The Boston Red Sox are in danger of following up their ALCS appearance by missing the postseason entirely. With the 2022 MLB trade deadline coming up, they will have to decide whether to be buyers or sellers.
Boston is three games behind a Wild Card spot at the moment and is only 1.5 games above the massively under-achieving Chicago White Sox and surprisingly over-achieving Baltimore Orioles in the standings. They have been mostly healthy yet are close to falling below .500 thanks to a poor pitching staff and an offense built very heavily around just a handful of bats.
According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Fox Sports, the Red Sox's success (or lack thereof) in their current homestand could decide whether they are buyers or sellers at the trade deadline.
Will the Red Sox be sellers at the trade deadline? @Ken_Rosenthal has the latest: pic.twitter.com/PtqagCGvaC
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 23, 2022
The Red Sox started their homestand off in the most embarrassing fashion possible against the Toronto Blue Jays, losing 28-5 and surrendering the most runs ever in a single game in franchise history. With two more games against the Jays, four against the Cleveland Guardians and three against the Milwaukee Brewers, they will have to put together some big wins.
Boston could sell players like Christian Vazquez, J.D. Martinez, Nathan Eovaldi and Kiké Hernandez, all of whom are going to be free agents after this season. They could get some solid prospects in return but it would signal to their stars that they are looking to rebuild rather than compete.
With contract extensions yet to be in place for Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts, the Red Sox need to prove they can remain competitive in order to convince them to stay. With how unstable Boston is as a team, it seems like they will be headed for a full rebuild soon. They can fix their fate by making some big splashes.
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