The Boston Red Sox surprised many when the team elected not to make a move ahead of Wednesday's MLB trade deadline. Though the team had been connected to many bullpen arms in rumors leading up to the deadline, they elected to stand pat.
And there may have been a reason for that.
According to MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, the Red Sox faced an obstacle in any trade talks. Teams across the MLB simply liked other prospects more than the ones the Red Sox had.
The Red Sox farm system is rated as one of the worst in the majors, so this isn't necessarily a surprise. The Sox do have some solid prospects -- 2018 first-round draft pick Triston Casas stands out among the bunch -- but evidently, whatever the Sox were offering came up short of what other teams were offering for bullpen help. So, the team elected not to "do something stupid" and retained their prospects in hopes that they'll either turn into major league contributors or up their trade value.
Still, failing to address one of their weakest areas -- the Red Sox have the 12th-worst bullpen ERA in the majors (4.53) and the sixth-most blown saves (19) -- while standing two games back in a competitive wild-card race doesn't seem like a great alternative either.
If the Red Sox can win a wild-card spot with the current group, that will vindicate Dave Dombrowski to some extent, as it is unlikely that the team would be able to make a push to the top of the AL East. But if this team can't come together, it sure does look as if Dombrowski waved the white flag on the season.
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