MLB notes: Trade candidates for Red Sox fans to watch as deadline nears

The MLB transaction 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 Boston has already made maybe the biggest bargain of the season by dealing Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has suggested the crew 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 scant notable commerce candidates to watch in the coming weeks Related Articles Red Sox shut out by Blue Jays for sixth straight loss Red Sox starter to make next rehab appearance out of bullpen Angels Yusei Kikuchi strikes out to complete sweep of Red Sox Red Sox squander Garrett Crochet s gem lose - in th on Angels walk-off Red Sox point-counterpoint Can Sox put bumpy first half behind them Jarren Duran Red Sox OF Whether the Red Sox buy or sell the club will at specific 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 club control for at least another two years bulk much longer and the club would no doubt prefer to find a full-time starting role for Anthony as soon as viable Trading Duran would make the majority sense of the bunch for a variety of reasons At Duran is older than Rafaela Abreu and Anthony and is already in the prime of his career It s practicable his monster WAR turns out to be his peak and this season his performance has noticeably dipped 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 company that acquires him That being the occurrence Duran should command a strong agreement industry 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 deal 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 -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 The Red Sox need a slugger in the heart of their lineup and Arizona's Josh Naylor could fit the bill perfectly AP Photo Erin Hooley Josh Naylor Diamondbacks B 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 home runs and stolen bases on the season he s batting over with an OPS approaching and he s been a fixture in the heart of Arizona s lineup ever since his arrival in a agreement 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 B If not Naylor another first base possibility for Boston could be Milwaukee s Rhys Hoskins Hoskins is on pace to top 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 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 likely isn t any one competitor 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 RBI seasons in which he hit and home runs respectively and while he isn t on that kind of trajectory this year he remains among baseball s the bulk feared sluggers His walk rate is also way up and is currently more than twice the MLB average With the Braves now under the club is likely to start looking ahead to and moving the -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 B 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 -year-old Suarez has already reached home runs and is on pace to top homers for just the second time in his career His OPS is also nearly 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 Former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara has endured a bumpy return from Tommy John surgery AP Photo Chris Arjoon Sandy Alcantara Marlins RHP In terms of starting pitching there is nobody more accomplished available than Sandy Alcantara the 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 ERA through his first 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 Arizona s Zac Gallen posted back-to-back top-five Cy Young Award finishes in - and enjoyed another strong showing last summer But now in the final year of his contract the -year-old has posted a ERA while ranking among the league leaders in earned runs and walks allowed Gallen s Statcast metrics are also grim with his Pitching Run Value and Developing 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 Minnesota closer Jhoan Duran is baseball's hardest thrower and could potentially be available at the arrangement deadline AP Photo Jose Juarez Jhoan Duran Twins RHP Closers are dependably highly sought after on the agreement realm and Jhoan Duran would instantly provide particular serious firepower to any club s bullpen Baseball s hardest thrower Duran boasts terrifying stuff including a fastball that routinely tops 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 largest part games of any reliever in baseball this season Duran has two seasons of crew 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 club 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 group 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 and earning All-Star nods each season while finishing third in the AL Cy Young Award vote in after posting a preposterous ERA over 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