“We need to start playing better baseball” - Red Sox CEO makes feelings clear on postseason goals prior to trade deadline

The Boston Red Sox were expected to challenge for a postseason spot under Alex Cora this season. But the American League East team has failed to deliver with the trade deadline looming.

With the team struggling to keep up in the race for the playoffs, Boston could be one of the most active teams at the deadline later this month after the All-Star break.

Red Sox team president Sam Kennedy discussed their postseason aspirations on "The Greg Hill Show," on Thursday. While Kennedy said the team will be making moves to strengthen at the deadline, he urged the team to perform better.

"We have the ability to do that in terms of, you know, a blessing from ownership, and fulfilling our goal of becoming a postseason team," Kennedy said on making additions at the trade deadline. "That said, we have to start playing better baseball on a more consistent basis.

“I mean, when we're playing sloppy defensively, when we're not running the bases as well, when the bullpen’s struggling, it's really hard to keep up in the American League East. So we've got to play better baseball and prove to ourselves over these next seven series that this is a team that can do what we think we can do."

MLB executives predict Red Sox to trade major names at trade deadline

The Red Sox shocked the baseball community by trading franchise star Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in June. While Sam Kennedy said the team will make additions later this month, executives around the league expect the team to also trade away players.

According to Jim Bowden of the Athletic, executives expect the Red Sox to trade All-Star outfielder Jarren Duran and veteran reliever Aroldis Chapman. Duran had a breakthrough season with the team last season, and although he has been decent at the plate, the Red Sox have exciting outfield prospects in their ranks that could replace the All-Star slugger.

However, a trade for Duran will not go down well with Boston fans, especially after the departure of Devers last month.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash