The Red Sox just completed a 14-2 stretch leading into the All-Star break. This came after one of the worst starts in Red Sox history at 32-46. People were ready to write this team off, and with good reason. So, what happened?

First off, they scored more and allowed fewer runs, always a recipe for success. Over the 16-game stretch, they scored almost one more run per game. They also allowed over one fewer run per game. Add that up and out pops a +34 run differential over 16 games, which is mind-blowing. But how did they do that? Nothing fundamentally changed. It’s essentially the same roster.

To start, the pitching has been phenomenal. A starter ERA of 2.18 and a bullpen ERA of 3.03. Did the starters go deeper into games? Not really. They have averaged just over 5 innings most of the season. The bullpen allowed only 20 earned runs in 16 games, and 12 of those were in the two losses to the Nationals. That’s 8 earned runs in the 14 wins over that stretch. Again, mind-blowing.

As for the offense, how did they accomplish an additional run scored per game? Did the lineup all just start to hit at once? Was there a power surge? Did they hit better situationally? Again, not really. They did, however, get on base more. Home runs were up slightly but the power numbers were pretty much the same. You saw this if you watched the games. They bunted more. They used the sacrifice fly. They moved runners over. They were aggressive on the base paths. I wouldn’t necessarily call it small ball, but they played smarter. Is this a Chad Tracy influence? Maybe. More on team dynamics later. From an individual standpoint, the offense was fueled by a few key hitters with Contreras and Durbin leading the charge. Connor Wong also had a nice stretch.

There are some players who are still dismal at the plate, including our own fan favorite Jarren Duran. Romy Gonzalez came back and provided a spark against LHP but continued to prove he is a platoon player at best.

I think a big reason for this change could be what is happening behind the scenes. Several weeks ago, we got double barrel comments from John Henry (thru translator David Ortiz) and Theo Epstein. Henry expressed his displeasure with the direction of the team and Epstein criticized Breslow’s reliance on analytics. Shortly thereafter, the founder of Driveline left his position as team consultant. The Red Sox also announced they were sending scouts back into the field. Players such as Caleb Durbin went outside the organization for swing coaching. Don’t be surprised if it comes out that Theo Epstein has taken a more hands-on role in baseball operations.

So, the two questions are is this level of performance sustainable and will it be enough to make the playoffs. My personal opinion is that the Red Sox were not as bad as their first 78 games and are not as good as the last 16 games. As usual, they will fall somewhere in the middle. As to the question of playoffs, I quote this tweet from @bostonsportsinf:

I think the chances of the Red Sox rewriting the record books with a team of AAA players is slim and none. Injuries are still an issue, and the return of Anthony, Crochet, Early, and others is not guaranteed. It’s been a great run, but I don’t think it’s sustainable. We will get an early look at this when they start the second half with 10 games against the AL East.

A third question is will they buy or sell at the deadline. I’m an educated man, but I’m afraid I can’t speak intelligently about the trade habits of Craig Breslow. So far, his two “buy” deadlines have been a joke. There are some players out there, but does he have the ability and the cojones to make deals with the big boys of MLB GMs? Doubtful. If he sells, do we trust him to evaluate young talent and get a good return for the likes of Chapman and Gray? Again, doubtful.

At least we have a chance to see some decent baseball over the next few months, and that is a damn sight better than what we’ve had to endure for the first part of the season. Low bar, I know.

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The All-Star team rosters were announced and once again there’s gnashing of teeth in Boston. Ranger Suarez and Aroldis Chapman made the team, but Willson Contreras and Sonny Gray were left off the squad. So, you’re probably expecting this to be an article quoting statistics that support the inclusion of Contreras and Gray on the roster. It is not.

I’ve been alive for 24 championships in Boston, although I really only remember 16, starting with the 1981 Celtics. That was the 25^th championship for the City of Boston, going back to 1903. After the three rings won by the Larry Bird Celtics, there was quite a drought. Bird retired early due to back problems. The Patriots drafted their savior in Drew Bledsoe and went to a Super Bowl but lost. Between 1972 and 2010, the Bruins went to five Stanley Cup finals and lost them all.

