Why Red Sox are 'cooked' amid 'joyless' 2026 season disaster

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There is no denying that the 2026 season has been a total disaster for the Boston Red Sox. At the bottom of the AL East, the Red Sox look rudderless with job security in question across the roster, coaching staff, and front office.

Even though they're only 5.0 games out of a Wild Card spot thanks to a very bleak AL Wild Card field, the Red Sox are very much a team that's likely to miss October baseball this season and act as sellers this summer by the trade deadline.

But, as ESPN's David Schoenfield asked, "Are the Red Sox cooked?" It's a fair question, as this team doesn't look good at all right now. And, unfortunately, Schoenfield believes the Red Sox are indeed "cooked."

Red Sox are 'cooked' according to ESPN analyst

"Are the Red Sox cooked?" Schoenfield writes. "Verdict: Real. I'll be the last person to jump off the train, because I believed the Red Sox had a good team heading into the season, but the team has been joyless and lifeless so far."

Looking at all that's gone wrong for the Red Sox in the last year, it's hard to believe the Red Sox are anything but completely and totally cooked.

They're struggling at Fenway, and the injuries to Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet have been nightmares that don't seem to end.

Even though the pitching staff hasn't been terrible, allowing only 272 runs this season, their offense has been terrible.

They lost Alex Bregman for nothing in free agency. Then they turned to Caleb Durbin in a trade using Cy Young-caliber pitcher Kyle Harrison, which they got as part of an incredibly mismanaged trade return in the Rafael Devers trade.

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Alex Cora has been fired in a messy situation, the team hasn't rebounded from that rough start, and it's looking more and more likely that this team is heading towards the trade deadline as sellers.

But, with how Craig Breslow has botched the last year's worth of roster moves, it's hard to trust him with selling the right pieces this summer.

His job appears safe, for now, despite how disastrous his moves have been. The 2026 season has been a total nightmare for the Red Sox.

Schoenfield called it "joyless," which makes sense considering there is very little to be excited about with this team this season.

So, are the Red Sox "cooked" this season? It's hard to believe otherwise, as the outlook for this season is incredibly bleak right now, thanks to bad roster moves, underperforming players, and some terrible vibes within the franchise during a brutal 2026 season.