The trade deadline has been a frustrating time for the Red Sox each of the last two years. In 2022 the club tried to have it both ways by adding several pieces while dealing beloved veteran Christian Vazquez, and last season the Red Sox basically just stood pat.

Both approaches led to consternation within the clubhouse, but with the deadline a little over a month away Red Sox manager Alex Cora doesn’t think his current group will be affected the same way.

“I think this is a different group, a group that’s establishing themselves as big leaguers, so the (expletive) and moaning about trades or no trades, whatever, I don’t think it’s going to happen this year,” Cora said. “They’re in a good place right now, we’ve got a bunch of athletes and we’re going to keep going.”

Thanks to the emergence of numerous talented young players, the Red Sox have overcome significant adversity to emerge as a surprise Wild Card contender. After winning 10 of their last 13 games entering Wednesday the club is now tied with the Kansas City Royals for the final American League playoff spot.

Whether or not the Red Sox can maintain their recent level of play will go a long way towards determining how the club handles the trade deadline, but Cora made a point to challenge the notion that the Red Sox should be shooting for a Wild Card spot.

His message to the team, aim higher.

“I know we’ve been talking about the Wild Card and all that stuff, but eh, let’s get greedy,” Cora said, noting that the Yankees and Orioles both haven’t been playing as well recently. “Let’s not settle for the third Wild Card, let’s go higher and see where the season takes us.”

Entering Wednesday the Red Sox trailed the Yankees by 8.5 games in the AL East, but are only 6.5 games back of the Orioles after Baltimore’s recent five-game losing streak.