“It’s a tough question to answer. If we were to have known that Wily would be down and Roman would be down, maybe we would’ve acted differently,” the chief baseball officer said before Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays. “But we pursued every opportunity that we had to improve the team, and you have to prioritize where you think the greatest areas of needs are. And those things clearly can change pretty quickly. But that’s the reason it’s important to have organizational depth.”
Among the hitters who were traded, Josh Naylor (Diamondbacks to Mariners), who would have been a perfect roster fit, has continued to have a standout season. Eugenio Suarez, whom the Red Sox pursued, hasn’t been as hot after going from Arizona to Seattle in a separate deal.
Utility man José Caballero — who would have plugged the hole at second base that opened when Marcelo Mayer hurt his wrist and/or would’ve been the team’s top late-inning stolen-base threat — has been highly productive for the Yankees, who acquired him from the Rays.
Conversely, Ryan O’Hearn (Padres), Ke’Bryan Hayes (Reds), and others haven’t been as good.
The Red Sox will reevaluate the deals they did and did not make, Breslow said. Just not yet.
“It’s always appropriate to review those types of decisions,” he said. “This offseason, we’re going to be faced with similar decisions whether that’s pursuing players in free agency or making trades. And we want to put ourselves in the best position so that the information we have about players is accurate. So the short answer is yes. Here on Sept. 23, it’s probably not the best time to do that.”
With the postseason beginning a week from Tuesday — and the second round starting a week from Saturday — Anthony remains not close to a return from a left oblique strain sustained about three weeks ago.
“This is an injury that we knew is going to take some time to heal and for him to get back on the field,” Breslow said. “He and the medical staff are working as hard as they can to accelerate the timeline to the extent possible.
“Being around him a little bit, you can see he’s getting more comfortable. When it first happened, you could look at him and tell that he was in quite a bit of discomfort and pain. That has subsided. But there’s still quite a bit of room to get to in terms of baseball activity.”
Righthanded pitching prospect Luis Perales got into three games before the end of the minor league season, raising the unlikely possibility that the Red Sox call him up to debut during the most important games of the year.
Breslow described Perales, 22, as a “really, really exciting young arm” but emphasized that there is more in play than the Sox’ needs. To a degree, Perales is still in rehab mode after having Tommy John surgery in June 2024.
“He’s got real swing-and-miss stuff, so I think he’s got an incredibly bright future,” Breslow said, not ruling out the possibility of a Perales promotion. “We’ve just got to balance pushing him, if we think it helps us, with the overall health picture.”
With MLB announcing that the automated ball/strike challenge system — as seen in the minor leagues, spring training, and the All-Star Game — is coming to the majors in 2026, count Sox manager Alex Cora in, if not enthusiastically.
“It’s great, I guess,” Cora said, noting that the Red Sox did not experience it much in spring training. “They’ve been trying this for years … They feel this is the correct way of doing it. We’re behind it.”
The minor league season is over, but the major league team might have needs arise, so the Sox sent 6-8 players to Fort Myers, Fla., to stay ready just in case, Breslow said. That group includes Kristian Campbell, Jhostynxon Garcia, Abraham Toro, Perales, and others on the 40-man roster … Also in Fort Myers are a bunch of injured pitchers who have varying chances of returning. May is facing hitters, Jordan Hicks is throwing bullpen sessions, Brennan Bernardino is starting a progression because his strained lat “symptoms have completely subsided,” Breslow said … Ali Sánchez cleared waivers, and was outrighted to the minors. The Sox expect him to stay with the organization, which would preserve a valuable layer of catching depth, instead of electing free agency … Longtime minor league manager Buddy Bailey died, according to his former Venezuelan winter league team. Bailey, 68, spent 14 seasons with the Red Sox, including two stints as the manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox.