Money can’t always buy happiness. Just ask some of baseball’s biggest spenders, the Sad Six.

Money is not buying much happiness in Major League Baseball this season.

Based on luxury tax payrolls, six of the 12 biggest spenders have losing records, with the Mets, Red Sox, and Tigers in last place in their respective divisions.

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The Astros, Blue Jays, and Giants have also been tremendous disappointments. It’s not how much you spend; it’s how well you spend it.

A few updates on the Sad Six:

Astros: Outside of 2020, they haven’t had a losing season since 2014. Trading players such as shortstop Jeremy Peña [a free agent after the 2027 season] or first baseman Christian Walker won’t be easy for owner Jim Crane.

With Peña represented by Scott Boras, the Astros have to listen to offers.

It still feels like there’s a deal to be made with the Red Sox because Jarren Duran fits their roster, and the Astros have righthanded hitters.

Blue Jays: Toronto would not be afraid to add to its $307.5 million payroll, having witnessed what last season’s World Series berth meant to the franchise and the city. The Blue Jays are a financial giant at this point.

But there is no specific need beyond better health. Shane Bieber is due back from the injured list Monday. Outfielders Addison Barger and Daulton Varsho are close to returns, and reliever Yimi Garcia has started a rehab assignment.

Their inner-circle leaders — particularly Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer — do not lack confidence.

“We’re going to be fine,” Springer predicted. “Once we get everybody back, we’ll be a lot more consistent.”

Giants: It was funny to hear the “news” that the Giants are open to offers on Rafael Devers. Predictably, he has clashed with new manager Tony Vitello , a former college coach.

It was only a year ago that the Giants welcomed Devers with a splashy press conference and proclaimed him their missing piece. Now it’s fair to question how president of baseball operations Buster Posey has built the team.

If the Giants trade a prominent player, it’s likely to be second baseman Luis Arraez.

Mets: Francisco Lindor is close to a return from the injured list, and Bo Bichette has started to hit. Getting Lindor back at shortstop with Bichette returning to third base will help.

Their rotation has underachieved, but the Mets could hit their way into contention. If not, manager Carlos Mendoza won’t be around much longer.

Red Sox: The question is not whether the Sox will be sellers — they have to be at this point. It’s whether ownership will allow chief baseball officer Craig Breslow to make more than minor moves at the deadline.

If the Sox see themselves as contenders in 2027, which is not unreasonable, they could elect to retain Aroldis Chapman and other veterans under team control beyond this season.

Then you hire a new manager and coaching staff — presumably one with vastly more major league experience — and see what the offseason presents.

Tigers: Ace lefthander Tarik Skubal knows what is coming if Detroit doesn’t turn its season around.

“The reality is we need to play better baseball or else. Come the deadline, you give the front office an option to reassess where this team is,” he told the Detroit News. “And if they don’t think what we have is a World Series — or playoff-caliber — team, then the whole team is going to look different.”

The Tigers faced the same decision with Skubal that the Angels did with Shohei Ohtani in 2023: Trade him now or risk losing him to free agency after the season, and nothing in return except for a draft pick.

A prospect-laden team such as the Brewers could see Skubal as their chance to win the World Series now. The Phillies, resurrected under Don Mattingly, also would be suitors. The Braves need a starter, too.

For president of baseball operations Scott Harris, the job is to create as much of a bidding war as he can for Skubal.

Tyron Guerrero appeared in 112 games for the Marlins from 2018-19. He struck out 111 over 104 innings but also walked 66, hit nine batters, and threw 17 wild pitches.

“I had velocity but not the command,” said Guerrero, who spent 2020-25 pitching in Japan, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and in Triple-A for the White Sox, Reds, and Angels.

Guerrero signed as a minor league free agent with the Red Sox on Jan. 9 and started the season in Triple-A. He had not appeared in a major league game for six years and nearly eight months when he debuted with the Sox on May 22.

He is now a late-inning option after a series of strong outings. Starting on May 28, he allowed one run over 6⅔ innings in eight games and struck out nine without a walk.

Guerrero has averaged 99.9 miles per hour with his two-seam fastball and topped out at 102.9.

At 35, his career is back on track.

