The MLB trade deadline is roughly a month away, and the coming weeks should go a long way towards determining who’s a buyer, who’s a seller and who could go either way.
Which path will the Red Sox take? And who could be on the move leading up to July 31? Boston has already made probably the biggest trade of the season by dealing Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has suggested the team could still try to add before the deadline.
No matter what comes next, there are a number of players around baseball fans will want to keep an eye on. Here are a few notable trade candidates to watch in the coming weeks.
Jarren Duran, Red Sox, OF
Whether the Red Sox buy or sell, the club will at some point need to figure out who will be part of the outfield equation going forward.
Right now the Red Sox have four starting-caliber outfielders in Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu and Roman Anthony, with Masataka Yoshida likely to factor into the picture upon his return as well. All five are under team control for at least another two years — most much longer — and the club would no doubt prefer to find a full-time starting role for Anthony as soon as possible.
Trading Duran would make the most sense of the bunch for a variety of reasons.
At 28, Duran is older than Rafaela, Abreu and Anthony and is already in the prime of his career. It’s possible his monster 2024 (8.7 WAR) turns out to be his peak, and this season his performance has noticeably dipped (1.3 WAR at the midway point). But even with his comparatively advanced age, Duran also still has three years of club control remaining and would represent a major bargain for any team that acquires him. That being the case, Duran should command a strong trade market and has already been subject to considerable speculation.
Though trading Duran would appear on the surface a “sell” move, the Red Sox have to streamline their outfield and going with an alignment of Anthony-Rafaela-Abreu with Yoshida as the regular designated hitter would set the club up for the long haul.
Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox, LHP
If a Duran trade falls outside the scope of the usual buy-sell binary, what could the Red Sox do if they decide this isn’t their year? The first order of business would be offloading the club’s pending free agents, and Aroldis Chapman would likely be the first to go.
The 37-year-old left-hander has been fantastic for the Red Sox, solidifying the club’s closer spot while continuing to rank among the sport’s hardest throwers. Chapman has even cut down his walk rate — traditionally one of his biggest weaknesses — and would represent an obvious upgrade to any contending club’s bullpen.
Others who could go in a full-fledged sell-off include starting pitchers Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito, as well as veteran relievers Justin Wilson and Liam Hendriks.
Josh Naylor, Diamondbacks, 1B
How about if the Red Sox buy? If the club wants to have any chance of reaching the playoffs, they’ll need to add a big bat to help fill the void left by Rafael Devers, ideally a first baseman.
Arizona’s Josh Naylor would fit that bill perfectly.
Naylor is on pace to top 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases on the season, he’s batting over .300 with an OPS approaching .850, and he’s been a fixture in the heart of Arizona’s lineup ever since his arrival in a trade with Cleveland this past offseason.
Naylor is also a left-handed hitter, just like Devers and Casas, and is set to hit free agency this winter.
Rhys Hoskins, Brewers, 1B
If not Naylor, another first base possibility for Boston could be Milwaukee’s Rhys Hoskins.
Hoskins is on pace to top 25 home runs for the sixth time in his career, and his strikeout and walk rates have both improved after falling to career-worsts last year following a lost 2023 due to injury. He also bats right-handed, which would give the Red Sox another established option from that side to pair with Trevor Story and eventually Alex Bregman.
Like Naylor, Hoskins is expected to hit free agency this coming winter and would be a rental for Boston.
Marcell Ozuna, DH, Braves
There probably isn’t any one player the Red Sox could realistically acquire who could fill Devers’ shoes at designated hitter, but Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna would be a great start.
Ozuna is coming off back-to-back 100 RBI seasons in which he hit 39 and 40 home runs respectively, and while he isn’t on that kind of trajectory this year he remains among baseball’s most feared sluggers. His walk rate is also way up and is currently more than twice the MLB average.
With the Braves currently under .500 the club is likely to start looking ahead to 2026, and moving the 34-year-old Ozuna would be a logical place to begin. The DH is a pending free agent and would represent one of the best power bats available, and he’d provide an enormous boost to a club like Boston.
