Watching the Houston series it was interesting comparing the performance of the Houston lineup overall to the Sox lineup. Of course this is all small sample size, but year to date Houston's lineup is much deeper, but the top performers are far below what the Sox feature. It really made me wonder what kind of damage the Sox would do with one or two more respectable bats -- I'm sure most of you have wondered the same. The Sox already have solid power, so IF there is going to be an acquisition it probably makes the most sense to look for a cheaper high OBP low SLG target. A quick search of the top OBP players with relatively low SLG, less pre-arb players returned the following names:
- Carlos Santana (KCR, rental +1 @ 8.8m AAV): .393 OBP/.423 SLG
- Anthony Rizzo (CHC, rental @ 16.5m AAV): .362 OBP/.434 SLG
- Robbie Grossman (DET, rental +1 @ 5m AAV): .352 OBP/.387 SLG
- Kolten Wong (MIL, rental + option @ 9m AAV): .343 OBP/.441 SLG
- Corey Dickerson (MIA, rental @ 8.8m AAV): .342 OBP/ .391 SLG
Of these options Rizzo seems the least likely -- he has the most expensive contract and Chicago is leading their division.
Wong and Santana both belong to wildcard contenders, but if either team drops out they could maybe be available although with both divisions being weak and both players having an extra year of control it might be a long shot.
Miami is in the basement, but their run differential isn't as bad as their position in the standings. They are still likely to be sellers. Detroit is definitely a seller.
Disregarding the likelihood of being traded, Santana seems like the best fit for the team followed by Wong. Having a nearly .400 OBP guy hitting in front of JDM, X, and Devers would be amazing. Wong could potentially slot in either in front of or behind the big three to lengthen the lineup a bit in either direction. I don't know what kind of price these guys would command though, should they become available.
Dickerson and Grossman are both potentially decent upgrades that should be cheap to acquire and are likely to be available. I can't imagine Dickerson would command much of a return at all.
EDIT:
@bsj Asdrubal Cabrera probably belongs on this list as well as you mentioned.
SECOND EDIT: Looking at BABIPs Grossman, Wong, Dickerson, and Santana all seem to be operating at around their recent career norms (although Santana's is still really low). Cabrera is a bit above his recent marks, for what it's worth.