Life before and after the Futures Game with Mike Vasil
Forget about odds. Forget about over/unders. Forget about expectations. Forget about injuries. Forget about seemingly insurmountable division leads. Forget about how less-than-spectacular the Marlins might be.
The Red Sox are starting their three-game series in the Bronx living life bursting with opportunities.
First off, after their sweep of Miami - culminating in a wild, 12-inning, 6-5 win over the Marlins - the Red Sox sit firmly in the hunt for a postseason spot, sitting 1/2-game ahead of the Royals and 1 1/2 in back of Minnesota.
But the story is changing.
It started with the Red Sox' winning series against the likes of the Phillies and Yankees. Continued thanks to take-care-of-business road trips to Toronto and Miami. And in the middle of it all was Cora's proclamation that his team should get greedy and start thinking bigger than ever.
Well, here they are. On July 5, the Red Sox are playing the Yankees three times at Yankee Stadium. If they win each of them Cora's club will be just 2 1/2 games in back of the once-mighty New Yorkers, who sit in the top wild card position.
Since that June 12 win over the Phillies, the Red Sox are tied with the Astros for the best record in all of baseball (14-5), with the Yankees suffering through the biggest slump (6-14). It is a stretch that has defined a reality this team has been chasing from Day 1 in Fort Myers: They should be perceived as legitimate contenders.
It's time for Cora and Co. to start thinking next-level. It's time for the manager to walk into the Yankee Stadium visitors clubhouse and give the Gordon Gecko speech:
The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed -- for lack of a better word -- is good.
Greed is right.
Greed works.
Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.
Greed, in all of its forms -- greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge -- has marked the upward surge of mankind.
For starters, the Red Sox have established that they have the pieces necessary to enter in such a conversation, with Nick Pivetta's six no-hit innings Thursday offering the latest bit of evidence.
They have star at the top of their lineup in Jarren Duran that is starting to feel like the days of Mookie Betts, with Rafael Devers and Tyler O'Neill providing the kind of top-of-the-order punch the best teams provide. During this 19-game stretch, Devers (.315 batting average, 1.012 OPS), O'Neill (.313/1.002) and Duran (.349/.984) have been among the best hitters in baseball.
It doesn't stop there.
In case you haven't noticed, Ceddanne Rafaela's presence since that first win against the Phillies has been dramatic, with the rookie hitting .373 with a .976 OPS. Another first-year player, David Hamilton, has more stolen bases (10) during this run than anybody in the majors, not being thrown out a single time.
And, with Triston Casas presumably coming back in the coming weeks, all of it suggests this is sustainable success. But there is still work to be done. And, thanks to the aforementioned accomplishments - and proclamations - that work leading up to the trade deadline might look a little different than some thought.
The Red Sox could still use another starter to at least help get to the finish line, particularly with the uncertainty of how some of the likes of Tanner Houck will be reacting to unchartered workload territory.
A right-handed-hitting hitter - perhaps coming in the form of a defensive-minded middle infielder or DH-type - would also seemingly fit the bill, with Hamilton, Dominic Smith, and Masa Yoshida going 4-for-39 against lefties in these past 19 games.
Can it all change? Sure. Is Craig Breslow ready to jump into the deep end of the buyers club like most everyone is suggesting? Maybe not quite yet.
The selling teams are still carrying most of the power, while history is full of teams doing an about-face in the final three weeks of July. (The first-place Reds lost nine of 11 after July 5 to the second-place Reds in a blink of an eye.)
Breslow does, however, understand the importance of picking a lane when it comes to either buying or selling at the deadline. The sting of the last couple of deadlines offer that reminder. The words of former Sox pitcher Matt Strahm should still resonate, when he compared the 2022 deadline approach to playing field position - "We had a six-point lead, we pinned inside the 10 ... and instead Tom Brady subbed in at quarterback and we lost."
The Red Sox this time around? They have the horses to go for it on fourth-down.
It's time to get greedy.