Some teams are getting an early start on deals

The trade deadline is just over 11 weeks away and there already have been two notable deals made by contenders. The Marlins gave up on their season and sent All-Star second baseman Luis Arráez to the Padres for four prospects on May 4. Four days later, the White

Sox traded outfielder Robbie Grossman

to the Rangers for a minor league righthander.

Grossman had a .597 OPS over 25 games for Chicago, so it’s not a move that will change much for the last-place White Sox. But Grossman was a regular player for Texas last season, meriting 420 plate appearances and contributing 34 extra-base hits and 49 RBIs.

With rookie left fielder Wyatt Langford expected to be on the injured list for 3-4 weeks with a hamstring strain, the switch-hitting Grossman gives the Rangers a useful hitter against lefthanders. He also has 17 games of postseason experience.

Do these moves signal that teams will be more active in the coming weeks as opposed to the days leading up to July 30?

That was the question put to Red

Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow,

who already has made 11 trades since being hired in October.

“On the one hand, you have expanded playoffs keeping teams engaged longer, which is great for baseball fans,” Breslow said. “On the other side, if teams do fall out of the pack and are chasing multiple teams, are they willing to be decisive earlier on?

“There’s a chance an outlier or two becomes a trend, so we’ll see where things go.”

Breslow has shown himself to be decisive. He traded Chris Sale, John Schreiber ,and Alex Verdugo to bring back prospects. He also traded prospects to obtain Tyler O’Neill from the Cardinals.

The Red Sox are among the large group of teams that could be either buyers or sellers come the deadline.

But the obvious buyers (Braves, Dodgers, Orioles, Phillies, and Yankees) and sellers (Angels, Athletics, Marlins, Rockies, and White Sox) could push the market forward and bring other teams along.

Teams are chasing Oakland closer Mason Miller. Miami lefthander Jesús Lazardo, who is on the injured list with a flexor strain, seems sure to be moved once he is healthy.

It’s also fair to wonder if the Blue Jays will break up their underachieving core and start over.

The Orioles might be in the market for a closer given some recent stumbles by Craig Kimbrel.

Given their better-than-expected start, where do the Red Sox stand?

“The right plan is always to give some run to give what we believe to be our true talent to surface,” Breslow said. “We have major league talent in our pitching staff and we want to give those guys a chance to perform. We’re seeing that.

“The injuries have been something else that we’ve needed to weather. We’re six weeks into the season. It’s a little premature to make any irreversible decisions here. But generally we’re getting healthier. We’ve got some key members of the rotation coming back. We have some guys who have stepped up.

“[Trade strategy] typically becomes evident.”

Breslow played for seven teams over 12 seasons. He was a trade-deadline acquisition by the Red Sox in 2012. He’s also the first Red Sox head of baseball operations with major league playing experience since Haywood Sullivan from 1978-83.

How will that background color Breslow’s moves over the coming weeks?

“My experience gives me a pretty good idea of how certain decisions may land in the clubhouse and maybe the opportunity to try to walk through the decision process to be open and transparent with players about why we’re doing certain things,” Breslow said.

“The clubhouse matters and the sense of environment that’s created matters. But also, my decisions can’t be driven solely based on what the desire of the clubhouse is.

“But I do think when there is a chance to act decisively and with conviction in a way that improves the outlook of the team, especially when it doesn’t come at a sacrifice of what we’re trying to build here, then I think I’m well-positioned to understand what the benefits of that are.”

Breslow said he is “collecting more and more information” and studying data to determine which prospects are keepers and which he would be willing to include in trades.

“There’s so much volatility,” he said. “But fortunately the industry does a pretty good job of telling you the guys that you should value really highly.

“There are players who I might sit here today and say we would really like to hold on to this guy. But if there’s an opportunity to improve what we’re trying to do, you have to be willing to think about anyone in that context.”

Keep in mind that, with only a few exceptions, nearly all of the Sox prospects were drafted or signed during previous administrations. Breslow has little emotional attachment to those players.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT? Sox outfielders working as a unit

The season isn’t even a quarter complete, so all statistics have to be measured with that in mind. But the Red Sox having the most defensive runs saved in the outfield (13) is still astonishing.

