Of American League teams in postseason contention, the Red Sox were one of the quietest at the trade deadline. Before the deadline hit, the Red Sox acquired two pitchers—lefthander Steven Matz from the Cardinals and starter Dustin May from the Dodgers—in exchange for prospects Blaze Jordan, James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard.

Those were the only additions the Red Sox made in what was an unsatisfactory deadline for Boston. They especially pale in comparison to their AL East rivals, the Yankees, who made a handful of moves before the deadline to improve their team and maintain their lead in the AL wild card standings.

Despite the team's lack of moves, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said Boston felt they were "uncomfortably aggressive" at the deadline, per Chris Cotillo of .

"We pursued a number of really impact opportunities," Breslow said after the deadline on Thursday. "Obviously, not all of them work out, but it wasn't from an unwillingness to get uncomfortable."

Breslow insists that though the Red Sox were not interested in parting with any pieces from their major league roster, they were trying to put out the most "aggressive" offers they could. Among the moves that didn't work out was reportedly a trade for Twins All-Star Joe Ryan, which would have been a major boost to the team's rotation.

"I understand the frustration and disappointment," Breslow said, "because we’re all looking at the last week right now in terms of the trades that were made and weren’t made. There's not a lot of sympathy for how hard we tried to get deals across the line."

Breslow and the Red Sox might have tried, but several other contenders both tried got the deals they wanted done. It's natural that there is disappointment when not many moves occur, and it's Breslow's job to get them done, not bring up a "lack of sympathy" for when things don't fall into place.