DENVER — Just under two hours before the Red Sox game against the Rockies on Tuesday night, Craig Breslow walked into Coors Field after a flight from Boston.
“No news to report,” he said on his way to the Red Sox clubhouse, acknowledging the anticipation surrounding the presence of a head of baseball operations on the road close to the trade deadline. “Sorry to disappoint.”
Despite most trade deadline activities happening at the last minute, the Red Sox, who suffered a four-game losing streak post-All-Star break, have opportunities to strengthen their contender status before then. One significant and immediate opportunity is James Paxton.
On Sunday, Paxton (8-2, 4.43 ERA) impressed for the Dodgers against the Red Sox, holding his former team to three runs with seven strikeouts over five innings, reaching speeds of 96 mph. The next day, the Dodgers designated him for assignment, anticipating a robust market due to the impending returns of Clayton Kershaw and Tyler Glasnow, among others.
According to several major league sources, the Red Sox have already shown interest in Paxton. Their rationale is clear: many teams, including the Red Sox, struggle against lefties.
The Yankees will visit Fenway Park over the weekend. This season, New York leads the majors with a .780 OPS against right-handed pitchers but drops to .697 against lefties, ranking 21st. Over the last five weeks, the Yankees are 2-7 against left-handed starters. Acquiring a left-handed starter like Paxton could provide a significant advantage.
Paxton isn’t the only potential upgrade the Sox are considering. Team officials are in contact with other clubs, seeking starters, relievers, and ways to improve against left-handed pitching.
While the Sox explore options, other contenders have already made moves. The Brewers acquired right-handed starter Aaron Civale from the Rays at the beginning of July, though the Sox were not involved, according to a source.
The Royals added setup man Hunter Harvey before the All-Star break, trailing the Sox by one game in the wild-card standings at the time. Industry members were surprised by the high cost Kansas City paid for Harvey, including a top-five prospect (Cayden Wallace) and the No. 39 pick in the 2024 draft, but the team was thrilled.
“It’s exciting to know that the front office and everybody has the same goal as all of us players. We want to win. I love that,” said Royals All-Star lefty Cole Ragans. “It’s so exciting. I love Kansas City. I love everything about it, from the front office to the staff to the city.”
Since the break, Harvey has pitched once, and the Royals have won four straight while the Sox have lost four straight, going from two games ahead in the wild-card race to two games behind.
The Sox, whose playoff odds were over 50 percent at the All-Star break, saw those odds drop to 34 percent according to Fangraphs and 48 percent according to Baseball-reference.com by Tuesday.
The reduced odds are due to a brutal four-game stretch where the Sox blew five separate leads in the eighth inning or later. They lost 4-1 to the Dodgers on Friday after leading 1-0 in the eighth. On Saturday, they lost 7-6 to the Dodgers after leading 4-3 in the ninth and 6-4 in the 10th. On Monday, they lost 8-7 to the Rockies after leading 7-5 in the 10th and 8-7 in the 12th.
This sequence marked the first time in the expansion era, and possibly in team history, that the team had blown five leads in the eighth inning or later in a four-game span, according to Elias.
These losses highlight the absence of injured setup men Justin Slaten and Chris Martin, and the absence of Kenley Jansen in Colorado due to a heart condition exacerbated by Denver’s altitude.
There’s clearly room to strengthen the bullpen, but members of the Sox suggest the four-game skid shouldn’t cause panic.
“Pretty small sample. I know it’s four games. But these guys have a pretty long history of being a really solid unit down there. There’s a lot of confidence in not only today but the next two months or so,” said pitching coach Andrew Bailey. “If this was a consistent pattern, a season-long trend, it would be pretty glaring, but I think over a four-game stretch, it’s not that glaring of an issue. I’m confident in this group and not really concerned with what the front office does or doesn’t do.”
Despite the disappointing start to the road trip through Los Angeles and Colorado, the Sox maintain faith in the team. Team officials evaluate the club, considering that they were in a position to win three of the four games.
While the outcomes differed from the 20-8 run before the break, manager Alex Cora asserted that the recent performance hasn’t changed the team’s view of being worthy of upgrades.
“This hasn’t changed anything,” he said. “The quality of the team and the quality of the way we’re playing is still there.”
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