The Astros are in dire need of lefthanded hitters to create better lineup balance. General manager Dana Brown has said the team is willing to discuss trades at this point of the season.
Houston likely wants more of a platoon player. But maybe Brown would be willing to make a more significant trade for Wilyer Abreu (a former Astros prospect) or Jarren Duran.
Isaac Paredes, a righthanded-hitting infielder with 40 career starts at first base, would be a good fit for the Red Sox.
Whether it’s Houston or another club, the Red Sox could find a healthy market for Abreu, Duran or Ceddanne Rafaela given the lack of outfielders in the upcoming free agent class outside of Kyle Tucker.
It’s clear the Sox need something to change. They’ve been hovering around .500 all season. Calling up Anthony and obtaining a first baseman with some pop would revitalize the lineup.
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
▪ Alex Cora has been careful to say Carlos Narváez and Connor Wong are splitting the catching duties. But Narváez is setting himself apart offensively and defensively.
Garrett Crochet and Lucas Giolito praised Narváez after recent starts, saying his receiving skills made a difference.
“He’s an artist back there,” Crochet said.
Narváez hit .271 with a .767 OPS through his first 31 games. The league average for catchers is .246 with a .712 OPS.
▪ It’s too early to give up on the idea of Justin Slaten and Garrett Whitlock setting up for Aroldis Chapman. But Slaten’s diminished strikeout numbers are a concern. Whitlock has had better swing-and-miss stuff but put 31 runners on base in his first 22⅓ innings.
The Sox led the majors with 11 blown saves through Thursday. None were by Chapman. Whitlock had four and Justin Wilson three.
Tanner Houck could potentially be a fit in the bullpen.
▪ Pedro Martinez occasionally takes to social media to offer some opinions. He wrote last week that the Sox need to improve their defense, which was true last season and remains the case.
They went into the weekend leading the majors in errors and were second in unearned runs.
▪ Xander Bogaerts has a 6.0 bWAR over 308 games for the Padres since 2023. Trevor Story has a 1.9 bWAR over 111 games for the Red Sox over that same period.
To be certain, the $280 million the Padres spent on Bogaerts was a massive overpay. But Bogaerts could have been signed to a reasonable deal by the Sox in spring training of 2022.
Had the Sox done that, he’d have moved off shortstop over time and would have been an influential voice in matters involving Rafael Devers, which is something the Sox could use.
▪ It was good to see Dustin Pedroia in Kansas City last weekend enjoying two games with his wife, Kelli, and their three sons.
It was unfair that Pedroia left baseball because of a knee injury that required multiple surgeries. But at 41, he’s moving around well, coaching two of his boys and enjoying life.
Pedroia plans to wait until his youngest son is a teenager before he considers getting back into baseball. What role he takes on is to be determined.
▪ Did you know it wa‘s “Rivalry Weekend” in the majors? That’s fine. But unless the Red Sox are playing the Yankees, it’s not really the case.
The Red Sox and Braves are not rivals in any sense other than MLB deciding they were for interleague purposes.
▪ In a bit of a surprise, Cora has said he has not watched the Netflix documentary on the 2024 Red Sox and doesn’t plan to until after the season.
▪ Executive vice president and assistant general manager Raquel Ferreira will be honored at the Sports Power Brunch women in baseball event in Atlanta on July 13.
Ferreira has been with the Sox for 27 years and was the fourth woman in baseball history to become an assistant GM.
Orioles president of business operations Catie Griggs and longtime agent Lonnie Murray also will be recognized.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him @PeteAbe.
