In 2024, the Sox traded first baseman Niko Kavadas, outfielder Matthew Lugo, and righthander Ryan Zeferjahn to the Angels for reliever Luis Garcia.
“That was about 40 minutes before a game,” Tracy said. “Stuff like that happens all the time. … Once they’re at Triple-A and they’ve been around for a while, you’re pretty well aware of how the game works.”
Now as the major league manager, Tracy is dealing with a different dynamic. At the highest level, players often feel their success on the field should be rewarded by the front office with additions at the deadline. Those expectations can be tricky for a manager to handle.
“I’m going to answer that as honestly as possible: I think our guys haven’t even spoken about it,” he said. “I think they know they’re a good team. I think they know we’re playing much better baseball, and I really think their focus right now is on let’s go out and win again today.”
Tracy has spoken to Breslow about what he feels the team needs. But his job is to manage the 26 players he has on a given day.
“I think players in general believe our group is right now,” Tracy said. “We’re going to go out there with the group we have in front of us. Maybe more of that will come up [at the deadline]. Maybe this will be one of those years where it goes down to the wire, and people wait as long as possible because they want to see what it looks like.”
A few other observations on the Red Sox:
▪ Martin Shelar went to bed the night of July 11 believing he would be playing for Mississippi State next season. By the end of the next day, he was a member of the Red Sox.
The 19-year-old righthanded-hitting outfielder from Georgia wasn’t selected in the first eight rounds of the draft despite being ranked among the top 50 prospects by Baseball America.
“It was in my mind that I was going to college, but pro ball was an option if a team came with an offer I couldn’t turn down,” Shelar said Wednesday when he was at Fenway Park with four other draft signees.
Then the Sox called and offered $1.5 million, and that was enough.
“My number was different depending on the team,” Shelar said. “Boston has incredible player development, incredible people, and a great fan atmosphere. That was where I wanted to be.
“The draft is so messy. You go through all these swings of emotion when they come at you with an offer. It’s not just, ‘Yes,’ right off the bat. It’s like, ‘Holy moly, I need a moment to think about this.’ ”
Sox amateur scouting director Jake Bruml said Shelar was high on the team’s priority list after the first day. The Sox had bonus money to spend after making below-slot deals for first-round pick Jake Shaffner and second-round choice Owen Hull.
“We wanted to be smart about how we allocated it and were checking in with a bunch of high school prospects,” Bruml said. “Martin was one of them. It was a very pleasant surprise when we connected the next morning to hear there could be a potential fit.”
Shelar grew up a Braves fan and modeled his game after Ronald Acuña Jr. His favorite Red Sox player might surprise you.
“Ted Williams,” he said. “He’s the best hitting mind I’ve heard talk. I read his book [“The Science of Hitting”], and it completely changed the way I viewed baseball.”
The kid likes The Kid? That’s a player Sox fans can dream on.
Shelar is working out in Fort Myers, and the plan is for him to join Single-A Salem before the end of the season.
As he stood at Fenway, Shelar looked at the Green Monster and smiled.
“This park will be great for me,” he said.
▪ Dennis Eckersley was at Fenway, stopping over on his way to Cooperstown for the induction events this weekend. The Hall of Famer was happy to see Aroldis Chapman catch him on the all-time saves list with No. 390.
“I thought this was coming for a long time,” Eckersley said. “What I’m impressed with more than anything is that he did it in big-market cities. The Yankees, that says something. The Cubs. It’s hard to do it in a big spotlight … I can appreciate that.”
Eckersley is impressed with Chapman’s work ethic, too.
“He’s a monster. But it’s hard to throw strikes when you throw that hard,” Eckersley said. “He uncoils. He has a lot going on. You have to want to do it, and he’s not afraid.”
Eckersley said the older he gets, the more fun he has at induction weekend because he better appreciates his place in the game.
“I still get uptight a little bit because I’m not that cool,” he said. “I mean, there’s a lot of egos in there. There just is … I still can’t believe I’m in there.”
Eckersley said Billy Wagner deserved to get in last year, and he’s curious to see how other closers like Chapman, Kenley Jansen, and Craig Kimbrel fare once they get on the writers ballot.
▪ Anthony Seigler grew up in Georgia but was born in Fort Defiance, Ariz., a town in the Navajo Nation. Seigler and Jacoby Ellsbury are believed to be the only Navajo players in major league history.
A recent Globe story mentioned Seigler pitched with both arms in high school. Several readers e-mailed to say Red Sox Hall of Famer Billy Goodman also had that unusual skill.
Goodman pitched in two games in 1964 as a 38-year-old player-manager for Single-A Durham and threw righthanded. He pitched in high school and threw lefthanded on occasion.
▪ Sarah Langs of MLB.com unearthed this great nugget: Tracy’s 15-game win streak was the longest for a manager who got the job during the season since 22-year-old player-manager Bob Allen of the 1890 Phillies.
Allen was one of four managers the Phillies had that year, and had a 16-game win streak during his 35 games in charge. Allen didn’t manage in the major leagues again until 1900, when he was 62-77 with the Reds.
Allen’s playing career included a stint with Boston’s National League entry in 1897. That franchise eventually became known as the Braves.
Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social.
