The Boston Red Sox had acquired Curtis Mead in exchange for Connelly Early just this past weekend.
It happened in the middle of the night on a Saturday, just shy of Sunday and becoming the next week on the calendar. There were still roughly nine days left before the trade deadline on August 3rd, but Red Sox CBO Craig Breslow wanted to make a move early on. This move was well thought out, improving from his mistake last year, when he didn't get a deal done until the day of the deadline.
To many, it was a bold risk, but one that could've easily panned out in the Red Sox's favor. However, that will not happen, at least right away.
Curtis Mead was hit in his left wrist on his second at-bat in Boston's first game against the Athletics in their three-game series in Sacramento, CA. He was taken out of the game, and the X-rays came back negative that night, and Mead was listed as day-to-day. But then, the next morning on Tuesday, an MRI showed he had a fracture in that wrist. He will fly back to Boston overnight for further evaluation from a hand specialist.
Red Sox should look to acquire CJ Abrams to replace Curtis Mead
Now, he'll be out for much longer, and the Red Sox will have to pivot hard to make up for the lost player. C.J. Abrams, Zach Neto, Ryan Jeffers, and Otto Lopez are the rumored names right now.
Abrams has broken out with the Nationals, hitting 27 home runs while batting .295 (career-high), while also leading all of baseball with 82 RBIs. He leads the NL with a .570 slugging percentage and an OPS of .938. As for Neto, while having a bit of a down year defensively, he is still hitting 19 home runs this season with a swing that's fit for Fenway Park. Many assume he will be back to the over-5-WAR player that he was just last year if he has a change of scenery that'll benefit him, and Boston is seemingly his Exhibit A.
If there's any evidence, look at Willson Contreras, who is slugging it for the Red Sox, hitting 22 home runs and is more than on track to break his career-high of 24. He's on pace to hit over 30, possibly 40 if he gets on a tear in the next two months. The same can happen with Neto.
As for Jeffers and Lopez, those are if their respective teams (Twins and Marlins) want to sell. Right now, the Twins' GM, Jeremy Zoll, just revealed that they won't be selling and will buy at this year's deadline. As for Lopez, he broke out this season, leading all of baseball with a .331 batting average, 136 hits, and 27 doubles. However, the Marlins haven't gone public about who they want to deal besides their closer, Peter Fairbanks, and DH Liam Hicks. Despite going 20-6 in June, they regressed to 8-14 in July, back to a 54-54 record, and want to both buy and sell.
Regardless, the Red Sox need to find someone who can hit, and it may have to be either Neto or Abrams. Breslow has an outstanding relationship with Washington Nationals' President of Operations, Paul Toboni, who was the Assistant GM and part of his inner circle last year before leaving.
The Red Sox got Jake Bennett and Curtis Mead from him; why not try to get Abrams? Can't hurt to try, right? If the Red Sox end up getting Neto, that's a great acquisition, too. Only time will tell...
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