Red Sox trade pitch lands ex-Yankees star to force Rafael Devers decision

Billy Heyen

Red Sox trade pitch lands ex-Yankees star to force Rafael Devers decision image

The Boston Red Sox traded for a first baseman, but Ryan Noda likely isn't the answer to that position after the season-ending injury to Triston Casas.

The real answer seems to still be getting Rafael Devers to move from DH to learn a new position.

But what if, instead, Boston added a low-risk trade option who used to play for the Yankees that will give them a few different routes to solving the first base conundrum?

MLB.com's Mark Feinsand suggested this week that ex-Yankee catcher Gary Sanchez is a trade candidate. Sanchez is part of an Orioles team that might be the biggest underachievers of the season so far.

MORE: How Ronald Acuna Jr. made it back from injury

It'd make sense for Baltimore to trade Sanchez if there are any takers. He'd cost almost nothing for the Red Sox to acquire.

And if Boston gets Sanchez, they give themselves options.

They can try to teach first base to both Devers and Sanchez at once and see who takes to it better. They could also see if current catchers Connor Wong and Carlos Narvaez are more natural first basemen, and if so, Sanchez could catch occasionally.

A deal for Sanchez, which would likely cost no more than a rookie-level, high-risk pitching prospect, gives the Red Sox a possible carousel of players between catcher, first base and designated hitter.

You've got to think Sanchez would get a little extra motivation playing in Fenway Park, knowing he's got a chance to stick it to his old ballclub.

There's no evidence yet of Sanchez's links in trade talks, but in the two months between now and the trade deadline, he'll probably pop up.

The Red Sox, in order to make this hypothetical defensive plan work, would want to get Sanchez sooner rather than later to account for learning curves at a position he's played only sparingly in MLB.

But why not? There's almost no harm in trying this out.

MORE MLB NEWS:

Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle