Report: Red Sox acquiring Brett Harris from A’s

The trade was made official earlier on Wednesday. Harris is merely emergency infield depth for the injury-plagued Red Sox after being waived by the Athletics last weekend. The 28-year-old has hit .194/.307/.289 across 213 major-league plate appearances since debuting in 2024. He’ll head to Triple-A Worcester for now.

The 28-year-old Harris has spent his entire career in the A’s organization since being drafted in the seventh round in 2021 and has hit .194/.307/.289 in 213 major league plate appearances since debuting in 2024. He is at .336/.441/.537 in 37 games for Triple-A Las Vegas this year, but it still seems pretty likely that he’ll clear waivers.

It says a lot about the Red Sox lineup that this is actually a pretty significant loss for Boston. Kiner-Falefa homered against the Blue Jays in the eighth inning Thursday in his final at-bat before going on the IL and is batting .277/.344/.401 on the season. Andruw Monasterio figures to pick up some extra playing time for now.

It doesn’t sound like Mayer is going to require a trip to the injured list, but he’s still feeling a bit under the weather on Friday. Andruw Monasterio will start at second base and bat ninth for the Red Sox while Isiah Kiner-Falefa slides over to cover shortstop once again.

The Red Sox don’t seem worried about him needing an IL stint, but we have seen many players head to the injured list after a battle with back spasms. It would be unfortunate for Mayer, who has battled multiple injuries over his brief MLB career and was slashing .286/.323/.429 with one home run and six RBI over his last six games. Isiah Kiner-Falefa will start at shortstop and bat eighth with Andruw Monasterio at second base and hitting ninth.

The Red Sox are set to face left-hander Trevor Rogers, so Mayer will head to the bench. Even with Trevor Story (abdominal) on the injured list, Mayer continues to sit against left-handed pitching. Today, Isiah Kiner-Falefa will play shortstop with Andruw Monasterio at second base despite Monasterio being just a career .249/.343/.380 hitter against left-handed pitching.

It continues to be a completely bizarre season for Yoshida as he’s basically been eclipsed by unheralded reserve Mickey Gasper and utilityman Andruw Monasterio for at-bats against right-handed pitching since Roman Anthony hit the injured list earlier this month. He can be safely ignored in all fantasy formats until that equation changes.

Boston’s former top prospect will get his first chance at shortstop later this weekend and figures to get an extended run at the position with Trevor Story on the injured list recovering from sports hernia surgery. Ultimately, it didn’t make a lot of sense for the Red Sox to keep rolling with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Andruw Monasterio at the position with Story facing an extended absence. The 23-year-old was one of the top shortstop prospects in baseball before moving to third base last year.

It’s notable that Kiner-Falefa is making his second straight start at the spot with Andruw Monasterio on the bench. The 31-year-old infielder appears likely to help fill the void created when Trevor Story hit the injured list with a sports hernia last weekend. The widely-held assumption was that Boston would give former top prospect Marcelo Mayer a look at the position, but that doesn’t appear imminent.

The move is now official. It’s unclear whether Story will require surgery to address the groin issue that Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters has been bothering him pretty much all season. The lingering physical issue certainly helps explain his abysmal performance at the plate where he’s batted .206/.244/.303 triple-slash line with three homers and four steals through 41 games. It would make sense for the Red Sox to consider moving former top prospect Marcelo Mayer back to shortstop, but all indications are that Andruw Monasterio is going to be their short-term stopgap at the position with Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Nick Sogard taking the occasional turn. There should be some additional clarity on Story’s return timeline relatively soon.