“It’s been very gratifying to be back in the big leagues and be able to perform when the team needs me,” said Guerrero, a native of Colombia.

Guerrero credits Chapman for his revival.

“I met him during the offseason,” Guerrero said. “We have the same agent [Adam Katz], and I asked him to call Chappy when I signed with Boston to see if I could train with him. He invited me to his house, and I started working with him.

“To learn from him, somebody who has had all that success, has meant a lot to me. He has passed on a lot of knowledge. He knows about throwing hard and being able to throw strikes.”

A few other observations on the Red Sox:

▪ The notion that Fenway Sports Group senior adviser Theo Epstein will ride to the rescue in the coming weeks and take over baseball operations ahead of the trade deadline isn’t realistic.

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Epstein lived that life for the better part of 18 years and isn’t interested in going back.

But if the Sox fire Breslow, Epstein is the best candidate to lead the search for a replacement, if only from behind the scenes. Nobody knows that job better than Epstein, or knows who the best candidates would be.

Epstein is also best suited to convince potential candidates that the Sox still have an organization worth joining despite all the tumult over the last 10 years.

▪ Kristian Campbell went into the weekend hitting .217 with a .643 OPS for Triple-A Worcester and was dropped to sixth in the lineup. The 23-year-old, who was signed to a $60 million extension last season, has not appeared in a major league since June 18, 2025.

▪ Wes Gardner, who died June 10 at 65, is the last Red Sox pitcher who worked as many as 8⅓ innings in relief.

It happened on July 22, 1987, at Fenway Park. Oil Can Boyd allowed four runs in the first inning and was taken out by John McNamara. Gardner, then 26, finished the game and allowed only two runs in a 6-5 loss.

Gardner had pitched 4⅔ innings only three days earlier. At the time, he was a nondescript reliever with a 6.91 ERA.

“I’m surprised I’m not tired,” Gardner told Jackie MacMullan of the Globe after the game.

The crusty McNamara gave Gardner some grudging respect.

“You couldn’t ask for a better relief job than that,” McNamara said. “Unless, I guess, he shuts them out.”

Gardner was in the majors from 1984-91 with the Mets, Sox, Padres, and Royals. He appeared in 189 games, 142 of them with the Sox. He worked as an electrician after leaving baseball.

▪ There was a little bit of a Red Sox connection to the Knicks winning the NBA championship.

Knicks radio voice Tyler Murray did some Red Sox games on WEEI during the 2024 season and play-by-play for Worcester on television and radio from 2002-24.

Murray also called Hockey East games on NESN from 2021-24.

▪ Orioles owner David Rubenstein made an interesting gift to the Red Sox: a framed replica of the Declaration of Independence.

The replica was made earlier this year based on a copper-plate engraving made in 1823 at the behest of then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, who was concerned that the original document was showing signs of aging.

It will be displayed at Fenway in the Royal Rooters Club through July 4. If you attend a game, go to the Gate B fan services booth, and you’ll be escorted to the club.

The replica also will be part of Fenway Park tours through July 4. The tours run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The last tour is three hours before first pitch on game days.

Keith Beauregard went from Leominster High to St. Anselm and was an All-Northeast Conference player from 2002-05. That led to playing three seasons for Worcester in the independent Can-Am League under manager Rich Gedman.

He hit well for the Tornadoes, but not enough to draw the attention of major league scouts. That led to a coaching position at UMass Lowell under coach Ken Harring.

A lifelong New Englander, Beauregard then took a leap of faith to California to coach at Santa Clara University in 2013.

“Packed a suitcase and that was it,” the 43-year-old Beauregard said. “I had no idea what I was getting into. I just knew it would be a good move for me from a career standpoint.”

Little did he know how good. Beauregard landed with the Dodgers in 2019 as a minor league hitting coach. Then he became a field coordinator in 2021. That led to Beauregard becoming the hitting coach of the Tigers from 2023-25 and now the Twins.

Minnesota is second in the American League with 4.78 runs per game and fifth in OPS at .725. That’s significantly better than last season.

“It’s been a great experience. Every day gets a little bit better,” Beauregard said. “Trying not to look too far ahead.”

