The Boston Red Sox are in an interesting spot with the MLB trade deadline approaching, and it forces Craig Breslow and his staff to weigh how aggressive the team should be.
Boston is 1 1/2 games ahead of the Kansas City Royals in the American League wild-card race heading into its series opener against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park. Manager Alex Cora’s side has a chance to play postseason baseball, which is why he hopes the front office makes moves to help in that cause.
Breslow noted there are long-term and short-term issues to look at in his position. The chief baseball officer seeks consistent success for the Red Sox, but he of course knows from experience the desire to buy in every year.
“I think it’s always hard to sell,” Breslow told Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo on MassLive’s “Fenway Rundown” this week. “I think oftentimes that’s lost is that in this position, I’m competitive, I’m invested in this organization, I’m invested in the players and the staff. I think everybody in my seat wants buying to be the default, wants buying to be how you approach every deadline because it means you got a good team on the field. There’s meaningful games to be played, they’ve got a playoff run in them. I think that should always be the default position, and if it’s not, then you really have to question why you’re doing the job. There’s a huge credit to the players and the staff for putting us in this position, and that is not lost on me.”
A month before the trade deadline does give teams a good idea of who is a seller in the market, but there are enough teams just within distance of the playoff race that can make the market murkier than some would like.
“… You don’t know what opportunities are available to upgrade your team or what potential opportunities may surface about something you simply can’t walk past,” Breslow said. “I do think it’s important to go back and anchor yourself to the value of winning games in the big leagues, the value of playing meaningful games down the stretch, how important it can be for a young team to get to the postseason, to experience that. When you put all of those together, you’re in a position to make a decision, and it’s not easy. But it’s not supposed to be easy.”
Boston welcomes the Royals to Fenway Park in its next series after facing the A’s before the All-Star break. That series will be beneficial for the Red Sox to build up more of a lead in the AL wild-card race and paint a clearer picture of their playoff hopes.
