Two weeks ago, we argued the Red Sox should trade Jarren Duran and embrace the seller role. We weren’t wrong to write it. They were 32-46, 14 games under .500, and had the look of a team going nowhere.
Then they went 14-2.
They swept three series on the road — Angels, White Sox, Mets — without losing a single game. First 9-0 road trip since 1977. The 1977 club had Rice, Yaz, and Carlton Fisk. This club has Sonny Gray going 11-1 with a 2.54 ERA and an interim manager who looks increasingly like he should stop being interim.
At the All-Star break the Red Sox are 46-48 and half a game out of the last Wild Card spot.
Half. A. Game.
The sellers argument is dead. Craig Breslow needs to bury it.
Sonny Gray is not a rental piece putting up fluff numbers against a bad schedule. He is the best pitcher in the American League right now. 11-1. 2.54 ERA. 95 innings into the season and he’s been better than advertised on every single start. The Red Sox built around Gray and it’s working, and the window for “working” doesn’t stay open forever because Gray is 36 years old. The time is now is not a cliché when the ace is 36.
Willson Contreras made his position clear — he refused to waive his no-trade clause because he wants to be in Boston. That’s not a guy phoning in the second half of a lost year. That’s a leader who sees something worth staying for.
Interim manager Chad Tracy, after winning the ninth straight game, put it simply: “Where we’re at right now, based on where we were three weeks ago, you couldn’t ask for much more.”
That’s understatement. You genuinely could not ask for more from a team that everyone had written off before the All-Star break.
The AL Wild Card field is not intimidating. The American League in 2026 is about as deep as a car wash puddle. Half a game out with three weeks of momentum and the best pitching performance in the league is not a situation where a smart front office sells. It’s a situation where a smart front office picks up the phone and calls every team with a struggling closer or a spare left-handed reliever.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported that Boston’s next 17 games affect not just this season but the franchise’s future. He’s right, and the trajectory is pointing one direction.
There are still paths to upgrade, and the Red Sox are exploring them 1 with 5+ hours till we know if they improved further. In the meantime: How are the Red Sox doing at the trade deadline in comparison with their primary WC competition? https://t.co/th2W0vHe3A via @BostonGlobe
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 30, 2024
Breslow has been cautious all year. Cautious about selling, cautious about committing. The run the Red Sox just went on makes caution look like cowardice. This team is right there. The August 3 deadline is 18 days away.
Buy something. Do it now. Stop hedging before this window closes itself.
