With one day left before the 2026 Major League Baseball trade deadline, the Boston Red Sox are still circling offensive help, and one name has now surfaced twice in the same week: Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks.
Boston’s search has stretched across the roster. The club has been tied to players at catcher, shortstop and in the bullpen, with shortstop drawing the most attention so far.
Zach Neto of the Los Angeles Angels has come up, though the reported asking price is said to be too steep right now. The Red Sox also reportedly reached out to the Cincinnati Reds about Elly De La Cruz, but that conversation did not go far.
CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals has also been mentioned as a player on Boston’s radar.
The Hicks connection picked up more steam on Sunday when The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon reported that the Red Sox are among the teams interested in the Marlins backstop.
“As the Miami Marlins ponder trade scenarios, they are discussing catcher Liam Hicks and first baseman/outfielder Kyle Stowers more actively than shortstop Otto López and second baseman Xavier Edwards, according to league sources briefed on their conversations,” Rosenthal and Sammon wrote. “The Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox are among the teams interested in Hicks, the person said. The New York Yankees are not involved in the talks.”
That report followed ESPN’s Jeff Passan, who had already floated Hicks earlier in the week as a possible Boston target. Passan also suggested the idea of Hicks and Otto Lopez in the same deal, a way to address more than one need at once.
Hicks, 27, is under team control through the 2030 season and is in his second major league campaign. He’s hitting .283/.364/.434 with a .798 OPS, along with 14 homers, 62 RBIs and nine doubles in 100 games.
The offensive calling card is obvious: he simply doesn’t give away many at-bats. In those 100 games, he has struck out only 38 times, and he ranks in the 98th percentile in both strikeout rate and whiff rate.
That combination of age, control and production makes him an appealing fit for Boston’s young core. If Miami is truly open to moving pieces, Hicks would be a clean target for the Red Sox. And he would come at a lower cost than someone like Hunter Goodman of the Colorado Rockies.
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The Marlins deadline picture is starting to take shape, and it is not centered on the biggest name in the room. Miami is still weighing whether to move pieces before the trade deadline, but the most active conversations appear to be around catcher Liam Hicks and first baseman-outfielder Kyle Stowers, two players who could draw interest from clubs looking for help without paying top-tier prices.
Hicks has already popped up in talks with teams such as the Rays and Red Sox, while the Yankees are not involved there. Sandy Alcantara remains the headline asset on paper, but Miami has made it clear he is not expected to be moved before the deadline, which leaves the Marlins sorting through a trickier middle ground than a simple teardown or a full stand pat. [Read more 🡒]
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Miami is betting on upside in the return, with all three players sitting among Tampa Bays top 30 prospects before the deal. Hicks, meanwhile, gives the Rays a catcher they view as ready to handle a bigger role, while the Marlins add more young talent to a system that keeps trying to build depth and flexibility for what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Catching Need Just Put A New Marlins Trade Target In Play
The Marlins have spent plenty of the summer sorting through trade chatter around their young, controllable bats, and that conversation has only grown louder as the deadline nears. First baseman/outfielder Kyle Stowers has steadied himself since June, while catcher-first baseman Liam Hicks has given Miami a productive option on both sides of the ball, the kind of player other clubs can justify chasing because of the years of control still attached.
Miami is expected to listen on a range of possibilities, and the catching market has become especially interesting with teams looking for help behind the plate. That has pushed Hicks into a more prominent spot in the rumor mill alongside Stowers, with several clubs keeping tabs on the Marlins situation and weighing whether the ask makes sense for a player who could fit a contender's roster for more than just a few months. [Read more 🡒]