Red Sox could target $24 million D-Backs starter to boost rotation

The Boston Red Sox are currently struggling. They have lost five games in a row and are now 40-42.

They're only 2 1/2 games back in the American League Wild Card race, but they are also seven games back in the AL East.

One area of the club that could use some work is their starting rotation. Beyond Garrett Crochet, there isn't a big threat in their starting five.

Cody Williams of FanSided listed seven potential trade targets for Boston. Among them was right-hander Merrill Kelly of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"After a mediocre and injury-plagued 2024 season, he's bounce back into the same dominant form that we saw throughout the 2022 and 2023 campaigns for the right-hander. When you think of No. 2 options for the Red Sox, he could certainly fit the bill," Williams writes.

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Kelly is 7-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 16 starts this year with Arizona. He is a free agent at the end of the season.

Arizona doesn't appear to be leaning towards selling at the trade deadline, so that could complicate things a little. But if the Red Sox offer up a solid package of prospects, the Diamondbacks may bite.

The Red Sox will have to give up a good deal of prospects for this deal to happen, as rental pitching typically costs a lot at trade deadlines.

But Kelly could certainly fill the hole they have in their rotation and be the No. 2 starter they have been seeking. They didn't get it with Walker Buehler, who is struggling to the tune of a 6.29 ERA.

It will certainly be interesting to see how Boston operates at the deadline.

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