The Boston Red Sox have been teetering on the line of buying and selling all season long with the July 30 trade deadline approaching before you know it.
Despite mediocre results thus far, the Red Sox have found themselves just two games back of an American League Wild Card spot with a 35-34 record. After taking two out of three games from the Philadelphia Phillies, there may be some optimism brewing in Boston.
Should a similar outcome occur in their homestand against the New York Yankees, Breslow will have to seriously consider adding some ancillary pieces instead of trading off impending free agents.
As it turns out, the first time leader of Boston's baseball operations already is devising a plan to improve the current roster.
"The Red Sox are looking to acquire more starting pitching and would love to add a left-hander to their mix," The Athletic's Jim Bowden reported Friday. "They’re also looking for a short-term shortstop to play the position until Trevor Story returns next year after recovering from shoulder surgery. The Diamondbacks activated Geraldo Perdomo this week from the injured list, which could allow them to dangle one of their other shortstops in exchange for bullpen help."
Bowden listed Chicago White Sox's Garrett Crochet, Oakland Athletics' JP Sear, Los Angeles Angels' Tyler Anderson and Miami Marlins' Jesús Luzardo as potential southpaws to infuse into the Red Sox's rotation.
He also mentioned Arizona Diamondbacks' Blaze Alexander and Kevin Newman, as well as San Francisco Giants' Nick Ahmed as potential shortstop fill-ins.
There are some intriguing options on the list -- everyone not named Nick Ahmed to be exact. I still hold the position that the Red Sox will become sellers by the time the deadline comes around but this group has plenty of talent to look into should Boston go on an unexpected run.
Alexander is the best position player on the list but has many years of team control and would not align at all with their short-term vision.
Newman is an interesting case. Despite horrendous underlying metrics, the 30-year-old is hitting .278 with 13 extra-base hits including a pair of home runs, 16 RBIs and a .701 OPS (102 OPS+) in 51 games. He's also sporting three outs above average, putting him in the 86th percentile up the middle defensively. The veteran will be a free agent at the end of the season and could be a strong match for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox also should be looking deeply into the pitching market -- all of Bowden's names make sense. That said, there is no reason to be limited to just the left-handed market with many righties worth looking into.
We'll soon find out how aggressive or conservative Breslow will be with a .500ish team at the deadline -- but one thing he almost certainly won't do is try a buy/sell hybrid. His predecessor attempted that strategy in back-to-back years and was promptly fired after doing so.
