boston
COMMENTARY Its trade season in the MLB, as teams get a feel for whether theyre competitive enough to buy into a postseason run or too low on the ladder to do anything but sell off assets and look ahead.
But for the Red Sox, 2026 is starting to present a bit of a dilemma, and an all too familiar one at that.
Boston is yet again stuck in the middle, unclear exactly what its stance will be.
A month ago, this looked like an easy decision.
Bostons best players were dropping like flies, the team was well under .500, and it was being widely reported that it would sell off anybody worth the future returns.
Guys like Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten, and even Sonny Gray all seemed available for the right price.
So the fact that this is even a decision is a testament to how impressive the Red Sox rebound has been.
Theyre on a seven-game winning streak, and less than two games back of the American Leagues final wild-card spot.
Now it makes you wonder, if Boston looks this good without ace Garrett Crochet, up-and-coming stars Roman Anthony and Marcelo Mayer, and a veteran middle infielder like Trevor Story, is it worth it to hold those assets and try to acquire more talent to make a late push? That question will have to be answered, and be answered decisively, because Boston has been down this road plenty of times before with underwhelming results.
At the 2024 and 2025 deadlines, Boston didnt seem to land a firm stance on whether it was good enough to compete.
So they didnt really buy, but didnt really sell off, either.
That option doesnt help them in the present or future.
So Breslow and the Red Sox brass should be looking at this last stretch of baseball with careful eyes.
Is this a flash in the pan? Or a sign of what Boston could become this season if management buys in to the turnaround? And if Breslow is truly fighting to keep his job reports on his status in the organization vary then he should probably be doing everything in his power to prove that the roster he built this offseason can compete.
Things are only just starting to fall in place in that regard.
His pitching depth has been necessary and a major strength of 2026.
Willson Contreras is easily the most effective offensive asset Boston has.
And Caleb Durbin is having quite a resurgence at third base, posting similar stats to Alex Bregman, whom Breslow swung and missed on when assessing his free agency market in the offseason.
Theres a world where the Red Sox can improve at the deadline and be a sneaky playoff contender.
And theres also a world where they chalk up 2026 as a down year and try to get some young talent back in the pipeline for the years to come.
The only mistake Boston can make is letting another deadline come and go without deciding which of those two worlds they want to live in.