The Boston Red Sox may not have traded for Houston Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes this offseason, and it's not as if the things impeding that trade have suddenly disappeared.
In fact, the fact that Boston acquired Caleb Durbin to play third base after several months of Paredes rumors should be evidence enough that a Paredes trade was a somewhat unlikely proposition to begin with. But a Monday report also suggested that we shouldn't close ourselves off to the idea that it could still happen at some point.
Tim Healey of The Boston Globe dropped a report during Monday's meeting between the Red Sox and the Astros that confirmed the two sides had kept conversations open beyond the Durbin trade, suggesting that Boston still views the 27-year-old as a target worth pursuing if it ever lines up with Houston on a proper trade value.
"At least some of the Sox’s talks with the Astros revolved around Jarren Duran, the outfielder they most made available of their starting-caliber quartet," Healey wrote. "It wasn’t so much a one-for-one concept as it was Paredes-plus for Duran or Duran-plus, a source said. ... Even after the Red Sox acquired third baseman Caleb Durbin from the Brewers on Feb. 9, they continued to talk to the Astros about Paredes, thinking they could put him at DH (and keep the more defensively capable Durbin at third), among other possible alignments."
Paredes, who went 1-for-3 against the Red Sox on Monday night, is under contract for one more season after this one, so if Durbin's bad start turns into a bad year, or if Marcelo Mayer gets injured again, we shouldn't forget about the possibility that the Red Sox could go back to the well with the Astros.
Certainly, because Houston has five starting-caliber infielders, much in the same way that the Red Sox have too many bodies in the outfield, Paredes should remain available until further notice.