The Boston Red Sox have spent the entire offseason trying to improve the infield.
Alex Bregman left town, and Boston couldn’t land Bo Bichette.
On Monday, they traded for Caleb Durbin, but that’s not exactly a headline-grabbing move.
The Red Sox were going for something bigger, though. According to MassLive’s Sean McAdam, Boston wanted to trade for Angels shortstop Zach Neto.
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McAdam added that in the end, the Red Sox were unable to get a deal across the line, and it sounds like negotiations are over now.
Neto is a 25-year old shortstop who just had 26 home runs and 26 stolen bases in the 2025 MLB season.
At this point, Neto is the biggest Angels contributors. Not the biggest name yet, but Mike Trout isn’t the player he once was.
If you combine Neto’s last two seasons, he has put up 49 homers and 56 steals.
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He’s a .247 career hitter with a .756 career OPS (which has been higher than that in each of the past two seasons after a quieter rookie campaign).
If the Red Sox had gotten Neto, either he or Trevor Story would’ve had to play a different position, but Boston would’ve figured that out. Getting Neto would’ve been the win.
In the end, the Angels keep Neto and don’t just totally tank their season to come.
Boston instead makes small infield upgrades and will just have to hope that is enough to keep up in the AL East Division.
