There were a variety of ways the Red Sox could have gone at the trade deadline. They opted for the stand pat path.
The Red Sox sit just 1.5 games back of the Toronto Blue Jays for the final American League wild card spot, so they would have been within their rights to be buyers. But as they continue to build their long-term core, there were some potential selling opportunities with players like James Paxton and Adam Duvall.
In the end, the Red Sox only made moves for Luis Urias and pitchers with minimal big league experience.
Despite Boston’s uncertain path leading up to the deadline, prominent players, Rafael Devers and Kenley Jansen among them, spoke out in support of adding. Apparently those types of comments were made not just through the media, but to Chaim Bloom directly.
“There were conversations between Chaim and some players, talking about what they thought was needed,” Sox manager Alex Cora said Wednesday in his weekly appearance on Gresh & Fauria. “At this time, everybody is a GM, right? I read quotes that we need an arm, I read quotes that we need offensive players. That’s part of it. …
"At the end of the day, this is where we’re at. This is the team that we have, and there’s some good news coming up. Chris (Sale) throwing yesterday, Trevor (Story) is playing a day game after a night game today, we’re excited about that. They’ve got to do their job in the end, that’s the most important thing."
Saying that guys coming back from injury is akin to getting deadline reinforcements is a line that usually is met, deservedly, with a roll of the eyes. But the Red Sox are getting legitimate difference-makers back between Sale, Story, Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock.
“It’s a different vibe than last year,” Cora said. “Not because of the clubhouse or whatever, I think last year when we hit this time, we were hurt. We were banged up, and people went down after that and we weren’t playing good baseball. Now it’s the opposite. We’re playing good baseball, people are going to come back, we’re healthy and we feel like we’re in a good spot.”
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