The Boston Red Sox have been the most active team in the trade market in Major League Baseball already this offseason and it's just getting started.

Boston sent Nate Eaton to the Athletics, Tsung-Che Cheng to the Detroit Tigers and Eduardo Rivera to the St. Louis Cardinals already. The Red Sox's moves so far this offseason have been more about trimming down the 40-man roster, rather than the returns. Soon enough, we very well could see Boston add a piece or two in the trade market to move the needle in 2027. Recently, rumors have been swirling about the idea of pursuing Elly De La Cruz of the Cincinnati Reds. He's not the only player to watch for the Red Sox, per The Athletic's Jim Bowden.

"The Red Sox will also continue to call the Nationals regarding a possible CJ Abrams trade and the Reds if Cincinnati decides to move Elly De La Cruz. Either way, expect them to be aggressive with the aim of adding at least a bat or two," Bowden wrote.

Elly De La Cruz

Every offseason, it seems like one or two players end up getting consistently linked to Boston. The offseason is still new, but De La Cruz already seems like that guy for Boston this winter. He's the pipe dream target of the winter. It's not hard to see why. If the Red Sox could somehow find a way to bring De La Cruz to town without trading Roman Anthony or Payton Tolle, he would shift the balance of the American League East.

Boston's lineup is already going to include guys like Anthony, Adley Rutschman, Willson Contreras, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Curtis Mead, Caleb Durbin and Trevor Story, among others. If you add a 24-year-old coming off a 30-30 season to that group, Boston would arguably have the best lineup in baseball on paper.

Now, of course, it'd be hard to poach De La Cruz from Cincinnati. The price tag would be exceptionally high. No. 1 prospect Franklin Arias would have to be included. Boston's farm system isn't as elite as it was a few years ago. So, you'd have to imagine that a package to get De La Cruz would likely be some combination of prospects and big leaguers. If Anthony and Tolle aren't included, there are few others who should be off limits.

CJ Abrams

Abrams isn't De La Cruz, but he would still give the Red Sox a massive lift. Abrams only has two seasons of team control left, rather than three like De La Cruz. But in the short term he'd give Boston what it needs. In 2026, he hit 33 home runs, drove in 106 runs and stole 34 bases. He's elite to say the least. But where would he play? De La Cruz would be the clear-cut shortstop. Abrams would either play shortstop or second base, with second base being more likely.

In that scenario, you could keep Story at shortstop and shift Mead to designated hitter. Or, if somehow you could get Abrams without giving up Arias, have Abrams at second base and the top prospect at shortstop. That doesn't seem likely, though.