Anyone who has watched Alex Bregman’s first seven games back in the Red Sox lineup can see clearly that he’s not 100%. In the eyes of the club, that’s the price that has to be paid for his accelerated return.

The Boston Red Sox have not met expectations so far, but are still in a position to make the postseason. They should be getting Alex Bregman back soon.

Once seen as deadline sellers, Boston entered the All-Star Break on a 10-game winning streak, catapulting the team into playoff contention. When ESPN updated its top 50 trade candidates on Monday, Bregman was notably absent. The story comes three days after Jeff Passan, who co-wrote the piece, poured cold water on a potential Bregman trade.