Red Sox Reportedly Talking Trade With Astros, Cubs For Infielder

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UPDATE (9:21 a.m.): ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports “The Boston Red Sox are acquiring third baseman Caleb Durbin in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers, sources tell ESPN. Left-hander Kyle Harrison is headlining the three-player package headed back to Milwaukee.”

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Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow continues his search for a slugging infielder as the club prepares to report this week to Fort Myers, Fla. for spring training.

“Industry sources indicate the team is still very much in the market for another infielder, presumably one with far more offensive upside,” Masslive.com’s Sean McAdam reports.

“The Sox continue to explore trades with the Cubs about both Nico Hoerner and Massachusetts native Matt Shaw,” the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reports.

“Chicago is weighing whether to deal one of those players given a potential packed infield following the signing of (Alex) Bregman, or keeping both and making Shaw a super-utility option.

“According to one source, the Sox are among the two or three most serious suitors for a Chicago infielder,” Speier adds.

“According to one major league source, the Sox have been ‘persistent’ in calling the Astros about third baseman Isaac Paredes, whose tendency to pull the ball in the air as a righthanded hitter makes him an appealing fit for Fenway Park,” Speier notes. “He’d provide power in the middle third of their order.”

That syncs with what the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey is reporting.

“The ideal acquisition would be a right-handed infielder who plays sharp defense and actually adds to the lineup. That type of player may well be a unicorn at this point in the offseason,” Healey notes.

“The Cubs’ Nico Hoerner (strong defensively but an average track record at the plate) and Astros’ Isaac Paredes (a Fenway-friendly bat who doesn’t rate well defensively) are among the imperfect and probably expensive-in-a-trade candidates available to the Red Sox,” Healey adds.

According to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome, the Red Sox already came close to finding their slugging infielder of the future.

“In another sign that the Houston Astros are trying to lessen their infield surplus, the team had serious discussions about a three-way trade in which they would have sent Isaac Paredes to Boston and acquired utilityman Brendan Donovan,” the duo writes.

“Donovan ultimately went from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Astros’ American League West rivals, the Seattle Mariners. The Red Sox, too, were shut out. Not only did they fail to land Paredes in the three-team deal, but a parallel attempt to acquire Donovan also sputtered, people familiar with the conversations said,” Rosenthal and Rome add.

“Boston remains one of at least five teams engaged with the Astros about Paredes, according to multiple league sources,” the pair note. “Another is the Pittsburgh Pirates, who need an upgrade at third base and tried unsuccessfully to sign free-agent Eugenio Suárez before his agreement with the Cincinnati Reds.”

Paredes, 26, is a two-time All-Star, who hit a career-high .254 with 20 home runs and 53 RBIs last season for the Astros.

Hoerner, 28, is a two-time Gold Glove Award winner who hit .297 in 2025 for the Cubs.

Shaw, 24, finished ninth in voting last season for the National League Rookie of the Year after hitting 13 home runs with 44 RBIs and 17 stolen bases in 126 games.