Red Sox fans upset with Craig Breslow for giving up top prospect in Steven Matz trade

No matter which sect of the Boston Red Sox fanbase you ask, Craig Breslow and the front office did not live up to expectations at the trade deadline.

The Red Sox were rumored to be in the market for some of the best controllable starting pitchers on the market —including Breslow's personal white whale, Joe Ryan — but came away with just rental reliever Steven Matz (St. Louis Cardinals) and rental starter Dustin May (Los Angeles Dodgers).

Both are former top prospects from a bygone era, now established veterans who have dealt with injuries and underperformance in recent seasons. Whereas May has a big ceiling but lackluster results, Matz has a high floor but limited upside.

The team surrendered a trio of valuable prospects to acquire their new pitchers, including outfielders James Tibbs III (acquired in the Rafael Devers trade) and Zach Ehrhard in the the trade for May, as well as infielder Blaze Jordan in the deal for Matz.

But, while May could maybe, possibly provide enough value to justify his acquisition cost, it feels like a true longshot to expect Matz to live up to expectations after Jordan was sent to St. Louis.

Superfluous Steven Matz trade costs Red Sox fast-rising prospect Blaze Jordan

Part of the issue with the Matz trade is that the Red Sox already had four left-handed relievers in the bullpen prior to the deal, including closer Aroldis Chapman and set-up man Justin Wilson, both of whom are also due to be free agents after the season ends. Yes, the bullpen needed some help, but this just wasn't a good use of resources. A left-handed middle reliever was about as low on the team's list of needs as any position.

Of course, it doesn't help that Jordan was the prospect the team gave to the Cardinals in order to execute the deal. In 88 games evenly split across Double-A and Triple-A at the time of the deal, Jordan was slashing .308/.377/.495 with 12 home runs, good for a 140 wRC+. This was, for all intents and purposes, his breakout season, and him being Rule 5 eligible is about the only reason you could find for the Red Sox to offload him for such a meager return.

Now, it's true that Jordan, a corner-infielder, is almost certainly blocked in Boston across the entire infield. Assuming Kristian Campbell takes over first base at some point in the near future, the team has Marcelo Mayer, Alex Bregman, and Trevor Story all penciled into the remainder of the starting spots in the infield.

That doesn't even mention utility players like Abraham Toro, David Hamilton or Romy Gonzalez, nor does it include top prospects Mikey Romero or Franklin Arias. It's likely true that Jordan simply had no path to playing time with the Red Sox.

However, that doesn't make the trade worthwhile. Even if Breslow and company decided to offload Jordan at the deadline, there was surely better deals to include him in. The Cardinals are not the only team in need of controllable, MLB-ready infielders.

Ultimately, Matz will likely pitch well in Boston, though no better than the options the team already had in-house. If he leaves in free agency, it's going to require Jordan to flame out spectacularly for this deal to not age horribly for the Red Sox.