The Red Sox are six games out in the AL East and sit just one game back of the final Wild Card spot in the American League. Theyve been linked to a number of trade targets over the past week , and among them. That should be indicative of the teams deadline approach, but chief baseball officer removed any doubt and publicly stated that hes looking for ways to improve the club in the final days before next Tuesdays trade deadline ( Boog Powell Jersey ). Specifically, Breslow cited a desire to add to an injury-depleted pitching staff and to find a right-handed bat to complement a lineup that leans left-handed. Asked about the po sibility of both moving some current contributors who are free agents at seasons end (e.g. , ) and also looking to add elsewhere on the roster, Breslow said itd be irresponsible if he didnt at least listen to what teams had to offer, but he also heavily downplayed the po sibility of trading a current contributor: Its hard to think about how moving those guys would make us better, said Breslow. Bostons rotation was dealt a significant blow before the season even began, when offseason signee suffered a UCL tear during spring training and underwent an internal brace procedure thatll keep him out of action until 2025. Righty underwent the same procedure just two months later. Depth starter had Tommy John surgery in April. At the moment, the Sox are going with a rotation of , , , and . Houck has already set a new career-high in innings pitched with more than two months of the season to play out. Crawford is 10 innings shy of last years 129 1/3 frames. Criswell has been a nice under-the-radar find for the Sox, pitching to a 4.02 ERA in 65 innings. However, hes cooled after a hot start. Even with the seven scorele s frames he to sed in his most recent start, Criswell has a 5.26 earned run average dating back to mid-May. Like Houck and Crawford, hed sail past his career-high innings count if he remained in the rotation for the rest of the season. Bostons depth beyond that quintet isnt great. Righty has pitched well in five starts, but hes been valuable as a long reliever as well (highlighted by an excellent six-inning relief appearance in which he held the Jays to two runs and saved the rest of the pen on a day when Bello was knocked out in the third inning). Veteran is another long option in the bullpen but has a rough track record in recent seasons. Hes pitched to a 4.59 ERA in 2024 but has generally worked in low-leverage and mop-up situations. Veteran is on the 40-man roster in Triple-A, but the Sox used him in relief earlier this season and he was hit hard both in Boston and with the ChiSox. Non-40-man options include , prospect and journeyman . Suffice it to say, the Sox could use both some bulk innings and some more depth. Breslow indicated that in a perfect world, hed be able to acquire someone controlled/signed beyond the current season, though such options arent exactly plentiful. Bostons reported interest in Paxton signals that theyre at least open to a short-term rental, while their talks with the Cubs about Taillon demonstrate a willingne s to take on some salary of note. Taillon is signed through 2026 and earning $18MM per season along the way. With regard to a right-handed bat, the need is arguably le s acute but notable nonethele s. Red Sox hitters have posted a league-average .249/.325/.403 slash against left-handed pitching this season. Thats hardly a glaring flaw, but theres room for improvement. Thats especially true when it comes to their contact abilities against lefties or rather, their lack thereof. Sox hitters have fanned at an MLB-worst 28.8% clip against lefties, and no other team is particularly close. The Mariners have the second-worst mark at 26.2%, and the Rockies (25.2%) are the only other team north of 25%. Between , and , the Sox have a handful of key left-handed bats in the lineup. Devers and Duran have been fixtures regardle s of opponent. Abreu is typically complemented by righty-swinging veteran . Right-handed regulars in the lineup include catcher (whos in the midst of a breakout year at the plate), versatile and the aforementioned ONeill. Speculatively speaking, first or second base would be a sensible area to target a right-handed bat. has held his own with a .232/.326/.371 slash in the absence of slugger (another lefty), but . Bostons -for- swap has been disastrous thus far, with Sale returning to form in Atlanta while Gri som has hit .148/.207/.160 in 87 plate appearances during an injury-ruined first year in Boston. Sox second basemen have batted an MLB-worst .197/.253/.299 on the season. , , and old friend are among the rental options who could help in one of those roles. More controllable names include , and the aforementioned Rengifo (a switch-hitter). The Red Sox drew plenty of criticism for a relatively quiet offseason that followed chairman Tom Werners regrettable full throttle comments earlier in the winter, but one notable result of that is a luxury-tax ledger thats not all that close to the threshold. about $218MM worth of luxury obligations for the Sox, meaning theyre a hefty $19MM shy of the first tier of luxury penalization. The Sox reset their tax bracket when they dipped under the threshold in 2023, but even if ownership is reluctant to exceed it again, their current number should allow Breslow and his staff flexibility when exploring trades in the next few days. Mike Mussina Jersey