Boston Red Sox

Boston's World Series title defense hasn't gone quite as anyone anticipated, as the Red Sox have been outscored by the opposition and sit with a losing record on the outskirts of the playoff picture in the American League.

When Brock Holt does a pushup, he isn't lifting himself up: He's pushing the earth down.

Brock Holt doesn't call the wrong number. You answer the wrong phone.

Brock Holt does not sleep. He waits.

Sure, all these "facts" may originally have been attributed to Chuck Norris. But after an absurd start to the 2014 season, Holt is becoming a legend in his own right, serving as one of the lone bright spots for the Boston Red Sox this year.

The Boston Red Sox should make plenty of noise on July 2, the first day of the 2014-2015 international signing period.

The international signing phase is always difficult for teams, as they have to evaluate whether a 16-year-old player is worth a multimillion-dollar bonus. These players aren't even old enough to graduate high school and have years of physical maturation ahead of them. Further, these players are much less seasoned than the pool of talent available in the domestic draft due to age and other factors.

If the Boston Red Sox intend to make a playoff push in the second half of the season, they'll likely need to go after some outside help.  Below is a shopping list that may come in handy for the Red Sox as the trade deadline approaches:

1. Offense
2. More offense

To say that Boston is "offensively challenged" would be an understatement.

In Boston, David Ortiz's legacy is complete. Regardless of how the rest of his career plays out, one of the most beloved Red Sox of all time will always be remembered fondly at Fenway Park. That will remain true even if decline has set in for a possible future Cooperstown-bound star.

The Boston Red Sox's outfield has this whole "team defense" thing figured out. 

After Jonny Gomes lost a fly ball in the light in left field against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night, Brock Holt—who was playing center field for the first time in his professional career—bailed him out with a ridiculous diving catch he had no business making.

The writing had been on the wall for several weeks.

On Tuesday afternoon, that writing finally spelled the end of Grady Sizemore's unlikely comeback story, as the Boston Red Sox designated the 31-year-old outfielder for assignment to make room for prospect Garin Cecchini, as tweeted by Alex Speier of WEEI.com.

Despite a 32-38 record, the Boston Red Sox are still only 5.5 games back of a playoff spot in the American League.  Barring a complete collapse, the Red Sox figure to be buyers when the July 31 MLB trade deadline arrives.  With that in mind, what are Boston's greatest needs going forward, as they look to stay alive in the postseason race?

Life clings to the Boston Red Sox like a disease.

At 30-36 and eight games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays, they are unlikely to make the playoffs this season. Yet they keep winning just often enough to keep them on the periphery of relevancy at 4.5 games back of a wild-card spot, and this is a team with enough natural talent to make a run.

The ranking order used for this article was obtained from SoxProspects.com, with statistics via RedSox.com.