The Red Sox week in review dives into…whatever the hell that was on Thursday.
Recent events (or hell, lack thereof) call for a lil’ something different for this week’s Brushback. Typically, I’d break down three things that caught my attention over the past seven days since we last spoke; a player heating up, concerning trends in another’s performance, something unique revolving around the Boston Red Sox, whatever comes to mind is fair game.
The fallout from Thursday’s trade deadline presents me with an opportunity to change it up a bit. Don’t want to get too monotonous, you know?
I know I shouldn’t be going into this article with a sour taste in my mouth. We’re currently on a five-game winning streak. We’re coming off the heels of an overall excellent run in July. We began August with a weekend sweep against a certified AL rival in the Houston Astros. We’re 11 games above .500 and we’re currently slotted in the top Wild Card spot in the Junior Circuit—with the division crown actually within our grasp as the dog days of summer begin. Our pitching staff has, generally speaking, stepped up in recent weeks, while multiple guys on offense are contributing in their own ways in a post-Devers world. Fenway Park has been bumpin’ as of late, as the Royal Rooters have visions of autumn ball in their mind.
Things are good! I really can’t complain about what we’ve seen on the field. As things stand, I do believe this roster is good enough to make the playoffs, even if it’s far from a guarantee.
That belief only makes me feel more disappointed in the lack of action at the trade deadline, though.
I wanted to give it a few days to marinate. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t diving into this in a blind rage; I don’t want to rant for the sake of ranting. I think people who have read me enough (thanks Mom) know I try not to be too reactionary. I don’t want to get hung up on it because things are going well, so I’m just going to get it out of my system here: a stream-of-consciousness article on the state of how I’m feeling. Shit, I feel like a wet blanket even mentioning this following a weekend sweep that brings up to just three games out of first place in the division. But the following rant is not just the ramblings of a mad man (or maybe it is, who knows); I’ve let this sit before writing it out for posterity.
With the disclaimer out of the way, let’s begin. It’s Monday Morning Brush back time, y’all.
Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The lack of movement for the Red Sox on the trade market this summer was pathetic. No other way to describe it. The powers that be within Boston’s organization do not have enough ambition. I do think Craig Breslow has done a good job overall as the club’s Chief Baseball Officer—I don’t want that take to be lost upon you, so apologies in advance if I say something similar later in the rant—but yeesh, man.
The fact that the team has been playing this well since the calendar flipped to July makes the lack of action even more frustrating to me. After everything that’s happened over the past few months—a franchise cornerstone being dealt to a team across the country, a plethora of one-run losses, freezing-cold stretches and white-hot stretches, injuries a-plenty, a damn stomach bug that almost killed poor Wilyer Abreu, etc.—here’s this group of guys who have thus far proven they belong and are worthy of additional investment from the top brass. Even then, though, I think anyone who watches this team every night, who reads this website (a genuine thank you for continuing to do so), or who lives and breathes Red Sox baseball could’ve told you that the starting pitching group could’ve used some extra juice—both to raise their ceiling as a unit and to provide some additional volume.
Where is the ambition? Where is the desire to push the envelope with this group of guys? Breslow and company can talk about all of the deals that they just couldn’t get across the finish line until they’re blue in the face, but it won’t stop me from being annoyed about it. How come the Yankees were able to get 200 deals done within the past week and we weren’t? How come Seattle was able to pull of trades and we weren’t? Houston? The Mets? Philly? San Diego? Texas? Detroit? I understand some of those teams are over in the NL and are not the clubs we’re directly competing for a ticket to the dance with, but the point remains: all of those teams were able to get deals done that were much more substantial than the business we got done.
This isn’t even to criticize the moves we did make. I think Steven Matz can be a steady lefty in the bullpen down the stretch. Dustin May, while I have questions regarding why the team that is dying for starting pitching depth in the midst of their title defense campaign would move off of him and while I’m not sure why we moved off of one of the pieces in the Devers trade to secure a rental, could be an intriguing option in the back half of the rotation. Also, this isn’t to say that Breslow should’ve completely paid above market value to get a trade done—at some point, of course, you have to walk away from a deal. And finally, this isn’t to say that the Red Sox had to get someone like a Joe Ryan specifically. We didn’t have to make a Juan Soto-to-SD-esque splash this week; just something to give a jolt in an area where even a casual fan could point to and say, “yeah they could probably use some help in this facet of the operation.”
With a good amount of options available leading up to the deadline, this is all we were able to do to supplement this iteration of the team for the final playoff push? A lefty reliever and a starter on a walk year who was cast off by a team that is desperate for starters at the moment? Clearly we’re fine with coughing up prospect capital—Blaze Jordan and James Tibbs, we hardly knew ye. This is all just related to the pitching, by the way; I haven’t even mentioned that we could’ve done with an extra bat to boost the lineup.
Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
So what’s the hold-up? Why was everyone else we’re trying to stand toe-to-toe able to get more stuff on their shopping list checked off? Dustin May in addition to another starter would’ve done wonders for the Red Sox; with him as the headlining starting pitcher being added, I’m not as thrilled.
Are we that scared to lose out on future value? At what point does it become viable enough to push some chips into the table for the short term? The American League is completely there for the taking, but we don’t have the ambition to stand up and try to take it on our own accord. Stand up! Fight! Rise!
Are we concerned to miss out on young, cost-controllable talent? That’s a fair enough of a worry to have in a vacuum—their cheaper contracts could facilitate larger deals that we’d like to get done, I can concede that. But with that in mind: do we not trust our talent development infrastructure in the minors to be able to replace that potential on the farm? We’ve had, by all accounts, some great drafts in recent years. We have a new knack of developing highly touted prospects (not just within the circles of the Red Sox media machine, as I’m sure you’re ready to point out; national pundits who follow this stuff for a living have commended the young talent we’ve churned out over the last handful of seasons). Not all of those guys can play on the field, though, so some of that prospect pedigree has to be leveraged at one point or another to improve the team in the present.
To cross my sports references here, this reminds me a bit of what’s happened with my favorite soccer team: Arsenal FC, over in North London. After wandering in the woods, lost and aimless in the late 2010’s, the team’s had a bit of a renaissance (a trophy-less one, yes, but bear with me). Manager Mikel Arteta has described their project in the past as one that is being progressed in phases: lay a foundation, grow together, keep climbing, and do what needs to be done—one step at a time—to get where you ultimately want to be. Arsenal has consistently progressed since he took over in 2019, and they could be primed to have a massive 2025-26 season (or so I hope).
Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images
Long story short: the Red Sox of the 2020’s do not seem to want to progress beyond their first or second phase. It’s all well and good to want to develop a sustainable winner through homegrown talent. Yet to quote what a buddy of mine said the other day: to be a sustainable winner, first you have to actually be a winner.
The 2025 Red Sox CAN be a winner. The division crown is within the realm of possibility. The AL pennant is completely up for grabs. If you get to the World Series, who the hell knows what the NL will look like? While none of that is even close to guaranteed, the team as currently constructed can make that all come true. If Breslow and the rest of the front office truly believes that, though, why wouldn’t they make an increased effort towards building that winner? Why not do what needs to be done to become, perhaps, THE favorite in the AL? Were we really just one Matz and one May away from being that team? I don’t think we were, but that’s just one blogger’s opinion.
Again, I really don’t want to take away from how sweet this past weekend was. We’re in the hunt to finish the regular season with the AL’s best record now. This team has some spunk, some character, and some real fight—I love that, and that should be celebrated. I’m sure the rest of the articles on OTM this morning will be reveling in the good vibes; as they should! I try to be a glass-half-full guy myself. This is a fun community to be a part of (and thank you for being a part of it), especially when the optimism is peaking. You may not agree with everything I write or say, and that’s cool—at the end of the day, I just want what’s best for the Red Sox.
This past week’s approach to transactions was not what I’d call what’s best for the Red Sox. That’s disappointing. I hope the players continue to shove this sentiment up my ass, as they did this weekend at Fenway, but I think a better world was possible for us.
To bring it back to Arsenal: this past season, leading up to the mid-season transfer deadline (without getting too into the weeds, transfers are trades, basically), the club was in obvious need of a striker. Instead of trying to address that, though, Arsenal stood pat. They ultimately came in second place in the domestic Premier League and lost in the semifinals of Europe’s biggest club soccer tournament, the Champions League. Part of them falling short was their inability to secure that clinical forward that can score in bunches—again, something that even the most casual fan could tell you they needed. They’ve since addressed that striker need in the off-season, but the lack of ambition was part of their demise. A lot of Arsenal fans (very fairly) still wonder why something wasn’t worked out in January to ensure they had the best short at glory possible come May. They didn’t even need to go out and make the biggest transfer in the world; just something to plug an evident gap.
I don’t want that to happen to my favorite team in the world. I want them to be bold enough to take shots to address what clearly needs to be addressed. I want ambition. I want this project to move to the next phase. Maybe these things will be tackled in the winter; that would please me if that ends up being the case, but I’ll still be wondering why we didn’t take the steps necessary to tackle them when we were in the middle of a pennant race.
We’re better than this. We should be better than this. We’re the Boston Red Sox—I want the guys leading us to act like it.
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OK, I think I got that all out of my system. It took over 2,000 words, but I’m ready to turn the page. We’ve got a division to win, a pennant to secure, and a parade to plan. I can’t change the past; all I can do is support Matz and May along with the rest of the boys, and hope that Breslow’s master plan works out
Speaking of which:
Song of the Week: “The Masterplan” by Oasis
Just a few weeks away until their shows in New Jersey baybeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I won’t be able to write an article that night; sorry Mr. Secatore.
Same time and same place next week, folks! Go Sox.