The Red Sox have gone from looking like clear sellers to standing on the edge of something baseball hasn’t seen in more than a century.
For much of the first half, Boston sat near the bottom of the American League, and the noise around the club reflected that reality. Aroldis Chapman seemed likely to be moved, Jarren Duran’s trade chatter picked back up, and even Craig Breslow’s job security was being questioned.
Now the picture has changed fast. Boston has ripped off nine straight wins, and while the AL East still looks like a long shot by the All-Star break, the Wild Card race is very much alive.
The numbers behind the turnaround are eye-catching. The Red Sox were 14 games under .500 on 6/24, but now sit just 2 games under .500 and a half game out of the final Wild Card spot.
That puts them in rare company. According to OptaSTATS, the only team in MLB history to reach the playoffs after being 14 or more games under .500 on June 24 or later was the 1914 Boston Braves.
That Braves team had some familiar names on it - Hall of Fame shortstop Rabbit Maranville, catcher Bert Whaling, and second baseman Johnny Evers, who won MVP that season. They didn’t just claw into the postseason after their rough start. They went on to sweep the Philadelphia Athletics in four games to win the World Series.
More than 100 years later, the Red Sox are trying to do something that hasn’t been done since. And in a modern game with far more teams and far more competition, finishing the job would carry its own kind of weight.
In Other News...
Red Sox Suddenly Tied To A Blockbuster Rumor That Feels Off
A rumor with a massive footprint started making the rounds around the Red Sox when a Spanish-language pregame host posted that Boston had opened trade conversations for a young Nationals outfielder, with the expected asking price sounding steep from the start. It is the kind of idea that can set off instant speculation, but it also lands in a place where the fit is not especially clean, especially with Boston already carrying real outfield depth.
The bigger obstacle is on the Washington side, where there is little obvious reason to move a player the Nationals view as part of their future. Even if Boston were willing to put together a serious offer, the sort of package that would have to be considered would likely be painful enough to test how far the Red Sox would actually want to go, and there has been no official confirmation that talks have even begun. [Read more 🡒]
Chris Sale Opened Up About His Red Sox Exit And It Stings
Chris Sales reflections during the 2024 All-Star Game broadcast landed with the kind of weight that only comes from a player looking back on a complicated chapter. The 10-time All-Star spent seven seasons with the Red Sox, and even with the injuries that slowed the end of his run in Boston, he made clear how much that stretch still means to him. He also acknowledged the fans who stood by him through it all, even as his time with the club ended in a way that never quite matched the expectations that came with it.
Sale said he had committed to giving everything he had in what would have been his final season with Boston, a promise shaped by how much he felt he owed the organization after the injuries. He also admitted the frustration of not being healthy enough in those last years, which made the exit sting even more. Now with the Braves, Sales comments served as a reminder that for all the change, the bond between him and Red Sox Nation still carries plenty of unfinished emotion. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Suddenly Have A Rotation Arm Drawing Trade Interest
The rotation picture in Boston has shifted enough that clubs around the league are watching closely, and the Red Sox could find themselves with a movable arm if the right offer comes along. Patrick Sandoval has re-entered the mix after a long injury absence, and his return gives Boston another healthy starter in a group that has been thinned and then replenished as the season has worn on.
For a team like St. Louis, sitting near the Wild Card line and trying to avoid paying premium prices for a short-term fix, that kind of profile is worth monitoring. Sandovals recent first start back was encouraging, and with his contract and injury history shaping how rival front offices view him, he fits the sort of affordable pitching addition that can linger on the deadline market even as bigger names dominate the conversation. [Read more 🡒]