule that rewards a lineup ranking 29th in run production.

The Wild Card cushion of +4.0 is meaningful but not comfortable, and the upcoming slate against Atlanta — a club with its own postseason ambitions — makes the offensive question feel less like a summer project and more like a present-tense problem.

Is there a specific position Boston is targeting?

Per McCaffrey's reporting, some positions are described as more of a need than others, but the club's stated posture is broad: it is looking to add offense wherever it can find it, with a right-handed profile preferred. The report does not name a specific position as the primary target, and MLB Trade Rumors does not identify any particular player or club on the other side of these conversations. The calls are happening; the destination is not yet known.

What we don't know yet

The reporting establishes that trade calls are being made and that a right-handed hitter is the preference. It does not identify which teams Boston is calling, which players are being discussed, what the club is willing to offer in return, or how close any conversation is to producing a deal. Kennedy's radio comments and McCaffrey's reporting together convey the intent; the outcome remains entirely open.

It is also worth noting that the 22-28 record and the offensive numbers are the backdrop for these calls, but the reporting does not specify a timeline for when the front office hopes to complete a move. Trade conversations in May can resolve quickly or stretch toward a deadline. The desk will not speculate on which.

What to watch

The most direct thing to monitor is whether any of these trade conversations produce a reported agreement, and whether the player involved fits the right-handed profile McCaffrey described. Given that Contreras and first base are described as settled, and catcher is not flagged as a primary need, the positions of interest are elsewhere in the lineup — though the report stops short of naming them.

The upcoming series against Atlanta will also serve as a live stress test for the current roster. Strider and Elder are not the kind of pitching that flatters a lineup with an 89 wRC+, and how Boston performs in those games may add urgency — or, in the best case, briefly quiet it — as the front office works the phones.

The Wild Card position at +4.0 above the cut line gives the Red Sox some room, but it is the kind of room that disappears quickly if the offense stays where it is. Kennedy has said publicly the club is looking into trades. McCaffrey has reported the preference. The next development is a name.