Latest playoff projections should be the only wake-up call Craig Breslow needs

The Boston Red Sox have put together a decent offseason, though there's still quite a bit left to be desired. Boston has added Walker Buehler and Garrett Crochet to its rotation, but the team hasn't found an answer to the bullpen. Kenley Jansen is a free agent and the Red Sox don't currently have a star closer.

But the biggest question of Boston's offseason is whether or not they'll sign superstar free agent Alex Bregman. The Bregman sweepstakes are likely down to five teams with the Red Sox being one of them. The issue here is that the Red Sox don't seem willing to pony up nearly $200 million to bring in Bregman despite how much he'd help the team.

With the season nearing close, PECOTA released their preseason playoff projections, and it doesn't look good for the Red Sox.

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Latest playoff projections paint gloomy picture for Red Sox

PECOTA's projections give the Red Sox just a 12 percent chance to make the postseason despite a competitive 2024 season and some big upgrades this offseason. For what it's worth, there are three teams that are given a zero percent chance to make the postseason, which is inaccurate because each team in the league has greater than a zero percent chance until they're mathematically eliminated.

Either way, these projections should tell Boston that it might not have as talented of a team as it thinks.

The Red Sox are likely to rely heavily on a young core of talent including multiple position player prospects who haven't even debuted in the big leagues yet. They're also set to rely on Buehler bouncing back to his former self after a down year in 2024. PECOTA likely doesn't favor either of these things.

Projections like this should open Craig Breslow's eyes and show him that he may need to go chase Bregman a bit harder than he is right now.

As things sit, Bregman is there for the taking. None of the five teams seem willing to budge and Bregman isn't budging either. If the Red Sox upped their offer a bit, they could land him on a massive contract, and it would likely help them climb the projected rankings.

Either way, baseball isn't played on a computer. It's played on the field. So, these projections don't mean much in the grand scheme of things.