The Boston Red Sox have Trevor Story at shortstop and Franklin Arias ready to take over when they move on from Story.
However, there were reports at the trade deadline that they were aggressively pursuing a trade for an established star shortstop. They were linked to Otto Lopez, Jeremy Peña, Elly De La Cruz and CJ Abrams. Their position on adding a shortstop does not seem to have changed.
According to The Athletic's Jim Bowden, the team will be looking to improve the offense at multiple positions.
"The Red Sox will also continue to call the (Washington) Nationals regarding a possible CJ Abrams trade," Bowden wrote on Tuesday.
Abrams is one of the best young players in baseball, and trading for him would require a haul that would have to include Arias. Abrams is under contract through 2028 and is already a two-time All-Star. In the last three years, he has a .777 OPS and 72 home runs.
As much as the Nationals would like to keep him and James Wood, they likely know that they are not close to competing with them and could trade both of them for a return that sets them up for the future.
Abrams would be a great addition to any lineup. He is a terrible defender at shortstop, so the Red Sox may not want to keep him there. However, they have no shortage of capable defenders on the team. Abrams could move to second base, where he saw some time at the end of the year, and the Red Sox could move Caleb Durbin to shortstop and Curtis Mead to third base.
Durbin came up as a shortstop and is a terrific defender. Mead has plenty of experience in the hot corner.