One Red Sox Trade Target Already Clear Two Months Ahead of Deadline

The issue every Boston Red Sox fan feared their favorite team might have has absolutely come to pass.

The Red Sox are one of the worst-hitting teams in Major League Baseball, which most wouldn't have expected. But after preseason ZiPS projections didn't give them a single 20-homer batter, they've hit the third-fewest home runs of any team in the sport through the first 40 games of the season.

So no matter the position, the Red Sox are going to be desperate to trade for power at this year's deadline -- if they're even close enough to the playoff hunt to move assets for roster upgrades. Here are three early trade candidates worth flagging:

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Isaac Paredes - HOU 3B

The exercise of picking out potential sellers feels silly when the Red Sox could become one themselves. But the Houston Astros have been one of the biggest disappointments of the season, and even with Carlos Correa expected to be done for the year, it wouldn't be a surprise to see them trade Pardes if they fall out of contention by mid-July.

That would put the Red Sox right back in the rumor mill they were stuck in for weeks on end this past offseason, but we know the Astros like Jarren Duran, so the door might never fully be closed.

Eugenio Suárez - CIN 3B/DH

We're looking for power bats teams would be willing to unload, and it's impossible to skip over the possibility that Suárez could go at the deadline for the second-straight season. His Cincinnati Reds fell into last place this past week after a hot start, and if they dip solidly below .500, they'd be better off getting something for him than letting him go with no qualifying offer this winter.

Suárez suffered an oblique strain on April 24, so if he's back in the middle of the lineup hitting home runs by mid-June, he'll have six weeks to put on a show in the hypothetical scenario that involves the Reds being sellers and the Red Sox being buyers (again... no guarantee on either one there).

Bo Bichette - NYM 3B/SS/DH

What position does Bo Bichette even play anymore? The 28-year-old is somehow back at shortstop for the floundering Mets, and in the first year of a three-year, $126 million contract with an opt-out looming this winter, he's putting up a ghastly .559 OPS so far.

There are a ton of reasons this wouldn't make sense on paper (Bichette possibly not opting out of his deal, Caleb Durbin heating up at some point, Boston's reluctance to take on any salary), but if the Mets are out of the race and Bichette is back to crushing the ball, it's not totally out of the question.

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