Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow finds himself in quite the pickle. On the one hand, his club is back in contention for a playoff spot thanks to that historic 14-game winning streak. On the other hand, the Red Sox were one of the worst teams in baseball before the streak. So will Breslow buy, sell or stand pat before the Aug. 3 trade deadline?
If he still decides to sell, his most valuable trade chip will be closer Aroldis Chapman. The nine-time All-Star is third in the American League with 22 saves and sports a sub-2.00 ERA for the second straight season.
ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel reported Tuesday there is a 30% chance the Red Sox trade the 38-year-old reliever.
"Here's the greatest truism of the deadline: Everyone needs a good reliever. Teams were ready to climb over each other for Chapman ... until the Red Sox went from the basement of the AL to sole possession of the final wild-card spot," the duo wrote.
If Boston decides to deal Chapman, Passan and McDaniel identified the best fits for the future Hall of Famer: the Seattle Mariners, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Guardians.
However the CBS trio of Mike Axisa, Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder predicted Tuesday that Chapman will be staying in Beantown.
That's because Boston enters play Tuesday in third place in the American League East, six games behind the first-place Tampa Bay Rays. On top of that, the Red Sox have a 1.5-game lead for the third and final AL wild card.
As a result, FanGraphs gives Boston a 63.3% chance of making the playoffs.
"Teams in their position don't trade their All-Star closer," Axisa wrote.
"The Red Sox aren't selling after this streak. No way," Snyder added.
Chapman, who closed out Monday's 6-5 win over the Baltimore Orioles, is 10th all-time with 389 saves.
Earlier this season, he became the all-time strikeout king for relievers, passing Hall of Famer Hoyt Wilhelm.