The Boston Red Sox had an off-day Thursday, but they entered the trade deadline day holding the second American League Wild Card position, one-and-a-half games ahead of the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners, and trailing the New York Yankees by the same amount.
But when the 6 pm Eastern Time deadline came and went, those other three teams had given themselves significant upgrades. The Red Sox did nothing except add their fifth left-handed relief pitcher â Steven Matz, from the St. Louis Cardinals â and a back-of-the rotation starter in former Los Angeles Dodgers righty Dustin May.
Red Sox Wild Card Rivals All Make Big Moves
Meanwhile the Yankees, among other moves, added not one but two of baseball’s best closers, obtaining 30-year-old David Bednar who has been perfect in 17 save opportunities this year for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and former San Francisco Giants 28-year-old flamethrower Camillo Doval, who has converted 15 out of 19.
The Mariners reacquired Arizona Diamondbacks power hitting third baseman Eugenio Suárez, who has already belted 36 home runs in 2025, fifth in MLB trailing only his new teammate Cal Raleigh (41), the Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani (38), the Yankees Aaron Judge and the Philadelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber (37 each).
Rangers’ MLB-Best Rotation Gets Better
Finally, the Rangers traded for another Diamondback, 36-year-old righty starter Merrill Kelly â a pitcher the Red Sox had been widely reported to be pursuing.
Kelly joins a formidable Rangers rotation that already leads the Majors with a 3.16 ERA, and includes two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, and two-time All-Star Nathan Eovaldi.
Relative to their closest competitors, the Red Sox exited the trade deadline day as a worse team than when they entered it, though of course time and the eventual results on the field will serve as the real judge of the Red Sox’ performance.
Breslow Offers Non-Responses to Deadline Questions
Red Sox chief of baseball operations Craig Breslow attempted to explain his lack of action at the trade deadline, but never quite offered an adequate answer.
“We pursued a number of really impact opportunities. Obviously, not all of them work out. It wasn’t from an unwillingness to get uncomfortable,” Breslow said in a post-deadline online video press conference, as quoted by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.
“Ultimately it takes two teams lining it up for those trades to line up,” Breslow added, according to the Red Sox cable network NESN.
But the Red Sox heading into the 2025 season had the No. 3 farm system in baseball, as rated by MLB Pipeline. They have no shortage of up-and-coming talent to offer in trade scenarios, so why Breslow could not “line up” better trades than the two relatively minor deals he managed to pull off was something he did not explain.
Red Sox Fans, Influencers Outraged, Upset
The team’s fans were understandably irate at the non-results of the day for the Red Sox, as indicated by the most prominent online Red Sox influencers, who were unanimous in their disappointment at Breslow.
After trading the team’s highest paid player, Rafael Devers, to the Giants on June 15, Breslow pledged that the Red Sox planned to be “aggressive” at the trade deadline, declaring, “weâve talked a lot about looking to the future, at some point, the future has to be now.â
But that promise was not fulfilled.
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