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June 15: What's next for the Red Sox after the Devers trade?
After sweeping the Yankees in a three-game series, the Red Sox traded star hitter Rafael Devers to the Giants on June 15. This despite the fact that Boston ended the weekend just a half-game out of a Wild Card spot in the American League. This raises the question: what's next for the Red Sox?
It goes without saying that the Red Sox are a worse team without Devers -- who had a .905 OPS and 15 home runs in 73 games with Boston. Add in the fact that the Red Sox have severely underperformed this season before their sweep against the Yankees and you have a team in a tricky predicament.
The Red Sox could decide to still go for it this year and bank on their core of young talent, an ace in Garrett Crochet and the return of Alex Bregman from injury to get to the playoffs. On the flip side, the Red Sox could decide to sell this year and make a push towards a better 2026 season.
In the event that the Red Sox did decide to sell, they could trade the best non-Devers player at the deadline in Bregman, who is currently sidelined with a right quad strain. Expected to return sometime in July, Bregman was excellent before his injury (.938 OPS and 11 home runs). Signed a three-year, $120 million deal last offseason, Bregman can opt out of his deal this winter, a decision that seems likely considering how good he was before the injury. The Red Sox could also trade Aroldis Chapman, an impending free agent with a 1.55 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 29 innings.
Few bubble teams will be entering the Deadline more compelling than the Red Sox, who have multiple avenues they can go to determine the 2025 season and beyond.
June 12: Will Red Sox shop Bregman if things don’t turn around?
The Red Sox are one of this year’s biggest underachievers, but the industry expectation is that they will look to improve their roster for the remainder of this year and into 2026, rather than acting as a traditional seller, according to The Athletic's Jim Bowden (subscription required).
Sitting just three games out in the American League Wild Card standings entering Thursday, the Red Sox have plenty of time to reverse course. Still, with the market light on impact talent from surefire sellers, you can bet that rival clubs are watching closely to see if Boston decides to deal away talent at the Trade Deadline.
As Sean McAdam recently noted in an article for MassLive.com (subscription required), the Red Sox are facing an interesting decision with third baseman Alex Bregman, whose three-year, $120 million deal includes opt-outs after this season and next. Given his performance before landing on the IL with a right quad strain, it’s looking probable at this juncture that Bregman will exercise his opt-out to become a free agent once again, perhaps increasing the likelihood that he'll be shopped if the Red Sox fall further out of the race.
The Red Sox could also have one of the top closers on the market in Aroldis Chapman, who has recorded a 1.59 ERA with 12 saves, 39 K's and nine walks over 28 1/3 innings. Fellow offseason addition Walker Buehler hasn’t had the same impact as Bregman or Chapman, posting a 5.01 ERA over 11 starts, but with the need for starting pitching around MLB, Buehler would likely attract a lot of attention, too.