The Red Sox spoke of ‘extreme urgency' to make the playoffs. Thursday's trade deadline is the time to prove it.
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You can't advertise to your faithful fans that you have extreme organizational urgency to win this season, have a team in possession of a playoff spot the week of the trade deadline, and then watch chief baseball officer Craig Breslow doodle around the margins of the roster instead of rewriting its composition.
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Who knows if ace Garrett Crochet will be this dominant and this durable next season? Who knows if Alex Bregman and his playoff cachet will be back next season? Who knows if the Red Sox will wield a closer the caliber of vintage Aroldis Chapman in 2026? This is no time to favor
Club Breslow sports some obvious needs — a starting pitcher, preferably of the top-three variety, and an impact righthanded bat who can play first base, DH, or even second base to boost the offensive output. Another reliable late-inning bullpen arm in case Justin Slaten doesn't make it back wouldn't hurt.
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Admittedly, this trade market doesn't appear to align ideally with the Red Sox' needs. Top-of-the-rotation starters are sparse and expensive. Many of the available pitchers are rentals requiring projection of reclaimed performance in a new locale (Zac Gallen of the Diamondbacks and Dylan Cease of the Padres). The righty power bats presumed available, such as Eugenio Suarez and Marcell Ozuna, aren't seamless roster fits.
Yet, the Sox can't afford to do nothing or next to nothing and be taken at their word, or taken seriously. Sorry.
The Padres' Dylan Cease may be the best starting pitcher available, but he's struggled with run prevention this season.
Gregory Bull/Associated Press
While no one wants another Jeff Bagwell-for-Larry Andersen deal, more prospects flame out than pan out as All-Star or Hall of Fame talents.
Even with the graduation of Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer (
Sometimes, a prospect's peak value and ability to help a team is when they're an inchoate vessel that can be filled with hopes, dreams, and expectations that they'll never fulfill as big leaguers.
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Another key element of the calculus for Breslow and the brightest minds in baseball operations must be the context of this deadline. Playoff conditions are ideal. Teams with preseason postseason aspirations have run aground on the rocks of misfortune.
Yankees totem
The Twins already sold off one starting pitcher, Chris Paddack. They could make the Christmas-in-July wishes of Sox fans come true by making ace Joe Ryan available.
As Alex Cora
Yup.
Will the Red Sox hold onto outfielders Jarren Duran (left) and Wilyer Abreu?
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
The playoff pool is warm and inviting. Breslow needs to dive in headfirst, even if it means parting with one from his surfeit of outfielders — Jarren Duran or Wilyer Abreu or minor leaguers Jhostynxon Garcia and James Tibbs,
When the Sox dismissed Devers in a shocking trade with the Giants, Breslow and Kennedy, besides talking about alignment more than a chiropractor, affirmed their commitment to this season.
'It's important to point out that this is in no way signifying a waving of the white flag on 2025,' said Breslow. 'We are as committed as we were six months ago to putting a winning team on the field … and making a deep postseason run.'
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However, there's always the caveat of the Sox looking longingly into the future with the team in its sustainability era.
'I want to win right now, too. But I also want to win in 2026, 2027, and 2028,' he said. 'It's fair to say that we have been future-focused for some time, and right now we are intentionally pulling some of those things forward [to] prioritize what happens in 2025.'
That part about 2026, 2027, and 2028 looms over the team like the Green Monster.
With a weak field, it might be tempting to just try to cruise to the third wild card. Roll the dice on the backs of Romy Gonzalez and Abraham Toro and save all your bullets for the offseason when supply will be more plentiful and prices more reasonable.
But that's not 'extreme urgency.' That's not living up to your word(s).
Show us you mean it when you say this season is different, Red Sox, or stop telling us until you really mean it.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
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