The Red Sox upgraded their infield yesterday by trading for the Nationals’ Curtis Mead. Having a 134 wRC+ in 327 plate appearances this year, he’s sure to get plenty of at-bats with his new team. The defensive fit was more of an open question, as Mead has mostly played at the infield corners in 2026. Willson Contreras isn’t moving off of first base, so the initial thought was that Mead would take over at the hot corner and slide the incumbent Caleb Durbin over to second base.
Instead, the Sox are going with the opposite arrangement, as Chris Cotillo of MassLive writes that Durbin will remain at third base for now. Durbin had previously indicated that he’d be willing to play second base if the Red Sox acquired someone to play third. “I came into this year willing to be wherever they need me, and that hasn’t changed,” he told Alex Speier of the Boston Globe yesterday. “Wherever they need me to play, I’ll play there.”
Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald adds that the team approached Durbin before the trade about his willingness to play other positions, and he was on board. According to Starr, Durbin will work on second base and shortstop in practice settings while continuing to play third base for now. That seemingly leaves Mead in a multi-positional role.
Durbin came to Boston in a six-player trade with the Brewers in February. He was never going to be as good as Alex Bregman, but Durbin posted a solid 105 wRC+ for Milwaukee last year while earning positive marks for his work at third base. Unfortunately, his offense cratered in the first two months of 2026. In 182 plate appearances through May 31st, Durbin batted just .183/.250/.280 with a 44 wRC+.
The past two months have been a different story entirely. Since June 1st, Durbin has taken 171 plate appearances and batted .288/.353/.510 while hitting nine of his ten home runs on the season. That output is good for a 136 wRC+. Durbin also put up a 123 wRC+ during the Red Sox’ recent 15-game win streak, ranking second on the team in that span. Combined with his still excellent infield defense, Durbin has been a key contributor to the team’s bounce back from a 25-33 record at the start of June.
Now that the Sox back in contention, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow seems more willing to make additions to the roster. “I think the players deserve it,” Breslow told Cotillo and others. “I think the fans deserve it. It has been a turbulent path to get here, but as we sit here today a week out from the deadline, the resilience and toughness of this team has become very apparent. The opportunity to upgrade was something we were looking for.”
Meanwhile, Ari Alexander of 7News Boston reports that the Sox have been eyeing players at the top of the market, including the Astros’ Jeremy Peña, the Angels’ Zach Neto, and the Athletics’ Shea Langeliers. While the interest in Neto was previously reported, Alexander clarifies that none of the three are likely to be traded. Langeliers was a long-shot candidate at best, and he’s now on the IL for a torn meniscus and potentially out for the season. Per Alexander, the Astros are “shutting down anything” on Peña.
With those trades being unlikely, it seems Breslow pivoted to a more “workable” target in Mead. Nonetheless, the fact that the Red Sox are showing interest in top talent is a vote of confidence from the front office, despite the rough start to the season. For now, Mead’s acquisition checks off an infielder and a right-handed bat from the team’s shopping list. As MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald noted in our Trade Deadline Outlook series, the Sox may also look for a catcher, rotation depth, and bullpen arms in the run-up to August 3rd.
In pitching news, Boston activated left-hander Ranger Suarez from the 15-day IL before today’s game, optioning fellow lefty Alec Gamboa in his place. Suarez, who sustained a left groin strain before the All-Star break, returns after a two-and-a-half week absence. He drew the start opposite the Blue Jays’ Kevin Gausman today, with Suarez throwing four scoreless innings on 64 pitches and striking out six. Including those numbers, he has a 3.15 ERA in 91 1/3 innings in his debut campaign for the Red Sox.
Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images
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