The Boston Red Sox gave themselves a jolt with a four-game sweep of the New York Yankees in Boston, but that run hasn’t changed the bigger picture. Even after taking all four games from an AL East rival, the Red Sox are still 4.5 games out of a Wild Card spot and 12 games behind in the AL East race.
That’s why MLB insider Robert Murray of Fansided.com is pushing Boston toward a move that would sting: sell at the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
“After sweeping the New York Yankees at Fenway Park over the weekend, a question has been posed to me a few times: Should the Boston Red Sox maybe buy, not sell, ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline? The answer is no. At least, for now,” Murray writes.
The sweep is the kind of series that can easily tempt a team into believing the tide has turned. But Murray’s view is that one hot weekend doesn’t erase the larger issues that have followed Boston all season.
The offense is still described as a major problem, and Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet remain injured. At the same time, there is said to be considerable interest in their trade value. Murray’s stance is that Boston would be better off using the deadline to improve the future of the franchise, even if that means moving players such as Sonny Gray, Aroldis Chapman, and Jarren Duran if the returns are strong enough in what is expected to be a seller’s market.
The rotation has been a bright spot, even without Crochet, but Murray doesn’t see the overall roster as one that can be patched into a true contender. He says the club is not good enough as currently constructed to chase a World Series, even if it gets additional help.
He also points out that the American League’s weakness can make Boston look closer than it really is. In his view, the Red Sox still aren’t a strong team, sweep or no sweep.
That’s the disappointing part for Boston. A series like this can feel like a turning point, but the deadline should be shaped by more than four games against the Yankees.
There’s still more than a month to go before Aug. 3, and plenty can shift between now and then. The Red Sox could keep winning and force a different conversation, or they could slip back again.
For now, though, Murray’s message is clear: one sweep shouldn’t be enough to change the plan.
In Other News...
Yankees May Have Found Their Best Shot At A Bullpen Fix
The Yankees keep searching for answers in the middle innings, and Yovanny Cruz has surfaced as one of the more intriguing internal options. The right-hander is back from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after a stretch that included 2 1/3 scoreless innings in the majors and steady work in the minors, where he has posted a 3.18 ERA and missed enough bats to stand out in a bullpen that has been under constant stress.
For a club still navigating reliever uncertainty, Cruzs return is less about a single appearance and more about whether he can provide some needed stability at a time when every roster move gets viewed through the lens of the trade deadline. The Yankees have been trying to piece together reliable innings while other arms have wobbled, and another internal call-up gives them one more chance to find help without having to pay a bigger price on the market. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Make Another Annoying AL East Depth Move Yankees Fans Know Too Well
The Rays are back to a familiar kind of roster shuffle, bringing outfielder Austin Slater back on a minor league deal as they keep working the margins of their AL East depth chart. For a club that has long made a habit of turning over the same kind of veteran role players, Slater is the latest low-cost name to cycle through the system, and the Yankees have seen enough of that sort of move from Tampa Bay to know it can matter later.
Slater, 33, has already spent time with three organizations this year and has appeared in 28 games while struggling to get much going at the plate. He previously carved out most of his big league career with the Giants over eight seasons, and now Tampa Bay is betting there may still be a use for him if it needs a familiar bench piece down the line. [Read more 🡒]
Yankees Offense Just Reached A Breaking Point Fans Feared Most
The Yankees offense has gone from shaky to flat-out alarming over a recent four-game stretch, with the kind of missed chances and empty innings that make every absence feel bigger. Without key pieces in the lineup, New York has struggled to generate much of anything against the Red Sox and Tigers, and the results have only sharpened the focus on how thin the margin is when the bats disappear.
What makes the skid feel even heavier is that the Yankees had been hanging in there until the trip through Fenway, when the problems seemed to deepen and the whole attack started to look out of sync. At the same time, the club is still waiting for clarity on its injured stars, and the questions around health and coaching decisions are starting to hang over the lineup as much as the results themselves. [Read more 🡒]