The 2010 Major League Baseball trade deadline is quickly approaching with the deadline being its customary date of July 31st on a yearly basis.

I will try and tackle every Major League team as the deadline approaches to see if they will be buyers, sellers or stick to their current roster.

I will be basing my assumptions on the direction the team is going, their record as of the date I post the article, possible roster injuries and so on and so forth.

I will provide the information about each team by division.

Earlier this week I began my look at the American League East with a look at the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays.

Today I will continue my look at the AL East with a look at the Boston Red Sox.

Coming into play today the Red Sox sat third in the AL East with a record of 53-42, seven games behind the division leading Yankees.

General manager Theo Epstein focussed much of his off-season attention on adding defense and pitching acquiring John Lackey, Marco Scutaro, Adrian Beltre & Mike Cameron via free agency.

Add those names to the likes of a rotation that could feature any combination of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Clay Buchholz & Tim Wakefield, along with talent such as Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, Victor Martinez, Jacoby Ellsbury & more and the Red Sox were tabbed as a legitimate contender to the Yankees World Series title.

So far this season nothing has gone according to plan for the Sox as a bevy of injuries to numerous players such as Pedroia, Ellsbury, Cameron, Beckett, Martinez and more have caused a drastic decrease in production.

The Red Sox have managed to stay in the playoff race with excellent efforts from fill in players such as Darnell McDonald (.263AVG, 6HR, 25RBI), Bill Hall (.231AVG, 8HR, 25RBI) & Daniel Nava (.286, 1HR, 16RBI) combined with a spectacular turnaround season from Beltre (.339, 16HR, 61RBI), the resurgence of David Ortiz (.250, 18HR, 59RBI), the consistency of Youkilis (.299, 18HR, 60RBI) the shutdown bullpen performances of budding star Daniel Bard (1-2, 1.79ERA) and an excellent showing from Buchholz (10-5, 2.81ERA) & Lester (11-4, 2.81ERA) in the rotation.

Where would the Red Sox be without the production of Adrian Beltre?

Although the numbers from McDonald, Hall & Nava are nothing to bat an eye at, the players have been key during tough times for a decimated injury riddled season thus far for Boston.

The Red Sox were supposed to be all about defense and pitching this season, but it has been the offense that has been the reason behind the team’s success.

Even with the injuries the team leads the AL in runs scored (498), third in hits (890), first in doubles (222), second in home runs (123), first in total bases (1509), first in RBI’s (477), fourth in batting average (.272), second in on-base percentage (.347) and first in slugging percentage (.461).

One major area of concern for the Red Sox is the team’s bullpen which has gone from one of the best in the AL (second best bullpen ERA in 2009 at 3.80) to one of the AL’s worst behind only the Seattle Mariners & Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in team ERA at 4.51.

Jonathan Papelbon has his highest ERA of his career at 3.23, but is still closing out games well (21SV in 24SVO) and Bard is having a great season, but the rest of the pen is not the intimidating pen of the past that the Sox used to contain their opponents with. The team did just call up prospect Michael Bowden to try and help in the bullpen, but the team may need a veteran presence especially if Bowden struggles.

The Red Sox are also without a legitimate catching threat in their line-up with both Martinez (fracture in thumb) & Jason Varitek (broken right foot) out with injuries. The team has used a combination of re-acquisition Kevin Cash (.178, 2HR, 4RBI), Dusty Brown (.143, 0HR, 0RBI) & Gustavo Molina (.143, 0HR, 0RBI before July 18th demotion) at the position, but the team may need the added production at the position if they want to contend. Martinez did take batting practice July 16th, but he may not be ready anytime soon, while Varitek is out until at least the beginning of August.

At the July 31st trade deadline the Red Sox could be expected to acquire bullpen help as well as a catcher.

The team has been linked to Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Scott Downs as well as their All-Star catcher John Buck and have discussed Chris Iannetta with the Colorado Rockies in the past, offering infielder Jed Lowrie in a possible deal. New reports state that the Red Sox are no longer discussing Iannetta with the Rockies, but the talk may revive as the deadline approaches.

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Chris Snyder is also available and the Sox have even shown minor interest in acquiring Jayson Werth from the Philadelphia Phillies if he becomes available.

Red Sox president Larry Luchino stated in a recent interview “that the team does have money put aside to acquire talent if they can find it” and surely the raucous fans of Bean Town will expect a trade to improve the ball club for the playoff stretch run.

Teams will certainly be targeting Bard & Bowden in trade talks, but it is doubtful the Sox would part with either or super prospect Casey Kelly.

The team does possess hard-hitting first baseman Lars Anderson (.252, 5HR, 29RBI @ Triple A Pawtucket), excellent defensive shortstop prospect Jose Iglesias (.306, 0HR, 9RBI @ Double A Portland) & outfielder Josh Reddick (.218, 8HR, 37RBI @ Triple A Pawtucket) as possible trade bait and the team does possess a payroll strong enough to take on contracts.

The Red Sox are always a force to be reckoned with, even with an injury filled season trying to block them from their World Series goal, so watch for the team to make a move at the deadline as they look to bring home another championship.