Updated: Jul. 11, 2025, 5:00 a.m. The Major League Baseball trade deadline is less than three weeks away, and other than the annual draft, is the action item commanding the most attention for the vast majority of teams. The haves are looking to improve now; the have-nots are hoping to improve for the future.

There was a time in the old days -- like a couple of months ago -- when the Red Sox were seriously scuffling. They couldn’t hold late-inning leads when their closer, Aroldis Chapman, didn’t have the ball,