The Red Sox are in the thick of the AL Wild Card fight and, according to the reporting making the rounds this week, they know exactly who they want fixing their infield. Ken Rosenthal broke the news that Boston views Angels shortstop Zach Neto as a strong fit ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline, and the follow-up reporting has only made it look more real.
Ken Rosenthal's report that kicked off the latest round of Neto-to-Boston buzz.
Red Sox view Angels shortstop Zach Neto as strong fit. Story with @WillSammon, unlocked and free to read. https://t.co/I8NTeXbqy9
This isn't a cold trade balloon. Neto was reportedly a target of Boston's this past offseason too, though those early conversations never got far enough to talk actual trade frameworks. Now, with the Angels reportedly leaning toward sell mode and the Red Sox surging into contention, the fit lines up a lot cleaner than it did back in the winter.
The appeal is obvious once you look at what Neto's doing on the field. At 25, he ranks fifth in bWAR among shortstops who've played at least half their games at the position since the start of the 2024 season, and his power output this year has him third at the position league-wide. He's also affordable and controllable right now, having just signed a $4.15 million deal to avoid arbitration, with 3 more years of club control attached if he gets moved.
It's not just Boston's beat reporters connecting the dots. Jon Heyman put Neto near the top of his own trade-candidate rankings, grouping him with names like Miller and Skubal among the players most likely to actually move before the deadline.
Jon Heyman lists Neto among the trade deadline's most intriguing names.
https://t.co/2SApvcDdt4 MLB Insider: Miller, Skubal and Neto lead my list of the most intriguing trade candidates (included: true odds for each to be traded)
That kind of convergence — Rosenthal, Heyman and MLB Trade Rumors all naming the same guy within hours of each other — is usually a sign a rumor has legs, not just noise. Boston clearly needs the upgrade: the middle infield has been a soft spot, and a controllable, power-hitting shortstop under 26 is exactly the kind of buy-low-on-years asset a front office chases instead of a rental.
The Angels, for their part, have shown no urgency to lock Neto up long-term, notably taking the opposite approach with him that they once did with Mike Trout. That lack of an extension is part of why his name keeps surfacing on trade boards a full 3 years before he'd even hit free agency. Whether Los Angeles is actually willing to part with a homegrown building block like this before the Aug. 3 deadline is the real question, and it's the one that'll decide whether this rumor turns into an actual blockbuster.