The Red Sox are the hottest team in baseball, but they still should be sellers at the deadline

With Justin Turner starting at second base, the Red Sox won their second straight over the Braves Wednesday night.Erin Clark/Globe Staff

The Boston Red Sox, the hottest team in baseball, open a West Coast trip in San Francisco against the Giants Friday night.

Baseball boss Chaim Bloom plans to be back in Boston from now through Tuesday’s trade deadline (when the team will be in Seattle), and he’s in a pretty odd position.

What do you think? Should the Sox be buyers or sellers? Are they contenders or is the recent success fool’s gold?

Beats the heck out of me. I’ve been ready to bury these guys since the first sunflower seed was spit in Fort Myers, but they’ve won 15 of 20 and just swept the best team in baseball, recovering from a 3-0 deficit in the sixth inning Wednesday in a nationally televised 5-3 win over the estimable Braves.

The Sox have a raft of hot hitters (hello Triston Casas), have come from behind in 30 of their wins, seem to downright like one another, and as of Thursday were a mere 1½ games behind Toronto in the quest for the final wild-card spot in the American League. Given what he has to work with on an everyday basis, this has to be Alex Cora’s best managing job.

Swell.

But is it sustainable? Is this a team that can actually contend in the postseason?

Sorry. Just not seeing it. These Sox were not built to win this year. And that’s why I’d trade James Paxton, Kenley Jensen, Adam Duvall, and Justin Turner between now and Tuesday. It is the opinion of this typist that the Sox gave up on this team long before Opening Day and this recent spate of success is only making it difficult to stay the course and keep building for the future.

It certainly sends a bad message to sell veterans when you are this close to a playoff spot, but let’s remember that the final playoff spot means you are one of six in your league and likely headed for early elimination.

It’s a tough message to your fans to sell under these conditions, but it would be the best thing to do for the long-term health of the Red Sox.

Simply put: What we’ve seen the last few days and weeks is not sustainable.

Let’s start with defense. The Sox defend as if they are wearing shoes on their hands. They lead the majors in errors (70). They lead the majors in throwing errors (44). They have the worst “outs above average” in the majors. They consistently have players playing out of position. On Wednesday, it was 38-year-old Turner — a good hitter who can barely bend over — playing second base.

The Sox had dearly departed Kiké Hernández (thank God he’s gone) as their everyday shortstop at the start of the season. Remember second baseman Christian Arroyo playing right field last year? Bobby Dalbec, who is either a first baseman or a third baseman, played shortstop for the Sox in April.

The Sox consistently run into outs. Cue the Benny Hill music.

Here’s a telling nugget: The Red Sox have used 15 different starting pitchers this year. Guess the only team that has used more. The Kansas City Royals, that’s who. And the Royals are 29-75, right there with the moribund Oakland A’s.

The Sox have only three starting pitchers. It’s been that way for a while. They regularly cobble together a stable of bullpen arms to survive games. They’re using Brennan Bernardino in high-leverage situations. And getting away with it.

It is a Bloominati’s paradise, but where are you really going with that?

The Sox seem to play hot teams when they are playing cold. The Braves (3-7 over their last 10) were slumping when they got to Boston. The once-hot Giants have lost six of their last eight.

The Sox got every break Wednesday. Atlanta manager Brian Snitker managed the game like Pete Carroll in Super Bowl XLIX (“Malcolm, go!”). He pulled his starter too soon. He went with an untested pitcher against the veteran Turner in a critical moment. Then he took the bat out of the hands of the assumed National League MVP (Ronald Acuña Jr.) by trying to steal a base in the ninth.

Thanks for calling that slant pass in traffic, Brian. Thanks for not giving the ball to Beast Mode.

The Sox are getting the breaks. When Yu Chang hit a certain double play one-hopper to Ozzie Albies Wednesday, Albies could not make the play, the inning stayed alive, and a 3-1 Boston deficit turned into a 4-3 lead.

One night earlier, when the white-hot Casas hit into a triple play in the third inning (horrible baserunning by the Sox again), it somehow reset the Sox lineup and helped them produce two runs in the ensuing inning.

I write this not to enrage Tom Caron, nor to agitate loyal Sox fans who understandably are excited about the recent success. I am always prepared to be wrong. I’m the guy who thought Rick Pitino was a good idea for the Celtics and that the Sox needed to break the bank for Pablo Sandoval.

I also am mindful that Trevor Story is coming back to play short and Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock should be returning soon. And Chris Sale someday again will toe the slab.

One can make a case for these Red Sox. The 2021 Braves were 44-45 at the All-Star break, 2½ games out of a playoff spot, and wound up winning the World Series. The ‘21 Red Sox got hot at the end and came within two wins of the Fall Classic.

So why not go for it now?

Because they are not good enough to make a serious run. And this recent run only gets in the way of the long-term plan.

Sell.