Remember the Red Sox' trade deadline last season? Matt Strahm does.
That was Aug. 2 when the Sox moved Christian Vazquez to the Astros in exchange for minor leaguers Wilyer Abreu and Emmanuel Valdez.
They also dealt for Eric Hosmer, Tommy Phan and Reese McGuire while shipping away Jay Groome and Jake Diekman.
At the time, the Sox were just two games behind two teams - the Rays and Guardians - who would ultimately make the postseason. A few weeks later, Boston's postseason conversation was a thing of the past.
Appearing on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast, now former Red Sox reliever Matt Strahm reflected on that period, offering an odd but fitting analogy when talking about the Sox's approach. (Strahm talks Red Sox deadline at 18:15 of the following audio file.)
"Foolishly thinking, and being a fan of baseball, more teams would go for it at the deadline," Strahm said. "Like, fully go for it. You didn't see that. Even look at Boston. Do we still know what we did?
"I don't think (the Red Sox thinking they weren't going for it) was at the time because obviously Sale was still coming back, there was a chance of Paxton still coming so it still felt like if we get these horses we can 100 percent do it. It just felt like ... We played field position is what it felt like. I don't want to say we punted it because people think punt then you just gave up. Nah. We had a six-point lead and we pinned them inside the 10."
And when suggesting in this analogy Sale and Paxton were the lockdown linebackers who were going to get the ball back, Strahm responded, "Instead Tom Brady subbed in at quarterback and we lost."
Strahm, who signed a two-year deal, $15 million deal with the Phillies last week, goes on to talk about Philadelphia's pursuit of him, the drama regarding him starting vs. relieving, the Red Sox' approach in the offseason, the art of baseball card collecting, and some pointed comments regarding MLB rule changes.