After a mediocre first half of the season for the Boston Red Sox, the team has racked up eight wins in their last ten games. And, due to the team’s inconsistent tendencies, there are uncertainties surrounding their plan for this year’s upcoming trade deadline. On Monday’s Toucher & Rich radio program, NESN’s Tom Caron joined the show to discuss whether he thinks the Red Sox will buy or sell.
Parts of conversation are abbreviated for clarity.
A view of the Boston Red Sox logo outside Fenway Park on May 20, 2020. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Fred: Are you buying or selling at the deadline? I’m not saying they should sell off major pieces, but are you tweaking things for next year? Or are you going for it this year?
Tom Caron: Well, what I’m trying to do, if I’m Chaim Bloom, I’m trying to help this team, but it’ll have to be a player that can help next year as well. Why this? I thought early in the season, with this Red Sox team, that there was more here than people gave them credit for.
You can’t blow up this team. Two weeks ago, you could argue if things went south, you could blow things up. There are a lot of pieces here that they could sell off. But I don’t think you can do that right now because they’re in the mix.
You’re not going to go all in on Marcus Stroman as a rental for two months, and a lot of teams will be in on him. You can’t give away a bunch of prospects for a guy who’ll be here for two months.
But, you know, if you want to talk about Alex Cobb in San Francisco, who’s an all-star and under control next year, I’m listening because this team needs pitching. That’s clear, and the team will need better pitching next year too. So, I think that’s the move. You try to get a pitcher who will be here for at least one more year—somebody that will help you out this year and next.
Jun 23, 2019; Boston, MA, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (6) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Fred: Tom, are Cora and Bloom not getting along as reports have stated?
Tom Caron: I don’t know of anything. I’ve asked them both, and they say they get along well. I’ve asked them both a number of times, and they always say everything’s fine.
Now Cora has made it clear that he’s here to win now. Even if the team doesn’t make the playoffs, there’s reason to be optimistic with the young talent developing on this team. They’re playing better because of guys like Jarren Duran, Triston Casas, and Connor Wong—young players that we’ve been waiting to develop are now playing well at a major-league level.
But, when I was talking to Cora, he cut me off and said, “Yeah, that’s great. I don’t care about the future. I care about this season. I’m the manager of the Red Sox.”
So, if there’s tension there, it’s because any good general manager is thinking about the long term, and any good manager is thinking about the short-term. I think the last couple of years probably tested their relationship because the short-term hasn’t been great. But I feel like they finally turned that corner as an organization, and they’re starting to see things come together with the young players performing well.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – MAY 10: Jarren Duran #16 of the Boston Red Sox celebrates scoring on a RBI double by Raimel Tapia #17 in the seventh inning against the bat Truist Park on May 10, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Wallach: The Red Sox have identified core pieces moving forward. You were talking about Brayan Bello and Jarren Duran. If nothing else comes out of this season, they’ve identified three or four guys they can build around, right?
Tom Caron: Yeah, 100 percent. At the beginning of the season, I wouldn’t have thought Connor Wong would be playing this well. I didn’t have Jarren Duran on that list, either. But now you do. And that changes everything. Casas certainly tested the team’s faith over the first couple of months, but now he’s absolutely smashing the ball and playing good enough defense.
Devers is your third baseman for a long time to come. Yoshida is 30 years old. He’s not young but he’s under contract for five more years. So, he’s part of the future here too. And Jarren Duran, out of nowhere, has completely reclaimed his future with this organization. So, all of a sudden, you’ve got guys.
The starting pitching is still a mess. That will need to be addressed. The Red Sox came into this season with so many brittle pitchers, so it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that four starting pitchers are on the injured list now. You need help to get through this season. They’ve got a bullpen game tonight in Oakland. They’ve got a bullpen game tomorrow night as well. That’s not sustainable.
So, when you ask what they will do right now, they’ve got to get some pitching help. And it might not be Max Scherzer walking through that door, but they need somebody who can throw some innings because they don’t have it right now.
