Craig Breslow said the Red Sox are not ready to label themselves sellers before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, even with Willson Contreras already part of the contract discussion. The club entered the day at 31-45, second-worst in the American League, but Breslow said the season is not at the point where a sell-off is clear.
Craig Breslow Holds The Line
“We’ll be realistic and do what is best for the organization,” Breslow said before the Red Sox’ 5-2 win over the Rockies. He added that the club is still “capable of playing better and stacking some wins together,” and said the first job is to “take care of what’s happening here and do everything we can to figure out how to play better baseball and stack some wins together.”
That keeps the front office in a holding pattern. Breslow said teams can move early, but they also may not learn what another club is willing to pay until closer to the deadline, which is why he stopped short of drawing a hard line on the roster.
Sonny Gray And 2027 Decisions
The contract picture is narrow. Sonny Gray was described as the main pending free agent, while Willson Contreras and Jarren Duran were both described as under contract for 2027 and beyond. Breslow said, “We’re still not at a point where that decision is clear,” when asked about players in that category.
He also said, “Because like I said, we’ve got a lot of baseball games to play between now and then, and we’re going to do everything we can to get the ship righted for 2026.” He added that the next layer of roster planning would come after that, when the club can judge its needs and decide how to position itself for the best 2027 possible if that is where things go.
Marcelo Mayer’s Left Foot
Marcelo Mayer missed the middle game of the series after fouling a pitch off his left foot Monday and then walking with a limp. Chad Tracy said the Red Sox held him out because of the sore foot and a left-handed starter from Colorado, a decision that kept the middle infielder off the field while the club tried to avoid making the injury worse.
Tracy also explained why Tyron Guerrero entered the seventh inning Monday. Guerrero had already warmed up in the sixth, and Tracy said, “Ty was warming up, fully hot. Like the matchup with either of them. Rather than sit him down and you’ve got a guy fully hot and you get another guy fully hot and you end up using both of them, bring him [Guerrero] into the game, let him do the job.” Guerrero had a 3.65 ERA in 13 appearances, was 35 years old, and had not been in the majors since 2019.
That leaves the Red Sox with a small window to change the tone before Aug. 3. Breslow said the club can still stack wins together, but the record and the roster questions now sit in the same frame, and the decisions on players under contract for 2027 and beyond will come later only if the next few games push the team in that direction.