The Sox were 18th in that metric in 2023 and 26th in 2022.

That Tyler O’Neill is playing left field instead of heavy-legged Masataka Yoshida is a big factor, as is the increased playing time for Wilyer Abreu in right field. Both players take good routes to fly balls and Abreu has an excellent arm.

The big change has been the improvement of Jarren Duran in center.

Outfield coach Kyle Hudson helped make that happen by having the outfielders do drill work as a group during spring training.

The Sox focused on individual defensive

skills for several seasons. But Hudson wanted the outfielders to learn to work together.

Now Duran has a better sense of how much ground Abreu and O’Neill can cover and adjusts accordingly.

“We try to be as accurate as we can be with positioning,” Hudson said. “But those guys also have to communicate with each other and that part of it has been fun to watch.

“Jarren can play a step or two in either direction now because he knows what the other two will do. He’s playing with a lot more confidence.”

What makes it even more impressive is the Sox came into the season intending to play Duran in left, O’Neill in right, and Ceddanne Rafaela in center. That changed after Trevor Story was lost for the season with a shoulder injury and Rafaela went to the infield.

It sounds simple: Have players practice together. But it has worked.

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

R Pitching coach Andrew Bailey, deservedly so, has received credit for the staff ’s turnaround. But there also has been improvement in the team’s day-today game planning against hitters.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, who was director of pitching with the Cubs, is part of those conversations. He checks in with Bailey and manager Alex Cora on a daily basis about how best to approach certain situations.

“Those guys know what my preferences are,” Breslow said.

Director of pitching Justin Willard, game-planning coordinator Jason Varitek, pitching strategist Devin Rose, and bullpen coach Kevin Walker are all part of the daily preparation.

“The way I believe is the right way to do this job is to make sure the people around you know what the vision is, know what it is important, and then have the flexibility to operate within those constraints,” Breslow said.

R Old friend Blake Swihart, now 32, has signed with Chihuahua of the Mexican League. He had been playing for Charleston in the independent Atlantic League.

It was a newsy week for 2011 Red Sox draft picks. Matt Barnes was designated for assignment by the Nationals after giving up 10 earned runs on 16 hits over 13‚ innings.

Jackie Bradley Jr. is playing for Long Island in the Atlantic League and hit .235 with a .641 OPS through 13 games.

R Doug Mirabelli, Trot Nixon, and

Curt Schilling attended a memorial service for former Sox player Dave McCarty in Oakland on Thursday. McCarty died suddenly last month at 54. Senior director of club relations Jack McCormick attended on behalf of the team.

McCarty played for the Sox from 2003-05, part of an 11-year career in the majors.

ETC. Livvy era begins, and Skenes, too

The Pirates promoting 21-year-old top pitching prospect Paul Skenes to the majors was welcome news for MLB’s social media department.

Skenes is dating gymnast Livvy

Dunne, who has 5.1 million followers on Instagram and 8.1 million on TikTok. The couple met at LSU, where both won national championships.

Within baseball, Skenes is famous for his triple-digit fastball, power sweeper, and a “splinker” pitch that has the traits of a splitter and sinker. At 6 feet 6 inches, 235 pounds, he’s a true power pitcher while at the same time showing the ability to change speeds and attack from different angles.

Skenes started his college career at Air Force as a catcher and closer. He transferred to LSU for the 2023 season and became a full-time starter. He was 13-2 with a 1.69 earned run average for a team that finished 54-17.

The Pirates were extraordinarily careful with Skenes. He pitched only 6„ innings after the draft before being shut down. He then pitched one game in major league spring training before being sent down to minor league camp.

Skenes allowed three earned runs on 17 hits over 27‚ innings in seven starts for Triple A Indianapolis and struck out 45 with only eight walks.

The Pirates could have had Skenes in their rotation to open the season. But general manager Ben Cherington wanted to control his innings in such a way that he could pitch through the end of the season as opposed to being shut down in August.

When the Red Sox were in Pittsburgh last month, Cherington said the team had done as much research as it could to develop a plan for Skenes. But he acknowledged there was no way to be sure they were doing the right thing.

