This question hovered around the team as last year’s trade deadline approached, too. In 2024, a middling Red Sox team to start the year found its groove in June, going 21-14 from June 1 through July 14 to close out the first half. That convinced chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to buy.

The Red Sox clubhouse Monday could easily have been sullen after chief baseball officer Craig Breslow traded Rafael Devers, one of the game’s top hitters, to the Giants on Sunday evening. But it was the opposite.

Top prospect Roman Anthony hit his first major league home run and Lucas Giolito struck out 10 in six innings as the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0.

The anecdote serves to illustrate the reputation the pitcher-turned-executive has cultivated in Boston, which traded its best hitter to San Francisco on Sunday.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone, ace Max Fried and captain Aaron Judge react to New York's season-first sweep and consecutive series loss against the rival Red Sox after an 0-for-3 weekend in Boston.