Well, the Boston Red Sox have not come all this way, it seems, just to sit on their hands as their final chance to make a significant move at the MLB trade deadline approaches. You know the numbers by now: Boston was 32-46 on June 25 when they began what would be a four-game sweep of the Yankees, then followed shortly thereafter with a 15-game winning streak and a total run of 24-5 heading into their finale against the Athletics on Thursday.
The Sox are back in the playoff picture, and looking at an especially weak American League picture. For a front office that has been led by Craig Breslow for the past three seasons, there is a chance to throw off the reputation for being too cautious at this time of year, and to make the kind of splash that could lead to not just a playoff appearance, but a sustained October run.
And by all indications, that is where the Red Sox are heading.
Red Sox ‘Juggling’ MLB Trade Deadline Talks
On Thursday, ESPN insider Jeff Passan sized up where teams stand heading into next week’s deadline, and tabbed the Red Sox–even after trading for the now-injured Curtis Mead last weekend–the most likely to stay aggressive and add a significant piece.
He wrote: “As of now, the Red Sox are juggling dozens of balls. They’ll cull those in the coming days and are among the teams likeliest to make a decisive move. Whether it’s at shortstop, catcher or both is the big question to be answered when the market finally gets defined.”
Shortstop at Top of Red Sox List?
The Red Sox are said to be searching for a few areas of need, most notably shortstop, where it appears that Boston is finally ready to move on from the Trevor Story era, which, besides a nice might-have-been showing last year, was mostly an injury-riddled disaster. The Red Sox have been linked to talks for Zach Neto from the Angels, Jeremy Pena of the Astros, JJ Abrams from Washington and most recently–and maybe most seriously–Otto Lopez of the Marlins.
Boston is also looking at catchers, though the market is thin there. Like every team, starting pitching and relievers will be on the menu, too.
All Positions Welcome at MLB Trade Deadline
Breslow has been open about discussing the Red Sox’s aggressive posture, which has been a change in his normally measured approach at the deadline.
He said in an MLBNow interview last week that he would be open to adding anywhere: “When you look at our position player group, there’s no secret that we struggle to score runs at times, and recently we’ve seen some signs of life in the approach and what we’re able to do. The players deserve credit for that and our coaching staff deserves a ton of credit for that. Our position player group has a ton of flexibility. …
“So if we look to upgrade offensively, I don’t think we have to pinpoint a particular position in order to make that improvement.”
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