Breslow, Red Sox will ‘look to improve the team’ before trade deadline

Breslow, Red Sox will ‘look to improve the team’ before trade deadline originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Craig Breslow and the Boston Red Sox have picked a lane with less than a week until the 2024 MLB trade deadline.

The first-year Red Sox chief baseball officer confirmed in an interview with Alex Speier of The Boston Globe that the front office will look to invest in this year’s team.

“At some point, we need to stop with the stupid analogies and put the turn signal on,” Breslow told Speier. “We’ve played really good baseball for the last few months. We’ve put ourselves in this position where we’re going to look to improve the team. That’s where we would want to be.

“I think everybody who takes this job does so with an eye on being in a place where not only can you add to the team but it’s the right decision. We obviously have to be mindful of the future. In a perfect world, we can improve our 2024 team and also our ‘25 and beyond. That’s my job. But I think as things stand right now, we’re looking for ways to improve the club.”

Breslow reemphasized pitching — both starting and relief — and right-handed hitting as areas the club will look to upgrade.

For Red Sox fans, actions will speak louder than words. The front office has taken a tepid approach to the deadline in recent seasons with predictably underwhelming results. This year though, the team has given Breslow and Co. a reason to buy in.

Boston is only 1.5 games back in the American League Wild Card race. Since 2000, 12 AL Wild Card teams have reached at least the ALCS. Seven Wild Card teams — including the 2004 Red Sox — have won the World Series in that span. The Arizona Diamondbacks made it to last year’s World Series as the third National League Wild Card.

The Red Sox have four games remaining — a three-game home series against the New York Yankees and a game against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park — before the July 30 trade deadline. They will look to bounce back after being swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers and losing two out of three to the Colorado Rockies.