With Trevor Story injured and not looking like he did last season when healthy, the Boston Red Sox were reportedly looking at shortstops at the trade deadline.
Not only that, but reports suggested that the team was looking at long-term options. Insiders linked them to CJ Abrams, Jeremy Peña, Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards among other stars. According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Red Sox also tried to get the Cincinnati Reds to trade Elly De La Cruz.
"The Boston Red Sox tried to convince the Cincinnati Reds to trade shortstop Elly de la Cruz, but never came close to acquiring him," wrote Nightengale on Sunday.
De La Cruz is a two-time All-Star and would have been an elite addition to the Red Sox. He has an .860 OPS this season and is a true power-speed threat. His defense is not the best, but he has at least 20 homers in each of the last three seasons.
Adding De La Cruz would have cost the Red Sox a fortune. He has three more years of club control and is poised to become one of the highest-paid shortstops in the league at some point. Getting him out of a Reds uniform would have cost the Red Sox more than it cost them to land Adley Rutschman.
Adding a player like De La Cruz would likely have cost the Red Sox Franklin Arias. Even if they did not deal Arias to land him, his path to the big leagues would be blocked with De La Cruz playing shortstop and Curtis Mead locked into second base for the next few years.