Red Sox's Craig Breslow wants to explore offseason transfer market

The final straw was the Boston Red Sox's loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night, which made it clear once and for all that Fenway Park will not host the playoffs in 2024. It is the third consecutive time the franchise has missed the playoffs and the fifth since it last won the World Series in 2018.

It was obvious that even midseason, when Boston was still battling hard for a wild-card spot in the American League, changes were needed. Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow highlighted the top three needs on the front office's wish list: starting pitcher, relief pitcher and right-handed hitting. He tried to fill those needs – signing Danny Jansen, Luis García, Lucas Sims and James Paxton, and also adding Rich Hill to bolster the roster. That didn't work out, and now Breslow must consider what options he can consider going forward, as another crucial offseason for the Red Sox looms this winter.

“We've seen that we can be competitive in the AL East with a young, exciting and dynamic group,” Breslow told reporters at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. “We need to figure out what players we can add to that. I think some of that will probably come through trades, because we can only use so many center fielders and left-handed outfielders at one time.”

Boston endured another brutal second half, overshadowed by a poor performance at home, struggles in the bullpen and inconsistent hitting from the lineup. Opportunities kept coming in the form of a less than five-game deficit facing the Red Sox, but execution was lacking. Looking further ahead, right where the front office left off last offseason, it's clear more must be done. New faces must be welcomed, markets must be explored and options must be considered to avoid a fourth consecutive early departure to a rough and disappointing winter. The Red Sox have three games left at home against the Tampa Bay Rays, but being in the division pit will leave a bitter aftertaste no matter what happens this weekend.

Tyler O'Neill, Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin, Nick Pivetta and Jansen headlined the soon-to-be free agents in the locker room, assuring that the Red Sox will have their hands full trying to get the mood back under control that has been looming for three years in a row.

“I'm not happy, but it's very quiet. It's very quiet, which is good,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Thursday night's 6-1 loss. “As I've always said, nobody outside the walls here expected us to get this far, to this point, to play such important games. Our goal was to make the playoffs, but that didn't happen. … At some point we felt like we were a team with playoff qualities. We missed the chance. Let's put it this way. Look around. Look at the teams that are struggling. We had it right there and we blew it. We blew it.”