Despite a convincing win over the Braves tonight, the Red Sox sit at a disappointing 23-31 with them at the bottom of the AL East. The lack of major league teams in the American League means each club is within six games of a Wild Card spot, so even the slowest starters can talk themselves into possibly turning things around.
That said, the Sox will obviously need to play much better than their 69-game winning streak to avoid being traded two months from now. The front office has already made a management change at the start of the season from Alex Cora to interim captain Chad Tracy. They also overhauled the hitting coaching staff in an effort to get more out of a surprisingly underperforming lineup.
The Sox were 11th in the AL in hitting and dead last in OPS (.667) when Cora and most of the hitting coaches were fired on April 25. They have moved up to sixth in the Junior Circuit in OPS since then but second from the bottom in runs scored, better only than the Detroit team’s run. Playing for the last three weeks outside Roman Anthony it didn’t help, but the second-year player was struggling even before the sprained wrist sent him to the injured list. The biggest problem is the infield, except for the first baseman Wilson Contrerashe didn’t give anything offensively.
Over the weekend, reports surfaced that the Sox were already weighing the trade market for pitching help. Baseball executive Craig Breslow echoed that when he spoke to reporters Wednesday afternoon (links via Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic and Chris Cotillo of MassLive).
“We have been aggressive in terms of communication and trying to identify players that we think can help us. Obviously, we have talked about the fact that the league is under a lot of pressure and there are a lot of teams – even though they are not doing well – that are still in it,” said Breslow. “The other side of that is that there are other teams in the league that are not playing well and may consider moving players and say, ‘Hey, we’re not that far away.
One could argue that the Red Sox themselves are among that group. Breslow confirmed that they are not interested in selling any veteran pieces early in the year, telling Cotillo that they are “focused on doing everything we can to turn our season around.” Boston will certainly have some big names to hold on to in a trade if their performance doesn’t improve.
Sonny Gray he will become a free agent when his 2027 mutual option is declined, although the Sox will certainly need to cover part of the $10MM buyout if they trade him. Contreras is signed through 2027 at an annual salary of $17.25MM, which does not include the $8MM the Cardinals sent to Boston as a condition of last season’s trade. Aroldis Chapmanmaybe the second best pitcher in MLB after that Mason Millerhas a $13MM option for next year that will be exercised once he reaches 40 innings in a season.
That’s clearly not the short-term focus of the Breslow front office. They are looking for ways to inject some life into the offense, ideally by getting a right-handed bat. They can improve upon the middle infield duo Marcelo Mayer and those currently injured Trevor’s story. Offseason trade pickup Caleb Durbin he hit so badly that he has lost playing time at third base Nick Sogard again Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Durbin still has several minor league options remaining and may require a reset to Triple-A.
It’s unlikely that there will be significant trade pieces moving early in the season. Foxes could buy Luis Arraezwho is responsible for returning to second base. San Francisco has already traded for a Gold Glove catcher Patrick Bailey with an amazing deal. CJ Abrams he could be a prize in the infield trade market, but the Nationals probably won’t move him while they’re over .500.
The Twins recently picked a struggling first round pick Royce Lewis in Triple-A; maybe you will be available as a return target. the mets’ Brett Baty again Mark Vientos you don’t know the trade rumors. New York may still have a big question for the lefty Baty. Vientos bats right but has been a full-time starter this year. He could be tough for Boston unless they move away from their offseason focus on infield defense and put him at third base.
