Mac Cerullo: Deadline deals show Red Sox focused on winning games, not trades

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on Aug 3, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BOSTON — Last week when Craig Breslow spoke to reporters following the Curtis Mead trade, the Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer was asked if the decision to trade a big leaguer for a big leaguer reflected how few clear sellers there were ahead of the trade deadline.

His response was eye-opening.

“A lot of front offices are looking at very similar information so trying to find an opportunity to win a trade is not as easy as maybe it would have been at another point,” Breslow said. “And instead, in this position I’ve tried to shift to — our goal is not to win the trade, our goal is to make our major league team better.”

That would seem a departure from how the Red Sox have operated throughout this decade, and through his actions Monday, it’s clear Breslow meant what he said.

This year will go down as one of the most significant trade deadlines in recent Red Sox history and will likely define Breslow’s front office tenure in Boston. Breslow swung four trades total, sending out a massive chunk of the organization’s top prospects for several players who project as immediate contributors to the big league roster.

The Red Sox undoubtedly got better Monday, but potentially at an incredible cost.

It’s difficult to imagine the Red Sox making a trade like the Adley Rutschman blockbuster at any point since 2020. After years of focusing on the future and long-term sustainability, Breslow traded three of the organization’s top five prospects for a player who, while a three-time All-Star and a potential franchise catcher, is currently on the injured list and has endured some spotty play over the past few years.

One talent evaluator was quoted by MassLive’s Sean McAdam as saying, “I’m absolutely dumbfounded by this …This is literally one of the most ridiculous trades I’ve seen in 30 years.”

In a similar vein, Marcelo Mayer was for years the face of the club’s long-term rebuild and the heir apparent as Boston’s franchise shortstop. His career has not panned out as hoped but he’s still only 23 and possesses immense talent, yet the Red Sox just traded him for a left-handed reliever.

The Red Sox could absolutely lose both of those trades, and the damage could be historic and long-lasting.

But if the goal is to improve the roster and compete for a World Series title, these are the kinds of risks you have to take.

Curtis Mead’s ill-timed broken wrist was horrible luck, but the Red Sox got him for a pitcher in Connelly Early who was already injured and probably wouldn’t have made the club’s playoff roster anyway. Rutschman represents a massive upgrade over both Carlos Narvaez and Connor Wong at catcher, and new reliever Erik Miller should give the club a potent late-inning bullpen weapon.

That’s probably worth more to the Red Sox in 2026 than Mayer, who probably would have also been ticketed for Triple-A upon his return to the field.

Years from now we might look back at Aug. 3, 2026, as a dark day for the organization. Maybe Mayer will turn things around and become a franchise cornerstone for the San Francisco Giants? Maybe Anthony Eyanson, Kyson Witherspoon and Enddy Azocar, the three top prospects dealt to Baltimore in the Rutschman trade, turn into studs who torture the Red Sox in the AL East for years to come.

That’s all on the table, but those prospects could all flame out too, and either way if the Red Sox keep up their momentum and make a deep postseason run this October, the Red Sox likely won’t have any regrets.

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