The Boston Red Sox have played good baseball over the last month or so, putting themselves in the playoff race when many did not expect it, and despite that, the fanbase is still frustrated with ownership's lack of spending to supplement the young talent on the team. Alex Cora spoke on how he is approaching this trade deadline, and shut down the idea that the Red Sox are trying to win to put pressure on ownership and the front office to add talent.
“We're not winning games to put pressure on the front office. We're trying to win games to make it to the playoffs,” Alex Cora said, via Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. “There's this idea that we have to put pressure on them. No… we want to win because we want to win.”
The Red Sox are currently half of a game out of the wild card in the American League, trailing the Kansas City Royals. Boston sits at 45-39 overall after a solid month of June. Young players like Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu are stepping up, along with Rafael Devers and a pitching staff that has seen a resurgence with Andrew Bailey taking over as pitching coach.
Cora is in an interesting position, managing the Red Sox on an expiring contract this season. Some believe that this might be his last year with the organization, but with the team performing above expectations, many fans want him retained. There has been speculation that a potential separation could be the desire of either side. The Red Sox and new chief baseball officer Craig Breslow could want to hire a new manager, or Cora could want a reset with a different organization in 2025. Either way, it will be intriguing to see what happens with Cora when this season wraps up, whether that be in the regular season or the postseason.
Who could the Red Sox target at the trade deadline?
The Red Sox have recently gotten reinforcements with some players returning from injuries. As mentioned before, the Red Sox have gotten good performance out of Jarren Duran, Rafael Devers and Wilyer Abreu. Abreu just returned from injury and has had a solid season overall.
Boston has also gotten solid play from Tyler O'Neill this season, bouncing back from a down year with the St. Louis Cardinals. Tyler O'Neill missed time due to injury as well. Other contributors in thelineup are Connor Wong, who is having the best season of his career.
When looking at positions the Red Sox could look to fill, first base and shortstop stick out. Boston could get Triston Casas back at some point at first base, but while he is a good hitter, he is not known for his defense. Acquiring a first baseman at the deadline could add another bat, while sliding Casas to DH could improve Boston's defense, which has been a problem at points this year.
The Red Sox have moved Ceddanne Rafaela to shortstop, but it has not gone well, as he has -5 DRS and -8 OAA, according to FanGraphs. That is not ideal for someone known to be a defense first player. Acquiring a full-time shortstop would allow Rafaela to shift back to the outfield, where has played well defensively with 6 DRS and 5 OAA.
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