The Red Sox have re-entered the Power Rankings
The roller coaster has finally stopped. Now it's Chaim Bloom's job to assess what the ride will look like for these next two (or three) months.
Not easy, but necessary. Welcome to the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline in 2023.
The Red Sox aren't alone in waiting and waiting and waiting for their existence to declare itself, with more than a few ball clubs still sitting on the fence when it comes to buying or selling. Are you in it, and if you are do you have an actual chance?
The Guardians sit one game out of first-place. ONE. Yet, there they were Monday, trading away perhaps their best starting pitcher (Aaron Civale). The Mariners, even before beating the Red Sox, 6-2, Monday night, decided to trade one of game's best closer - Paul Sewald - to Arizona and outfielder AJ Pollack to San Francisco. This is a Seattle team that wrapped up July tied with Baltimore with the best record (17-9) in the majors.
Then you have the Rays, who decided to trade one of their best prospects for Civale, the Blue Jays' acquisition of late-inning reliever Jordan Hicks and the Diamondbacks trades for not only Sewald but also A's infielder Jace Peterson. And we haven't even mentioned the All-In Angels and Rangers.
Where does this leave the Red Sox, who sit 2 1/2 games out of the Wild Card? In the same uncertain world they have lived for the last two months. No matter. Decisions have to be made. We have no idea if buying or selling or something in between will be the way to go. But we do know this will be on Bloom to correctly read the room when it comes to this clubhouse, because if he doesn't this will undoubtedly be a wasted opportunity.
In 2019, for whatever reason Dave Dombrowski sat on his hands at the Deadline and the immediate result was a cliff emerging for what was a contending club. Starting July 28 that year, the Red Sox proceeded to lose eight in a row, burying their chances. Fact: The message sent from the front office to the players at the time certainly didn't help matters.
Two years later the Red Sox were 19 games over .500 on Aug. 1. But at the Deadline the rumblings in that clubhouse was that their only help had been a player (Kyle Schwarber) who wouldn't be available for a few more weeks due to a bad hamstring, and a couple second-tier relievers (Austin Davis, Hansel Robles). It obviously all worked out, but it shouldn't be forgotten that starting on the day Schwarber was acquired, the Sox made life difficult for themselves with an 8-16 mark for the next three-plus weeks. The result was being 2 1/2 games up in the American League East to 6 1/2 games out.
Last year? It should still be fresh in your memory. The Red Sox acquire Eric Hosmer, Reese McGuire and Tommy Pham. They don't trade free agents-to-be J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi, Xander Bogaerts and Rich Hill. No matter. In the view of more than a few players in that clubhouse, moving on from Christian Vazquez defined the front office's belief in that team. This was the ultimate reading of the room moment.
After that Deadline Day, the Red Sox proceeded to go 10-16 in August, and 19-29 through Sept. 26.
The lesson here is that between the two seasons we have to hang our hat on - both of which present very different scenarios - Bloom has not hit the sweet spot when it comes to getting the immediate results some postseason races necessitate.
That brings us to this season.
While it ended up being OK in 2021, this isn't 2021. The Red Sox aren't 19 games over .500. They, like so many other teams, are teetering on contention. But, at the same time, this is absolutely a more optimistic situation than last season. The American League is significantly flawed, without a team existing that the Red Sox couldn't beat on one of their better days. And, despite the current three-game losing streak, the Sox would seem to have enough pieces.
There are plenty of veteran players in this clubhouse who understand the power of the front office giving its team an acquisition atta-boy. Chris Martin, for one, has lived that life with the 2021 Braves. That was a club who entered the Trade Deadline two games under .500, but went out and after getting Joc Pederson a few weeks before, doubled down with acquisitions of Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario.
Braves catcher Travis d'Arnaud offered a perfect analysis to MLB.com in his reflection on that World Series-winning year: “You’d think it would be weird, but they actually all fit in pretty good. It was almost like we added another family member, even though it was somebody completely new."
And that's the challenge for Bloom and Co.: Find the right fit, but make sure the pieces don't take too long to click in.