And then there’s the Red Sox. After a crushing World Series defeat in 1986, they brought in Dan Duquette to build a winner. He inherited a team with Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn. Nomar Garciaparra would break into the majors in 1996. The following year, Duquette allowed Roger Clemens to sign with the Blue Jays, thinking he was on the downside of his career. All Clemens did was win four more Cy Youngs. He also let Mo Vaughn walk in 1999, a year after trading for Pedro Martinez. He would then go on to sign Manny Ramirez. Can you imagine a team with Clemens, Pedro, Manny, Mo, and Nomar? John Harrington and the Yawkey Trust could not, and they certainly didn’t want to spend the money for that type of talent. So that was the landscape of the Red Sox leading up to the sale to John Henry.

Since 2001, Boston fans have been treated to 13 championships, starting with the Patriots led by that skinny QB they drafted in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. Believe it or not, Los Angeles just surpassed them with the most championships in the 21^st century, with 14. New York just won their fourth. That’s cute.

My point is this: we are spoiled. In most cities, it’s exciting just to see your team compete. Tampa Bay is loving the Rays’ great season. Oklahoma City, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Kansas City rejoiced in their championships, and they probably won’t see another one any time soon. But in Boston, we now expect excellence each and every year.

The only question that matters is: “How does this get you closer to winning a championship?” Ask this question every time an owner or GM announces a move or goes on TV and extolls the virtues of the team. The Jaylen Brown trade? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions on that one, but you can probably guess where I stand.

The Red Sox haven’t been a championship contender since Dave Dombrowski was fired in 2019. This year they have the starting pitching, but Craig Breslow failed spectacularly at building an offense. At this point in my life, I don’t care about beating the Yankees. I don’t care about All-Star games, MVPs, Cy Youngs, Silver Sluggers, aura, or vibes. I care about building a championship caliber roster and competing for a World Series. For me, the sooner Craig Breslow is fired, the sooner the Red Sox can get on with the business of accomplishing that goal. Will the next guy be able to do that? I don’t know but I do know that the current guy cannot.

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Doug Aitchison aka Dougie Sunshine ☀️

As crazy as it sounds, I say yes. I wouldn’t be jumping for joy bringing him back, but I’d like it. Things have been rocky for him the last year since the whole first base debacle. But before that he was with the team what, 7, 8 years? During that time, we never heard a bad word about Devers come from the front office or the locker room.

Then this clown Breslow shows up, lies to him a ton about the roster and where he’ll be playing, lands on DH. Devers started to thrive in the designated hitter role and then boom, that loser Breslow traded him. There was a smear campaign throughout Boston papers and radio about how bad of a teammate Devers was, but we never heard that before. The only player left from the all-time 2018 team saw what a thriving organization looks like. Then Breslow took over and he saw what a nightmares scenario organization looks like. And he was clearly unhappy with it.

And then what has our team sucked at now for two years? Certainly, it can’t be the thing that Raffy Devers does best, right? Wrong! It’s exactly that. The team can’t hit! Oh, and what’s the biggest hole on the roster? DH? Make it make sense!

Would bringing back Raffy make us a contender? No, God no. Would it strengthen our lineup? My answer is yes; it would and for that reason alone I’d like to see Raffy come back to Fenway where he thrived as a hitter for years.

Terry Cushman

Devers will be traded.

Let’s start with the two worst case scenarios: he gets traded to the Yankees. Or he gets traded to the Blue Jays and hits behind Vladamir Guerrero Jr. for the rest of his career.

Half of Red Sox nation would rather not have a reunion in Boston. Until those two thoughts pop into their heads.

Since 2018 we were always better with Devers on the roster. 2027 and beyond would be no different.

I would prefer to right a major wrong in Red Sox history. Bring back your most clutch hitter, and the one guy who never backs down from the moment.

Mat Holmes

“Hard No,” and it’s really not even close. I wasn’t on the show last year when they pulled the trade off but pull up the screenshots: I was pumped. I liked the flexibility it gave the roster. I loved the idea of getting arms back, and a year later I still love it. Not because Devers can’t hit. He can. The bat was never the problem. It was everything around the bat, and everything that came with it.

Start with the eye test, because he never passed it. He showed up a little heavier every spring. He led the league in errors damn near every year while the broadcast kept telling us nobody worked harder on his defense. Year after year he was the worst third baseman in the league, and it wasn’t close on the error count. At some point the glove stops being a slump and starts being who you are.

Yeah, Craig botched the Bregman piece of it, fine. But that part should have been a no-brainer for Raffy. If you’re a team player, you look at Bregman, you admit he’s the better third baseman, and you slide to first without making it a thing. Instead, we got a standoff. And here’s what nobody wants to say out loud: you never really saw Devers lead. He was a good player when we had real leaders in that room and a good hitter after they left, but the leadership was never there, and it still isn’t.

A year later the receipts keep stacking up. He’s waving off pinch runners in San Francisco, which is the right baseball call, by the way. He no-showed three straight days of first-base work the Giants set up for him with their own franchise legend, Will Clark. And now the rumors are the Giants are shopping him. The team that gave up a haul to get him wants out after one year. That tells you everything you need to know. Leave him in the Bay.

John Russillo

I was a big Devers fan. He wasn’t a clubhouse leader but that was OK. They had Mookie, JD, and Xander. All they needed was a guy to show up and mash, and that’s what Raffy did. He played an OK third base at first but got worse and the years wore on, but he could still hit and did damage in the division, especially against the Yankees. The 2025 fiasco was so strange. It was completely mismanaged by Breslow, a GM who we now know is disliked by just about everyone in the organization. Once Devers finally settled in at DH, they asked him to play first base. Breslow should have read the room and understood that Devers doesn’t react well to change.

Having said all that, I don’t think there’s any way to put the genie back in the bottle. Even with Breslow and Cora gone, I think Devers would still harbor ill will against the team. He hasn’t hit very well since leaving Boston and he’s now a couple years older. Given the propensity of players from the DR to lie about their age, he may even be a few years older. Match that up with a $30M+ salary through 2033 and I’m out. The Red Sox need a complete rebuild and that should not include an aging player with a bloated contract. Sorry, Raffy, love you but no thanks.

Chris Felico

I wouldn’t want Rafael Devers back because I’m ready for the Red Sox to move on from that era of the franchise. This team needs a new direction, a new culture, and a new core to build around. Looking backward instead of forward is exactly how organizations get stuck, and I’d rather see Boston fully commit to what’s next than try to recreate what ultimately didn’t work post Mookie Betts.

I also think Devers became part of the personality issues that surrounded the club. Whether that perception is entirely fair or not, the Red Sox spent more time losing than winning during his tenure. He wasn’t solely responsible for that, but he was one of the defining faces of that era. For me, it’s less about assigning blame and more about turning the page. I’d rather invest in the next chapter than revisit the last one.

Jeremy Schilling

I don’t see the upside in bringing back a player like Rafael Devers. I loved him when he was here and I don’t (entirely) blame him for the way the front office and Cora handled Bregman’s addition. However, he has been a problem for San Francisco with the most recent example the failure to leave the game for a pinch runner. In my opinion, it was egregious display of showing up your manager and teammates. What was most telling for me was the complete lack of response by his teammates as he entered the dugout.

It’s a huge contract and I have questions with regards to his production as he gets a few years older. This organization needs to move forward with new front office and dugout personnel from outside of the organization and will then need to turn over the roster. When they do, they need to start with a true leader and Rafael Devers is not it.