In Skenes and 22-year-old righthander Jared Jones (2-3, 2.63 ERA in his first seven starts), the Pirates have two rotation cornerstones to build around. Jones struck out 52 with only five walks over 41 innings in those seven starts.

This is the franchise’s chance to become relevant again.

But outside of baseball, Skenes is the boyfriend who makes occasional appearances in Dunne’s videos.

Dunne reportedly makes $500,000 apiece for promotional posts on social media and was one of the most valuable NCAA athletes based on NIL payments. When she attended one of Skenes’s minor league games in Bradenton, Fla., last season, the team put Dunne in a suite above the plate to shield her from a crowd of autograph-seeking fans.

Skenes and Dunne are not at the level of Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift .But MLB won’t complain.

Extra bases

The Red Sox have no complaints about their rotation. But it’s worth noting that James Paxton was 4-0 with a 3.08 ERA through six starts with the Dodgers (despite 24 walks in 32‚ innings) and Chris Sale was 5-1, 2.95 in seven starts for the Braves and averaging 11.0 strikeouts per nine innings. Sale’s slider produced 13 swings and misses against the Red Sox this past week, his most with that pitch in a game since 2018. Opponents have hit .158 against the slider. With Sale, it’s all a matter of health. But he’s also motivated by showing Atlanta it didn’t make a mistake in trading for him. “I owe it to the Braves to be the best I can be,” Sale said. Sale’s Hall of Fame résumé took a big hit in recent years. A few more All-Star Games and another ring would do a lot to improve his chances

. . . Through 15 starts, Shota Imanaga

(Cubs) and Yoshinobu Yamamoto

(Dodgers) were 9-1 with a 1.94 ERA. Their quick success in making the transition from Japan has increased interest in righthander Roki Sasaki, the flamethrowing 22-year-old ace of the Chiba Lotte Marines. Foreign professionals under the age of 25 are subject to international signing rules and signing bonus limits. But Sasaki has made it clear he wants to pitch in the majors. The question is whether China Lotte would hold on to him until after the 2027 season, when it can collect a posting fee . . . The 2018 trade that sent Christian Yelich from the Marlins to the Brewers is one of the all-time steals. The four players the Marlins received — outfielder Lewis Brinson, infielder Isan Diaz, outfielder Monte Harrison, and righthander Jordan Yamamoto — were busts. Brinson hit .199 over parts of six seasons and is playing in Mexico. Diaz hit .177 over 153 games and is now in independent ball. Harrison hit .176 in 50 games and has switched to college football at 28. He’s hoping to make the team at Arkansas as a walk-on. Yamamoto appeared in 21 major league games and is now retired . . . Call me cynical, but it’s a little too convenient that it took only 51 days for the gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s

former translator to come to a conclusion. The story broke on March 20 that Ippei Mizuhara had essentially stolen money from Ohtani to feed a sports gambling addiction. It essentially ended Thursday when Mizuhara agreed to plead guilty to bank fraud for stealing $17 million from the Dodgers star. He is expected to receive a reduced sentence and will be required to repay Ohtani. Mizuhara has said he didn’t bet on baseball and Ohtani was unaware of his gambling. It still makes little sense any bookie would allow a bettor to fall $17 million in the hole without knowing how the debt would be paid. Or that Ohtani had no idea Mizuhara had stolen that much from him and was gambling it away. It’s also odd that Mizuhara was Ohtani’s only conduit to the Angels and his agents at CAA. There were somehow no other Japanese speakers in either organization . . . Action for Boston Community Development will hold its 25th annual Field of Dreams fund-raiser on May 19 at Fenway Park. The event brings company teams to Fenway to play softball. Contact events@bostonabcd.org or call (617) 348-6244 for information . . . Condolences to the family and many friends of longtime agent Barry Axelrod, who died at 77 on Friday. He represented, among others, Jake Peavy, Jeff Bagwell, and Craig Biggio . . . Happy birthday to Bob Heise, who is 77. The infielder played 11 seasons in the majors, including 95 games for the Red

Sox from 1975-76. Heise was acquired in a trade with the Angels for Tommy Harper and was the team’s utility infielder for much of the season, appearing in 63 games. But he did not play in the postseason. Heise played only 32 games in ’76 and was sold to the Royals after the season.