Sports Final: Are Red Sox a team worth investing in at trade deadline?
BOSTON -- The Red Sox are a mess right now. An absolute mess.
They limped into the All-Star break by dropping two of three in rather embarrassing fashion to the first-place Yankees. Overall, the Red Sox have lost 10 of their last 13 games and are now in fourth place in both the AL East and AL Wild Card race.
So much for that incredible month of June turning things around for Alex Cora's ballclub. With the team struggling and the trade deadline just over two weeks away, the big question is whether or not chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom will be a buyer or a seller at the deadline.
Bloom may open up a fire sale over the next two weeks, but The Athletic's Steve Buckley doesn't believe he'll be making any big moves to vastly improve the club come Aug. 2.
"I wouldn't invest heavily in stock," Buckley told WBZ-TV's Steve Burton on Sunday night's Sports Final. "There is a fool's gold premise because there are more teams that can make the playoffs because of the extended Wild Card. Your team might make the playoffs. Your team is the Red Sox -- do you really think this a World Series team? Based on the starting pitching. Based on you have a bullpen that doesn't have the one guy who can come in and mow people down. Based on the fundamental errors. Based on the fact that [Chris] Sale might be out the rest of the season. Based on what is happening at first base struggles.
"I wouldn't sell prospects to bring in a guy right now based on what I am seeing," said Buckley.
Whether that means the team chooses to trade away Xander Bogaerts and other future free agents remains to be seen. But Buckley does not see the Red Sox as a team worth adding to at the deadline.
But if Bloom does try to improve this team, there is no shortage of needs up and down the roster. As always, there is a need for more pitching -- both in the rotation and the bullpen. With Bobby Dalbec and Franchy Cordero struggling to make contact, the Sox could really use a first baseman who could not only play the position but do anything with the bat.
Buckley says you can really pick your poison with the issues surrounding this team, but the biggest issue is how they've been playing the last couple of weeks. The losses have come from self-inflicted wounds, usually from a lack of fundamentals.
"I see an alarming array of mistakes that a team managed by Alex Cora shouldn't be making," said Buckley. "By no way do I want Alex Cora fired. But a team managed by Alex Cora should not be making these mistakes; [Alex] Verdugo getting picked off third, pop flies being dropped.
"I'm okay with errors. Errors happen," Buck said. "But when you get picked off third base or when you throw behind the runner or to the wrong base -- I don't think the ball that went over [Christian] Arroyo's head was just a mistake. I don't think he was in the game and that bothered me. Those are the things that bother me more than struggles at first base."
Check out Buckley and Burton's full chat in the video above, and tune in to Sports Final every Sunday night at 11:35 p.m. on WBZ-TV!