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The Red Sox are currently 32-45, 13 games under .500 with the fewest number of wins in the American League. They are six games back in the race for the final wild card spot, with eight teams ahead of them in the race for that spot. Fangraphs has their playoff percentage at 10.3 percent. Apparently, that’s not enough evidence for Craig Breslow to admit that they should be sellers:

“We’ll be realistic and do what is best for the organization,” Breslow said. “But I still think that we’re capable of playing better and stacking some wins together and hope that we can do that in the [coming days and weeks]. ...

“We’re still not at a point where that decision is clear. Because like I said, we’ve got a lot of baseball games to play between now and then, and we’re going to do everything we can to get the ship righted for 2026.”

OK, Craig. Go ahead and die on that hill. With the ship going down by the head, Titanic captain Edward Smith locked himself in the wheelhouse and went down with his ship. If Breslow chooses that path, he will be damaging the future of a once proud franchise. It is incomprehensible to me that John Henry and Sam Kennedy are allowing this rube to manage another trade deadline, but here we are.

The Red Sox have a couple of very valuable assets that will be prime trade chips at the deadline. At least three of them will not have a higher value than today. The longer he waits, the higher the chances of injury or poor play. It’s time to start dealing, however everything we have heard is that Breslow is not taking calls from other teams seriously.

Aroldis Chapman

He has had another fantastic year. Up until The Blip in Colorado, he had a 0.83 ERA with a 12 K/9. He was untouchable. Four hits and 3 earned runs later, did his value take a hit? That will depend on his next outing. That was only his fourth outing in June so a case can be made that he is not getting enough work. When you’re a closer and your team is losing, that will happen. I think his value is still high. The risk is of course injury or another few bad outings.

Sonny Gray

Gray has been lights out recently. In his four June starts, he has 3 wins, a 2.73 ERA, and 25 strikeouts. He is having one of his best seasons in recent years. His trade value is the highest it’s been this year. His is the only true expiring contract the Red Sox have. This is most desirable for an acquiring team as they don’t have to worry about commitments past this season. He is currently the most valuable trade chip the Red Sox have.

Willson Contreras

Contreras is only 4 for 30 in his last 8 games, but that shouldn’t affect his trade value much. He is having a terrific year slashing .281/.377/.521/.898 with 16 home runs. He’s 34 years old and has one more year left on his deal, plus a club option. Would that scare away potential trade partners? Maybe, but there may not even be a season in 2027 so a team may bet on him helping them in 2026. He is probably not as valuable as pitching, which is always a premium at the deadline, but he will certainly garner interest.

Jarren Duran

He is having his worst year since 2023, slashing .199/.258/.366/.624. He’s been downright awful. Even if a team would want him for his speed and potential, the price would not be that high. Would Breslow make that deal just to get him out of town? It all depends on whether he expects Duran to be a part of the future. Once Anthony returns, the outfield is full. I think he will eventually listen to offers and probably pull the trigger.

Garrett Whitlock

If they move Chapman, Whitlock probably becomes the closer. He’s had a couple of clunkers this season but has generally been a very solid reliever. He is controllable through 2028, which makes him very valuable to the Red Sox, however his trade value will be very high. If they trade both Chapman and Whitlock, this signals a ground up retooling of the bullpen. Personally, I think trading away your last effective reliever is a mistake.

Other Trade Candidates

Breslow shouldn’t rule out trading anyone. IKF may have some value but he’s currently on the IL. Story and Yoshida also have very little value and their bloated contracts thru 2027 are probably a non-starter for an acquiring team. I think Abreu and Rafaela are safe unless somebody offers a massive package, which they won’t. The catching trio is probably also non-tradable unless it’s for a bag of balls.

So, if we are talking maximum value, it will be for Gray and/or Chapman. Does Breslow have the stones to pull off these deals? My default answer is no, but there is an outside chance that Theo Epstein gets involved in the negotiations. If that happens, we might be surprised. Trade deadline deals are all about talent evaluation, an area where Breslow has been awful. They just recently sent scouts back into the field. Can you imagine a team that doesn’t rely on in-person scouting? It’s mind boggling but that is the current state of your Red Sox. So, say a prayer, Red Sox Nation. “Oh, merciful Theo…”

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