Red Sox See Angels Shortstop Zach Neto as a Great Match

The Boston Red Sox really want to add shortstop Zach Neto from the Los Angeles Angels. Sources say Boston has viewed Neto as a strong fit for their team. The Red Sox are trying to make a trade before the August 3 deadline. That deadline is the last day teams can trade players to use them in the playoffs.

The Red Sox first showed interest in Neto last winter, but those talks never got very far. The two teams never even got to the point of swapping names of players they might trade. Since then, the Angels got a new general manager named John Mozeliak. It is still not clear if the Angels would be willing to trade Neto at all.

Neto is 25 years old and is earning $4.15 million this season. He is also under the Angels' control for three more years, meaning they decide if he stays or goes. The Angels would almost certainly want several young players in return if they did trade him. That makes getting a deal done harder for Boston.

Boston has been playing really well lately. The Red Sox went 20-3 since June 25, which includes a 15-game winning streak that ended Wednesday. That hot streak turned them from a team that might sell players into one that wants to buy. This success is a big reason why they are now looking to add players instead of giving them away.

During that winning streak, Boston used several players at shortstop and second base. Players like Andruw Monasterio, Tsung-Che Cheng, Anthony Seigler, and Romy González filled in. None of these players is seen as a full-time, everyday starter. They are useful because they can play several different positions in the infield.

Boston also has shortstop Trevor Story, but he has not played since May 14 because of a surgery on a sports hernia. Story told reporters on Monday that he hopes to start a rehab assignment sometime in August. If the Red Sox get Neto or another shortstop, Story could move to second base. Because of his injury and his struggles at the plate, he would not have much say in that decision.

Before Story got hurt, he was batting just .206 and playing below-average defense while earning $25 million a year. He is owed another $25 million next season as well. Neto, by contrast, has been much better this season. He entered Thursday hitting .238 with 19 home runs and a strong .771 OPS, ranking sixth among shortstops in a hitting stat called wRC+.

One player the Angels might ask for in a trade is Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer, who is 23 years old. Mayer started the season as Boston's second baseman but is now on the injured list with a bone stress reaction in his left forearm. Before he got hurt, he was batting only .220, which was below what the team had hoped. When healthy, the Red Sox may even send him back down to the minor leagues.

The Angels also have two starting pitchers — José Soriano and Reid Detmers — who other teams may want to acquire. Both pitchers are under team control for two more years. Angels owner Arte Moreno has not liked trading young players with long contracts in the past. Mozeliak also said last month that he does not think the Angels need to rebuild, which could make any deal even harder to pull off.