Boston Red Sox rumors: 3 Rockies players to target at Trade Deadline

With the MLB season finally reaching the All-Star break, the Boston Red Sox find themselves in an unexpected position atop a very competitive AL East. With a 1.5 game lead over the second place Tampa Bay Rays, the Sox are in a good position to potentially win their first AL East title since their 2018 World Series season.

Across the country, the NL West has followed a similar storyline for most of the season. The San Francisco Giants have emerged as arguably the best team in baseball, turning the division into a three-horse race between them and the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

One of the teams not in that conversation is the Colorado Rockies, who could be set to blow things up later this month when the trade deadline approaches. The Rockies have been moving towards this ever since trading their star third baseman Nolan Arenado this offseason, and could be set to begin a full-scale rebuild as they head towards yet another losing season.

Despite being 11 games under .500, the Rockies have an abundance of talent that could help out a playoff contender such as the Boston Red Sox. While the Sox have been brilliant this far, every playoff contender could use some extra help at this time of the year. Here are three players on the Rockies who could be potential trade targets for the Red Sox later this month.

Boston Red Sox Trade Target No. 3: C.J. Cron

C.J. Cron stands as sort of a late bloomer in the sports world. After four seasons where he failed to really make a role for himself with the Los Angeles Angles, Cron finally broke out during the 2018 season with the Tampa Bay Rays with a 30 home run season. Despite that, he’s failed to find a consistent home, spending seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, and now the Rockies.

It seems like Cron’s home is set to change again, as the Rockies would be wise to unload the slugging first baseman. Cron’s numbers this season won’t jump off the stat sheet (.254 AVG, 12 HR, 35 RBI, .833 OPS), but his consistent hitting tendencies make him a desirable candidate in what could be a buyer heavy market.

The Sox have had a renaissance year at many positions, but first base has been an outlier. After a hot spring training, Bobby Dalbec has struggled to get going for most of the first half of the season, and would probably be better fit for a platoon role at first for the rest of the season.

Acquiring Cron would allow the Sox to try and fix their first base struggles, while also not charging them a huge price. The Rockies don’t have a ton of leverage with anyone on their team, and will be looking to get whatever they can in return for some of their players.

Cron won’t be a permanent replacement, but he could be just what the Sox need for an extended playoff run. Remember how effective the platoon of Steve Pearce and Mitch Moreland was during the 2018 run? Bringing in Cron would help provide a temporary solution to one of Boston’s biggest areas of weakness at first base, and won’t cost much either, making it a win-win move for the Sox.