The Boston Red Sox Absolutely Need to Sell at the MLB Trade Deadline | TOMMY'S TAKES

Here we are. The moment of truth for the Boston Red Sox.

At this point, the franchise needs to understand history repeats itself. This team is just never the same after reaching the World Series the season prior. Since 1918, the Red Sox have made nine Fall Classics. In six of those following seasons they missed the playoffs; in one they got swept handily in the ALDS; and in the other they lost in seven games to the Rays in the ALCS. And now we have this year.

This squad just isn't like last year's. At all. There was a magic and aura surrounding the 2018 Sox, who cruised to 108 wins and didn't run into a single issue all year aside from losing Game 2 of the ALDS at home to the New York Yankees. We'd call that a near-flawless run.

The 2019 campaign? Not so much. They stand at a very sturdy 54-46, but that's good enough to be 11 games back of the division and 3 games out of the Wild Card in the AL. Should general manager Dave Dombrowski be selling at the trade deadline?

The lineup is wildly inconsistent. The starting rotation can't get it together. And just about every fan knows how shoddy the bullpen is. This isn't the same fired up team that was playing under manager Alex Cora last year after enduring four straight disappointing seasons with John Farrell at the helm (although they won the division twice in Farrell's final two years, they got trounced in the ALDS both times).

As a result, Dombrowski needs to sell and restock the team's gradually weakening farm system. There's no sense in buying at the moment. The Yankees continue to pull away. The Tampa Bay Rays are proving they're indeed not going anywhere. The Oakland Athletics continue to surprise us. And the Cleveland Indians are pretty much back to normal. That's a lot of competition.

So who can they sell? Well, there aren't many options, but they should definitely start with JD Martinez, who is more than likely going to opt out of his contract after this season. If he's going to do that and look for more money, the Red Sox are going to be hesitant to re-sign him considering they need to save their dough for Mookie Betts. Maybe also see if there are any takers on David Price considering he can't let his feud with Dennis Eckersley go? They'll probably have to eat some salary, but it's worth a shot.

See if anyone will take Rick Porcello, who could maybe fetch a decent prospect at this point. Perhaps float Jackie Bradley Jr. too? His final year of arbitration is next season, and while his defense is top notch, do the Sox really want to pay more than $10 million for a guy who bats .230?

The bottom line is that the Red Sox don't even have a lot to sell. But they could institute a mini re-tool and better prepare themselves for next year and free up some money for this coming MLB offseason, where Gerrit Cole, Madison Bumgarner, Marcell Ozuna, Zack Wheeler, Cole Hamels, Jose Abreu and Nick Castellanos will be free agents.

We know there's no middle ground with Dombrowski. He's going to buy big or sell big.