Will the Red Sox starting selling off players ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline? Not so fast, says Craig Breslow.

DENVER — Inside the six-week countdown to the trade deadline, hours after the Red Sox’ worst loss of the season, Craig Breslow was not ready Tuesday afternoon to wave the white flag on the season and declare that his club will be a seller at the deadline.

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He knows, though, the long odds the Red Sox face as the owners of the second-worst record (31-45) in the American League entering the day.

“We’ll be realistic and do what is best for the organization,” Breslow said before the Red Sox‘ 5-2 win over the Rockies. “But I still think that we’re capable of playing better and stacking some wins together and hope that we can do that in the [coming days and weeks].”

The wait-and-see-for-now approach — with the trade deadline not until Aug. 3 — colored the insight on related topics.

Would it benefit the Sox to try to jump the market, to decide on being sellers in a year when there may not be many teams taking that approach, and see if they can extract the greatest value sooner rather than later?

“The first thing we need to do is take care of what’s happening here and do everything we can to figure out how to play better baseball and stack some wins together,” Breslow said. “After that, when teams make the decision to sell off players, particularly those that are maybe on expiring contracts, you try to get the best return you possibly can.

“Sometimes that’s available early. Sometimes you don’t know what a team is truly willing to pay up until you’re closer to the deadline.”

The Red Sox don’t have many pending free agents, particularly aside from starter Sonny Gray.

How does Breslow view players who are under contract for 2027 (and beyond)? That bucket includes the likes of Willson Contreras (filling a major need as a righthanded hitter at first base) and Jarren Duran (having a down year as part of a theoretical outfield surplus).

“We’re still not at a point where that decision is clear,” Breslow said. “Because like I said, we’ve got a lot of baseball games to play between now and then, and we’re going to do everything we can to get the ship righted for 2026.

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“Beyond that, we’ll take stock in terms of like, OK, what are our roster needs going to be? And how do we position ourselves to have the best 2027 possible? If that’s where things go.”

Marcelo Mayer was out of the lineup for the middle game of the series because of a sore left foot, interim manager Chad Tracy said. He fouled a pitch off of the foot Monday and afterward walked with a limp.

“Between that and the lefty [starting for Colorado], we felt like let’s just keep him off it and make sure he starts feeling better,” Tracy said.

The middle infielder recently has missed one-off games because of a stiff neck/back, an illness, and now the sore foot.

With a two-run lead in the seventh inning Monday, Tracy went with Tyron Guerrero over the usual seventh-inning man, Justin Slaten, on a night when the Red Sox had a full complement of relievers available.

Why? Because Guerrero already had warmed up in the sixth inning.

“First of all, I trust both of them,” Tracy said. “Ty was warming up, fully hot. Like the matchup with either of them. Rather than sit him down and you’ve got a guy fully hot and you get another guy fully hot and you end up using both of them, bring him [Guerrero] into the game, let him do the job.”

Guerrero, a 35-year-old in the majors for the first time since 2019, owns a 3.65 ERA in 13 appearances. Tracy counted the righthander among the Sox’ high-leverage options.

“We’re in an enviable position as far as when all of them are available,” he said. “You got four of those guys, plus a lefty specialist in Danny [Coulombe], to choose from.”

Aroldis Chapman and Tracy downplayed the idea that a physical issue impacted the closer in his blown save Monday. Chapman, further, indicated his sore left hamstring is no longer a factor. “I’ve had a couple days where I’m running full speed and things felt good,” he said through an interpreter . . . Romy Gonzalez hopes to be activated for his season debut Saturday against the Yankees, the infielder told reporters in Worcester. He went 1 for 4 (single) as the DH for the Triple-A WooSox in the resumption of his rehab assignment Tuesday … In the same game, lefthander Patrick Sandoval tossed 3⅓ innings and allowed two runs (one earned) and four hits. He struck out one and walked one. Along the way, he stretched out to a season-high 53 pitches, as expected … Veteran catcher Andrew Knizner signed a minor league contract and will join Worcester.

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