The Boston Red Sox traded away arguably their biggest star and yet they now have a 40-38 record and currently hold the final American League Wild Card spot.

Boston is just five games behind the New York Yankees for the top spot in the American League at this point. The talent is there for Boston go out and make a run and it’s starting to show that. Boston will get significantly better as well when it gets superstar third baseman Alex Bregman back into the mix.

He’s been out since May 23rd and has been making progress after going down with his quad injury. Every time he has spoken since, he has talked about the rehab moving quicker than expected and it’s just a matter of time before he returns. It was even reported that he may not need a minor league rehab assignment to help expedite the process.

Although this is the case, MLB.com’s Thomas Harrigan named him Boston’s most intriguing trade candidate.

“Red Sox: Alex Bregman, 3B,” Harrigan said. “Barring a collapse over the next five weeks, the Red Sox could opt to buy, with a chance to repurpose some of the money they saved in the Devers trade. Of course, it’s not a given that Boston will be able to sustain this surge. After all, the team just traded its best hitter and still has a suspect rotation behind ace Garrett Crochet.

“We may very well see the Red Sox reverse course again, in which case chief baseball officer Craig Breslow could be tempted to shop Bregman to avoid potentially losing him for nothing in free agency. The third baseman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with Boston last offseason but can opt out at the end of 2025. Due back soon from a right quad strain, Bregman is hitting .299 with 11 homers and a .938 OPS this season.”

Boston traded Devers so nothing crazy can be truly ruled out. But, the only way a move like this makes sense any is if Boston is significantly out of playoff contention and knows Bregman isn’t likely to return — whether on a new deal or avoiding the opt-out. He’s definitely going to opt-out, but even still. A trade involving him would be a disaster after spending the entire offseason courting him.

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