How Red Sox Can Fix Infield Right Now, and at the Trade Deadline

There's no denying the fact that the Boston Red Sox aren't where they want to be, to say the least.

Boston will begin a three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night and the club is in last place in the American League at 25-33. It also doesn't help that the Red Sox are 9-19 at Fenway Park and will face the Orioles at home. Clearly, there are things the Red Sox need to work through, but what is the biggest issue in a season full of them? Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller shared a column in which they pointed out the "biggest problem" with each club. For Boston, it's "75 percent of the infield."

"Boston Red Sox: 75 Percent of the Infield," Miller wrote. "Willson Contreras has turned out to be a fantastic acquisition for the Red Sox. He probably won't be an All-Star because the AL first basemen department is loaded with fringe MVP candidates this year, but he arguably has been Boston's most valuable player.

Solving Red Sox's 'Biggest Problem'

May 30, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Marcelo Mayer (11) scores a run during the ninth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images

"The rest of this infield, however, has been a disaster. FanGraphs calculates Boston's primary 2B Marcelo Mayer, primary SS Trevor Story and primary 3B Caleb Durbin each at slightly below 0.0 WAR. And with Isiah Kiner-Falefa as their best player at three different positions, it's little wonder the Red Sox are struggling to score."

That's not the hottest take of all time. The Red Sox's infield has been brutal offensively overall, outside of Willson Contreras. Marcelo Mayer has played in 53 games this season and is slashing .224/.289/.301 with a .590 OPS, but he has shown signs of life lately. Over his last seven games, he's slashing .300/.364/.300. Caleb Durbin was very bad offensively for most of the season to this point, but he's also turned a corner. He has six base hits in his last 17 at-bats. Isiah Kiner-Falefa also has been awesome recently. He is slashing .455/.526/.606 with a 1.132 OPS in his last 12 games.

Overall, the infield has been bad and the club should be looking for reinforcements in the trade market. As things stand, the best way to move forward would be to roll with Mayer at shortstop consistently, Durbin at third base, and Kiner-Falefa at second base. Nick Sogard has been good this season as well. Let him get time at third base and second base while mixing in with Durbin and Kiner-Falefa. With Mayer, the club arguably should utilize the platoon less. The longer they hide Mayer from lefties, the longer it's going to take for him to really adjust to the big league game. He showed down in the minors he can hit lefties.

In the short term, you can fix the issue with these four consistently: Mayer, Durbin, Sogard and Kiner-Falefa. If Durbin and Kiner-Falefa weren't both hot, there could be more time for Sogard, but ride the hot hand.

This shouldn't stop the Red Sox from exploring the trade market for solutions. While not perfect, the best solution would be to get back into talks with the Houston Astros and acquire slugger Isaac Paredes. He can play second base and third base and give Boston the right-handed bat it needs. If the infield were to be Contreras, Mayer, Paredes and then Durbin/Kiner-Falefa/Sogard, that would be enough.

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