Red Sox Took Home Run Swing Before Settling for Caleb Durbin: Insider

This guy killed the Sox last year...

Sep 9, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) heads out for the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox finally landed their infield trade on Monday, and the search went deeper than anyone knew at the time.

Caleb Durbin, who the Red Sox landed in a deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, was only reported by The Boston Globe as a Boston trade target hours before the deal went down on Monday. Hours after the trade became official, we learned that he was far from the only offseason target that was on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow's mind.

According to a Monday report from Sean McAdam of MassLive, the Red Sox tried on multiple occasions to trade for Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto.

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Neto would have brought more upside than Durbin

Sep 5, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) returns to the dugout following the top of the eighth inning against the Athletics at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

As one might have been able to predict, McAdam all but confirmed that the cost for Neto would have been significantly higher than what Boston eventually ended up shipping to the Brewers for Durbin.

"With Marte off the market, the Red Sox, according to an industry source, took several tries at obtaining Zach Neto from the Los Angeles Angels," wrote McAdam.

"Neto, 25, is a plus defender with more pop — a combined 49 homers the last two years — and would have been a significant addition. A natural shortstop, Neto could have moved to either second or third for the time being until Trevor Story’s deal was up. But predictably, the Angels set a very high bar when it came to the return and the two teams were unable to match up."

Neto posted 5.1 bWAR this past season, and although his defense was among the worst at the shortstop position, he more than made up for it with his 117 OPS+, which was 16 points higher than Durbin's. Neto and Durbin are also both 25, though the former will be a free agent two years sooner than the latter.

All offseason, we'd heard about the Red Sox trying to trade for Ketel Marte, Isaac Paredes, Nico Hoerner, and Matt Shaw. But everything that went down on Monday was a useful reminder that we rarely have anything close to the full picture in the moment.

More MLB: Red Sox's Recent $6M Splurge Makes No Sense After Caleb Durbin Trade