Beauregard’s time as a coach has coincided with the advent of teams using technology and data to improve player development. The four years he spent with the Dodgers gave him a foundation on that side of the game.

“That opened my eyes. They gave me a lot of freedom,” Beauregard said. “A lot of the guys I worked with at that time are major league coaches now. It was a good group.”

Baseball is the family business. Beauregard’s father, Jim, was a high school coach for 32 seasons at Bromfield, Saint Bernard’s, and North Middlesex Regional before announcing his retirement this past week.

“I’ve been on the dirt as long as I can remember because of my father,” Beauregard said. “The times I’ve come back to Fenway Park as a coach, it’s special. I saw so many games here watching players like Manny [Ramirez] and Dustin [Pedroia]. Coaching at this level now, it’s incredible.”

You don’t open a negotiation with your best offer. So MLB’s recent proposal to the Players Association to completely remake how amateur players enter the professional ranks has to be viewed through that prism. Still, what MLB suggested was radical: cutting the draft to 12 rounds, denying draft eligibility to high school players, and having set signing bonuses. MLB also wants an international draft. So many star players — Ken Griffey Jr., Bryce Harper, and Bobby Witt Jr. are just a few examples — came directly from high school. Making them wait two years after graduation to play professionally makes little sense. Ultimately, it’s about keeping players from becoming free agents when they are younger and worth more. MLB promoted the idea by suggesting players would develop best in an “elite development environment.” But college coaches are paid to win, not develop. Still, it’s understandable that owners want to restrict bonus payments to amateurs, given how much money is wasted on prospects who don’t pan out. An international draft for players 18 and older [as opposed to 16] would solve much of the corruption in that process, but it would also be a cost-cutting measure. Like its proposed salary cap, the league is emulating how the NFL and NBA operate … Yoshinobu Yamamoto retired 45 batters in a row in his starts against the Angels and White Sox earlier this month. He set down the final 22 batters he faced against the Angels, then 23 in a row against the White Sox. Of those 45 outs, only eight were on balls caught by outfielders. That tied Mark Buehrle (2009) for the second-longest such streak in history. Yusmeiro Petit set the record of 46 in 2014 when he was with the Giants … Eduardo Rodriguez’s comeback season reached a milestone Wednesday when he won his 100th career game. The 33-year-old Diamondbacks lefthander allowed one run over seven innings to improve to 6-2 and drop his ERA to 2.45. He’s 100-68 in his career. Only 16 active pitchers have more wins. Three other former Red Sox are on that list — Chris Sale (153), Michael Wacha (115), and Nate Eovaldi (108). Rodriguez posted a video on Instagram of teammates celebrating his first victory in 2015. That came in his major league debut at Texas when he pitched 7⅔ shutout innings and batterymate Blake Swihart drove in two runs. Rusney Castillo, the Prince of Pawtucket, played right field … Kody Clemens, son of the Rocket, went into the weekend with a .910 OPS in his previous 34 games for the Twins. He had 21 extra-base hits and 19 RBIs in that stretch. At 30, Clemens is having the best season of his career … Cardinals prospect Joshua Báez homered four times for Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday, driving in seven runs. His epic night came on the three-year anniversary of the death of his father, Jose Manuel. A Boston native who attended Dexter Southfield, Baez boosted his OPS to .976. He turns 23 this month … MLB’s Draft Combine starts Tuesday at Chase Field in Phoenix. Bishop Feehan lefthander Brody Bumila, righthander Kaiden McCarthy of Vermont Academy, and Georgia righthander Dylan Vigue of Leominster and the Groton School are scheduled to attend … Julia Cootey (Newburyport), Lee Jacobs (Boston), and Abby Medina (West Roxbury) are among the 64 girls’ baseball players slated to attend MLB’s Elite Development Invitational event in Vero Beach, Fla., starting Wednesday … Happy birthday to Garrett Crochet, who is 27. The lefthander is 21-8 with a 3.05 ERA in 38 starts for the Red Sox since being acquired from the White Sox before the 2025 season. Crochet had a 6.30 ERA through six starts this season before he landed on the injured list with a shoulder issue that has been slow to heal. Crochet has yet to pitch for interim manager Chad Tracy.

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