Instead, Steven Matz came over from the St. Louis Cardinals, but without Ryan, the Red Sox are left hoping that more marginal moves will be enough. Derek Falvey stared at a top 100 prospect return, but wisely backed off when Boston refused to put anyone else in the deal.

The Red Sox still have a logjam of outfielders after keeping everyone including Duran and Abreu, despite Duran’s name being floated in numerous trade rumors. They failed to get an impact starter, didn’t acquire a bat and didn’t address the hole at first base, but Breslow remains confident with the team he has.