It’s the roster, so Red Sox need to stop pretending there is a season to save and start making trades

The famed Citgo sign overlooks Fenway Park no more, having been dismantled for cleaning, renovation, and eventual relocation to a site 120 feet away. The work should be finished by November.

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You don’t need binoculars to see the metaphor. As a new, better Citgo sign is being built for next season, so should a new, better Red Sox roster.

We’re only 10 games away from the season being half over, and it’s glaringly evident the Sox aren’t a few trades from becoming a postseason contender.

The starting lineup for Wednesday night’s 3-0 loss against the Blue Jays included five players who are significantly below average offensively — Mickey Gasper, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Marcelo Mayer, Andruw Monasterio, and Masataka Yoshida. Collectively, they had seven home runs in 624 at-bats.

Another, Jarren Duran, batted fifth despite having hit .196 with a .549 OPS and four RBIs this month.

Down, 2-0, the Sox loaded the bases with two outs in the fifth inning. Interim manager Chad Tracy pinch hit for Yoshida against lefthander Mason Fluharty with Nate Eaton.

Toronto countered with righthander Spencer Miles, and Eaton grounded to first base in his second plate appearance since he was promoted from Triple-A on June 8. In a big situation, their best option was a player who had been to the plate once in the previous nine days.

This is what the Red Sox have become. They replaced a $90-million platoon hitter with a 29-year-old minor leaguer who had been bolted to the bench.

The Sox are 1 for 24 with runners in scoring position the last two nights against Toronto and have left 26 men on base while scoring one run.

The Blue Jays had to use seven relievers Wednesday after Max Scherzer went on the injured list with back spasms. The Sox still couldn’t score.

The biggest cheers at Fenway came when Scottish soccer fans were shown on the scoreboard. Everybody loves the Tartan Army, but the Scots will be gone eventually, and the bad baseball team will still be here.

Team executives have been making regular appearances on NESN to proclaim they’re not giving up. But that can’t be what they really believe off camera.

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Roman Anthony hasn’t played since May 4, and Garrett Crochet since April 25. At best, Crochet won’t pitch again until after the All-Star break. Anthony wouldn’t need as long to return to the lineup, but at least a few more weeks. Even then, he’ll be starting his season over.

Alex Cora was 10-17 when he was fired. Tracy is 19-25. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said back in April that the Sox needed a new voice to get the season back on track. Tracy is an earnest, hard-working person, but nothing has changed.

That’s because it’s not the manager. It’s the roster. The Sox can’t keep pretending there’s a season to save. They need to become sellers.

Through games played Tuesday, 23 teams were either holding a playoff spot or within three games of one. The trade deadline is not until Aug. 3, but for the moment only a handful of teams profile as sellers.

The Sox are positioned to exploit that inequity by jumping the market and making all but their core players available.

They have relievers [Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, and really anybody else]. They have a starter [Sonny Gray]. They have an outfielder [Duran], and they have a wide assortment of potentially useful bench players.

It’s not seamless. Gray has no-trade rights, as does first baseman Willson Contreras. But do you really think Gray, who lives in Nashville, would turn down a trade to the Braves? Contreras is 34 and hasn’t appeared in a postseason game since 2020. He would happily pack his bags.

The timing also matters. It’s widely expected that Major League Baseball will lock out the players when the collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. That would put all transactions on hold.

Given how much work the Sox need to do to become competitive again, better to start now than try to accomplish everything during an abbreviated offseason.

There’s a creeping sense of inevitability around the Sox as playing poorly becomes routine. The responsible thing to do is to break up this ill-fitting roster and start building something better for next season.

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