The One Player Red Sox Can't Risk Trading This Summer

The Boston Red Sox shouldn't trade the young slugger.

Red Sox No. 1 prospect Franklin Arias gives a thumbs up while he warms up ahead of his first game with Triple-A Worcester at Polar Park on July 25, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Boston Red Sox have already been busy ahead of the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline and there are still a few days left to go until the Aug. 3 deadline.

Between now and then, it wouldn't be shocking, in the slightest, to see another deal get done. Boston has been sniffing around in the catcher and shortstop markets. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow also made it known that Boston is looking for bullpen help. So far, the biggest deal to date for the club has been the acquisition of Curtis Mead from the Washington Nationals in exchange for Connelly Early. He had a scare in his first game with the organization and exited early, but it seems like everything is going to be alright.

Boston has plenty of prospect firepower to go out and get a deal done, but there is one player the club shouldn't trade this summer, unless it is in a deal for a superstar with years of control: No. 1 prospect Franklin Arias.

The Red Sox Shouldn't Trade Franklin Arias

Red Sox top prospect Franklin Arias warms up at Polar Park ahead of his first game with Triple-A Worcester on July 25, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Arias is down in Triple-A right now and is just one step away from the big leagues. Arias is just 20 years old and is viewed as the No. 7 overall prospect in baseball, per MLB.com. Arias has had a meteoric rise in 2026. That's not to say he wasn't good before. He was already viewed as an elite prospect. But he took his game to another level. Arias entered the 2026 season with his previous career high for homers in a professional season being nine set back in 2024. Power was the only thing he was missing in his game. He has found it, though. Arias has 19 homers this season in 77 games played.

He's an all-around prospect and it doesn't hurt that he is a right-handed hitter. The Red Sox have certainly needed some help from the right side.

With Marcelo Mayer completely up in the air and Trevor Story being 33 years old, there's a real argument that Arias could help the Red Sox on the field as soon as this season. If he can actually develop into the star that he seems like he can be, Boston will be just fine in the infield in the long run.

Trading Arias now with question marks around Story and Mayer could help in the present, but hurt in the long run. If there is one guy in the farm system right now Breslow should avoid selling, it would be Arias.