Red Sox Insider Predicts Boston's Trade Deadline Checklist

No one truly knows what Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow is thinking right now.

The Red Sox's 10-game winning streak may be over, but it served to dispel most of the rumors that Breslow would look to conduct a trade deadline fire sale. Still, the Red Sox could be wheeling and dealing within the next two weeks, and that could include players on the major league roster being traded.

All any of us can do at this point is predict what the Red Sox have in mind, and that's what MLB.com Red Sox beat reporter attempted to do on Saturday.

In a piece for the site projecting every team's "likely trade deadline strategy," Browne labeled the Red Sox as "targeted buyers," with the search for a high-caliber starting pitcher at the top of the theoretical agenda.

"Find an impact starting pitcher to put behind Garret Crochet. Following the Rafael Devers trade, the Red Sox have financial flexibility to bring in a stud pitcher by trading from their impressive pool of outfield depth," wrote Browne.

"Jarren Duran continues to come up in trade rumors and his skillset is obviously one that is desirable to many contenders. The Sox will also try to find a more permanent salutation at first base to stop the mixing and matching that has gone on since Triston Casas went down for the season in early May."

Browne is just the latest reporter to establish the expectation that the Red Sox will go after a big-time starter--someone like the Minnesota Twins' Joe Ryan, who is probably only available for a king's ransom.

Yes, Boston has a ton of outfield depth, but it's not clear if there's any package they can put together for Ryan specifically that will get the job done. They might have better luck with impending free agents (i.e. Seth Lugo, Merrill Kelly, Zac Gallen).

Meanwhile, you can't go a day without hearing Duran's name thrown around. It would be strange for July to be Duran's last month in a Red Sox uniform, given how well he and the team have both played of late, but in the long run, it makes sense to clean up the outfield logjam.

Lastly, you've got to go out and get either Ryan O'Hearn or Josh Naylor if you're Breslow. Abraham Toro is not an impact hitter against right-handed pitchers and his numbers are only continuing to nosedive.