Eugenio Suarez, 3B, Diamondbacks
One more bat to watch is Arizona’s Eugenio Suarez, who might not be a great fit on paper for the Red Sox but who is enjoying a fabulous season and is priming himself for a big payday in free agency this winter.
The soon-to-be 34-year-old Suarez has already reached 25 home runs and is on pace to top 40 homers for just the second time in his career. His OPS is also nearly .900 and his right-handed swing would work wonders at Fenway Park.
While the Red Sox won’t need another third baseman once Alex Bregman returns, Suarez could still conceivably be used as a designated hitter. He has never played first base in his MLB career, though that didn’t stop the Red Sox from using Kyle Schwarber in that spot when he was acquired midseason in 2021.
Sandy Alcantara, Marlins, RHP
In terms of starting pitching, there is nobody more accomplished available than Sandy Alcantara, the 2022 National League Cy Young Award winner.
There’s also nobody more confounding.
Alcantara has been a mess since returning from Tommy John surgery. The right-hander has posted a 6.69 ERA through his first 15 starts entering Saturday afternoon’s outing, and according to Statcast he currently grades in the bottom third of all MLB pitchers in just about every category.
Normally that’s not someone a contender would have any interest in, but given his track record it’s not crazy to imagine a club could talk themselves into his talent. After all, Walker Buehler had a terrible season last year coming off a similar injury and hasn’t been good this year in Boston, but he was still able to tap into his abilities at the perfect time in October and help the Dodgers win their second World Series title this decade.
Perhaps Alcantara could do the same?
Zac Gallen, Diamondbacks, RHP
Another talented starter who has underachieved in 2025, Arizona’s Zac Gallen posted back-to-back top-five Cy Young Award finishes in 2022-23 and enjoyed another strong showing last summer. But now in the final year of his contract, the 29-year-old has posted a 5.75 ERA while ranking among the league leaders in earned runs (62) and walks allowed (42).
Gallen’s Statcast metrics are also grim, with his Pitching Run Value and Breaking Ball Values each ranking as the worst in MLB.
Given that the Diamondbacks play in one of baseball’s hardest divisions and face a tough road to the postseason, Arizona might decide it’s best to capitalize on whatever value their former ace has left. Gallen’s struggles are concerning, but at his best he’s been one of the best pitchers in baseball, and like Alcantara a contender could make a bet they can help him rediscover his old form.
Jhoan Duran, Twins, RHP
Closers are always highly sought after on the trade market, and Jhoan Duran would instantly provide some serious firepower to any club’s bullpen.
Baseball’s hardest thrower, Duran boasts terrifying stuff including a fastball that routinely tops 100 mph and a “splinker” that regularly approaches triple-digits as well. He’s been dominant this season as a closer, but he’s also shown himself to be versatile and a workhorse, having appeared in among the most games of any reliever in baseball this season.
Duran has two seasons of team control remaining after this year, so if the Red Sox were inclined to buy and address their bullpen, he would represent a best-of-both-worlds acquisition. In the short term he could give this year’s group a serious boost and team with Chapman to form one of the scariest one-two punches in MLB history. And in the long term he could eventually replace Chapman and serve as the team’s closer of the future.
Emmanuel Clase, Guardians, RHP
Emmanuel Clase has been arguably baseball’s best closer over the past half-decade. The Guardians right-hander has led the AL in saves each of the last three years (42, 44 and 47), earning All-Star nods each season while finishing third in the AL Cy Young Award vote in 2024 after posting a preposterous 0.61 ERA over 74.1 innings.
Why would the Guardians give up Clase? The club has fallen far back of the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central standings and has a negative run differential on the season. They may have a chance to sneak into the playoffs, but there’s good reason to believe the young Guardians might still be a year or two away from championship contention.
Clase has three years of club control remaining — one year on his five-year deal plus two club options — so he still fits their timeline, but if the Guardians decided they could land a haul for their closer then perhaps he could be moved. Like Duran, Clase would represent a coup for the Red Sox bullpen, both complementing Chapman in the late innings this year while solidifying the closer spot for the next two.
