Red Sox asked for too much, got ‘crickets’ at trade deadline (report)

Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)Getty Images

The Boston Red Sox reportedly played hardball at the 2025 MLB trade deadline. In return, they got a pair of mid-level trades that left fans grumbling.

On Monday, former MLB general manager Jim Bowden broke down his trade deadline superlatives for The Athletic. The Red Sox did not make out favorably.

Of note, Bowden identified the Red Sox as the team “that asked for too much in trades,” citing multiple MLB general managers.

That led to another undesirable superlative for Boston: “The fan base that heard crickets.”

“The front office publicly built up their trade deadline, but then didn’t make any trades to move the needle in their quest to beat out the Blue Jays and Yankees,” Bowden wrote.

Bowden did give Boston some credit for its hot stretch after the trade deadline. However, that hasn’t quite quelled the discontent from fans who may once again feel burned by the front office promising to go all-out to build a contender – only to back down due to the asking price.

Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow says he’s aware of the discontent from fans. He maintains that the team went into the deadline with the intention of doing something big.

“I understand the frustration and disappointment from our fan base and walking out of the deadline without making a big splash, especially relative to what some of the other teams have been able to do,” Breslow said Friday on WEEI. “But that doesn’t change what our intentions were going into this deadline, what we were willing to do and offer.”

Regardless, the Red Sox walked away from the trade deadline having acquired just two players: pitchers Steven Matz and Dustin May. Will that be enough for a playoff push? We’ll find out in the coming weeks and months.