ESPN's Jeff Passan floats wild Red Sox trade idea with Marlins for two huge upgrades
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ESPN's Jeff Passan floats wild Red Sox trade idea with Marlins for two huge upgrades originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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The Boston Red Sox are approaching the 2026 MLB trade deadline with potential additions on their mind, mainly to improve the team's offense.
The Curtis Mead trade didn't work out in a massive stroke of bad luck with a broken bone in his hand after a hit-by-pitch in his second plate appearance with the team. Now, the Red Sox are exploring upgrades at catcher and the infield ahead of the deadline.
Amid their pursuit of catcher and infield help, ESPN's Jeff Passan linked the Red Sox to a wild trade idea with the Miami Marlins that would bring in two great, young, controllable players in Liam Hicks and Otto Lopez, but at a very steep cost.
Red Sox linked to wild Otto Lopez, Liam Hicks trade with Marlins by Jeff Passan
"Boston could kill two birds with one stone and get a Lopez-Liam Hicks package, though with the amount of control for each -- three more years for Lopez, four more for Hicks -- the cost would be painful," Passan writes.
Landing Hicks and Lopez in one trade would be a huge upgrade for the Red Sox roster, but the price tag of such a deal would be exorbitant.
Passan pitched using Marcelo Mayer and young pitching talent, or even parting with prized prospect Franklin Arias to land the Marlins' duo.
But, how good are Lopez and Hicks actually to make such a massive trade idea work in the first place? Well, for starters, Lopez might be one of the best young shortstops in the game right now.
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The 27-year-old just made his first All-Star team, and this season, he has a .329 batting average, 138 hits, and 27 doubles, all the best marks in MLB this season. He has 5.5 bWAR, seven triples, and nine homers with an .853 OPS. He'd be awesome for Boston.
Hicks, meanwhile, is a 27-year-old catcher/designated hitter/first baseman who is a left-handed slugger who has a .279 batting average, 14 home runs, and 2.5 bWAR this season.
His .793 OPS is a bit below Lopez's mark, but he's still one of the best-hitting catchers in baseball. While he might not be the best fielding catcher, his offensive upside is more than enough for the Red Sox to spend a fortune to bring him in.
This trade idea from Passan is a wild one, but the Red Sox would resolve their two top issues at catcher and shortstop with one trade and one team.
Adding Hicks and Lopez to the 2026 Red Sox would be very exciting. Besides, they'd still have control with Hicks through the 2030 season and Lopez through the 2029 season if they added both. This would be a multi-year investment, and a great one at that.
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