Sawx go bust to boom

BEFORE last season began, the Red Sox traded their biggest star, Mookie Betts, and David Price to the Dodgers, partly because of rebuilding, partly as a salary dump to clear up future payroll.

The Red Sox finished last in the AL East. The Dodgers won the World Series. At that moment, Boston seemed far from being a high-level contender. J.D. Martinez could have opted out of the final two years at $38.75 million of his deal and the Red Sox certainly would not have minded that. Nathan Eovaldi had two years at $34 million left and if any competitor had made a suitable offer, Boston almost certainly would have moved the righty.

That was then. On Monday Eovaldi and Martinez were separated by Boston closer Matt Barnes, who was just rewarded with a two-year, $16 million extension. Across from them were Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers. That was an AL-high five All-Stars.

“I really do think everyone felt in spring that we were going to be a good team,” Eovaldi said. “Last year [shortened amid the pandemic] was different. We felt we had a good team and looked around and had added [Adam] Ottavino and [Hirokazu] Sawamura and good veterans like Enrique [Hernandez] and Marwin [Gonzalez].”

Eovaldi also mentioned as vital the return of manager Alex Cora after a one-year suspension for his involvement with the Astros’ illegal sign stealing in 2017.

Boston opens the second half tied for the AL’s secondbest record, 1 ¹/2 up on the Rays, but eight up on the Blue Jays and Yankees. The Red Sox-Yankees game is the lone one scheduled in the majors on Thursday. Boston already is 6-0 against the Yankees this season. So the Red Sox have a chance this weekend to further the embarrassment of their biggest rivals and, perhaps, turn the Yankees into sellers at the July 30 trade deadline.