Craig Breslow knew what he needed. As the trade deadline crept closer, the Red Sox’s chief baseball officer had two glaring issues staring him down: a rotation stretched thin and a first base void screaming for power. His front office had done the legwork. Targets were identified. And at the top of that list was Ryan O’Hearn, the Orioles slugger quietly putting together one of the more efficient offensive seasons among rental bats.

By late Wednesday, Breslow had already made one move, adding lefty Steven Matz from the Cardinals, but that was a bullpen fix. The real prize was still dangling in Baltimore. O’Hearn seemed like a fit for Boston’s lineup, bringing a .283 average and 12 home runs to the table. His veteran presence was what they needed. But, in the final hours before the buzzer, it all fell apart. The San Diego Padres jumped in, outbid the Sox, and walked away with O’Hearn and outfielder Ramón Laureano in a two-player deal.

“I thought Ryan O’Hearn made a lot of sense for Boston,” ESPN’s David Schoenfield wrote ahead of the deadline. “They need power at first base, and O’Hearn has had a solid year. He’d be a rental, but the fit was clear.” For Schoenfield, it seemed like a no-brainer that the Red Sox would be a match for O’Hearn. But despite Boston being the fit, nothing actually came of it.

The Padres’ late-night swipe wasn’t just a miss for Boston; it was a disruption of their strategy. O’Hearn was more than a complementary piece. He was a cost-effective solution to a key lineup problem, and losing him must have stung. The Sox had a narrow list of first-base targets, and with O’Hearn gone, it’s thinner than ever.

What makes it worse is that San Diego had already landed big arms like Mason Miller and JP Sears earlier. And, O’Hearn felt like the cherry on top of an aggressive deadline spree. Boston’s front office is now suddenly facing a pivot with limited time and fewer options.

The Sox still have irons in the fire, Arizona’s Merrill Kelly remains a possibility, but they have to be quick.

Is there any time left for the Red Sox?

With Ryan O’Hearn off to San Diego and the deadline hourglass almost empty, the Red Sox are staring down a shrinking list of impact upgrades. The first-base market, once modest but manageable, has practically collapsed. There’s no clear fallback at that position unless Boston is willing to overpay or get creative.

Unless the Red Sox pull off a surprise, the team may need to lean on internal options and pray for a second-half surge from someone like Bobby Dalbec, hardly a reassuring fallback in a tight playoff race.

Merrill Kelly remains available, and his 3.22 ERA over 22 starts makes him one of the most stable arms on the block. Boston has been linked to Kelly in recent weeks, but so have the Cubs, Blue Jays, Yankees, and Astros. It’s a crowded field, and with multiple contenders chasing the same name, the price has likely jumped from reasonable to painful. If the Red Sox were hoping to wait out the market, the O’Hearn miss may now force their hand.

With fewer targets left and desperation rising, other teams can smell it. And if Breslow isn’t quick, the Sox may have to leave the deadline having solved only a bullpen depth issue while their true needs go unanswered.