Tonight, the Boston Red Sox visit St.Petersburg, Florida to take on the Tampa Bay Rays. It is the first game of a stretch of 14 in which Boston plays either Tampa or the New York Yankees, the two teams in front of them in the American League East standings. That means the Sox season comes down to these two weeks.
At 54-46, the Red Sox are currently sitting three games back of the second American League Wild Card. The Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics occupy the two wild cards at the moment, but Boston and Tampa (one game behind) continue to lurk. But with this stretch against the Yanks and Rays, Boston could either fall way out of the picture, or surpass Tampa in their attempt to reach the postseason.
Based on how the 2019 has gone for Boston so far, I am not expecting them to start pummeling Tampa and New York, but crazier things have happened. This is a talented team that knows it needs to win now. Every member in the Red Sox clubhouse knows that it is now or never.
Winning a majority of these 14 games will put them in a good position moving forward. If they get to that point, Dave Dombrowski will probably go out and do what he usually does: acquire more talent and push for another World Series run. Still, the likelihood of that happening looks slim in my eyes. The team just lost two of three to a horrendous Baltimore team and have been unable to stay consistent all year. Should we now expect them to beat New York and Tampa? Teams they have combined to go 5-11 against in 2019? That is why these next 14 games will be so telling. If the Sox are unable to compete with these winning ball clubs, it could be time for Dealin’ Dave to get on the phone and start selling off pieces before the July 31 MLB Trade Deadline.
Chris Cotillo of Masslive.com talks about how Dombrowski was in this type of situation with the Detroit Tigers back in 2015. A high payroll, star-studded squad was underperforming right up until the deadline. Detroit was 10 1/2 games back in the division and 4 games back in the Wild Card, so Dombrowski decided to trade David Price, Joakim Soria, and Yoenis Cespedes to snag some prospects. So despite the fact the Sox just got Andrew Cashner from the Orioles, Boston could still easily be sellers at the deadline. Cashner, Rick Porcello, Brock Holt, and other expiring contracts could soon be headed out that door, we just need to wait and see how these next two weeks go.
-Jarrod Ribaudo (@Jribs53)