Dave Dombrowski says there are ‘not a lot of needs’ for Red Sox at deadline

The Boston Red Sox have been wildly inconsistent this season thanks in large part to an underperforming starting rotation and bullpen that is in desperate need of an upgrade, but president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski believes they are fine with what they have. Or, at least, that’s what he wants rival teams to think.

Dombrowski told reporters on Thursday that the Red Sox are going to “sit back and see what happens” at the trade deadline because he doesn’t believe they have many needs.

Dombrowski on @WEEI re: Red Sox at trade deadline: ‘There’s not a lot of needs … I’m not sure how much we would buy. … We’ll sit back and see what happens.’

— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) July 25, 2019

Most fans would strongly disagree. The Red Sox rank 18th in the majors with a combined ERA of 4.71 from their starting pitchers. Their bullpen also ranks 18th with a 4.59 ERA, and closing out games has been a major issue. Pitching was a great strength for Boston during its record season and championship run last year, but this season has been a much different story.

It would be a surprise if Dombrowski didn’t at least make a move for a bullpen arm before July 31, but the way he called out Boston’s starting pitchers recently may have said a lot. He likely feels that the team has the proper pieces in place and focus is the main issue. That’s part of the issue, but the Red Sox have missed Craig Kimbrel. They need to address the back end of their bullpen.