J.D. Martinez, a free agent after this season, could be traded if the Boston Red Sox don’t start to play better. Scott Audette/Associated Press

BOSTON — Welcome to the most important week of the regular season for the Red Sox.

Manager Alex Cora likes to preach, almost daily, that each game is just one out of 162. But the next seven matter more than most. How the Sox play in three games against the Guardians, three against the Brewers and their series opener in Houston next Monday will have wide-ranging implications on both the short-term and long-term futures of the franchise.

At 49-48, the Red Sox are in baseball purgatory with the trade deadline one week away. Entering Tuesday, they are just three games out of a wild-card spot but also a game ahead of the last-place Orioles in the AL East and part of a group of seven teams that are separated by just five games in the wild-card race. They have been among the best teams in baseball at times (June) and among the worst at others (April and July). They once looked like surefire deadline buyers but have played so poorly in July that they might have to sell.

The decisions Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom has to make in the next few days are not easy ones. He has to decide whether or not he believes in the 2022 Red Sox enough to mortgage some of the club’s future or if he thinks the bad version is closer to its true identity enough to trade away some franchise icons.

The range of outcomes of what could happen in the next seven days is wide.

If the Red Sox go, say, 6-1 or 5-2 before Aug. 2, they could still buy. Bullpen, first base and outfield are the clear areas of need. Maybe Bloom thinks that with a couple of reinforcements – and the pending returns of injured stars like Rafael Devers, Trevor Story and others – the Sox could push for a wild-card spot. If he does that, the clubhouse will likely rejoice.

“We do understand that you could be a seller, you could be a buyer. It all depends,” Red Sox left fielder Alex Verdugo said. “For us, we know we’ve got a good team, we’ve got a good group of guys and we can go somewhere. We’re hoping that we stick with what we’ve got, maybe get a couple of additions and make a postseason push.”

If the Red Sox buy, they likely won’t make any moves as big as their addition of Kyle Schwarber a year ago. But a first baseman like Josh Bell or a reliever like David Robertson would help. Truth be told, the Red Sox haven’t played well enough to deserve a marquee deadline addition. That puts any talk about Juan Soto or other superstars to bed for now.

Nathan Eovaldi is a free agent after this season and could be on the trade block, with the Red Sox struggling to contend. Ashley Landis/Associated Press

A bad week could mean some well-known Red Sox are out the door before Aug. 2. J.D. Martinez, as ESPN’s Buster Olney reported Tuesday, is a trade candidate. So are pitchers Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha, Rich Hill and Matt Strahm. Add Christian Vázquez and maybe even Kiké Hernández, if the medicals check out, to that mix. Teams would love to acquire Xander Bogaerts, even if the Red Sox say they’re not yet thinking of dealing him.

The most likely scenario, as of now, is that the Red Sox either largely stand pat, much like they did in 2019 when they were in a similar boat and made just one trade, for Andrew Cashner, or do a hybrid buy-sell thing that keeps them afloat for 2022 and sets them up for the future. Bloom is nothing if not creative. Trading, say, Martinez for prospects and then adding an odd positional fit who could slot in at designated hitter is possible. Dealing a starter like Wacha or Hill and installing Josh Winckowski or Kutter Crawford in the rotation is, too. Bloom is going to be tempted to trade pending free agents but doesn’t want to wave the white flag so publicly. It’s a tricky line to walk. And publicly, Bloom’s boss, team President Sam Kennedy, is saying that the team’s goal is still to compete this season.

“We are not a .500 club. This club was not built to play .500 baseball. This club was built to compete,” Kennedy said Monday night on NESN. “This club was built to get into October. And I can tell you there’s still belief in that clubhouse, in that dugout, as frustrating and as aggravating as these games, as painful as they have been. We have to stay optimistic and look at the bright side, the fact we can get into that postseason.”

“The goal is to win,” he said. “The goal is to win this year. We have to balance that with the desire to win every year.”

Bloom has never been one to jump the market and has often waited to make his move. That he waited until Feb. 2020 to trade Mookie Betts and Feb. 2021 to deal Andrew Benintendi are two of many examples. That patience and perceived lack of urgency, according to multiple sources, has frustrated others in the Red Sox organization. For example, making an early move from Carlos Santana, who was traded from Kansas City to Seattle in late June, could have vitalized the team and improved the roster much like the addition of Steve Pearce did in 2018. But the Red Sox, as they often have under Bloom, refused to make an aggressive move and stood pat.

Bloom’s patience might pay off this week, though. He’s used to waiting until late in the game to make moves, so he likely won’t panic when he has to decide on his deadline strategy with 72, 48 or 24 hours left to go before 6 p.m. on Aug. 2. His team’s recent play has given him no choice but to play the waiting game and see how the next week goes. Against three teams with records over .500, it won’t be an easy task. Within the walls of the clubhouse, the team is trying to stay positive.

“It all depends on how you want to see it or how you want to portray it,” Red Sox Manager Alex Cora said. “Like I could empty this halfway and it’s half-empty or half-full. We’re, what, two games from a playoff spot? And we haven’t played well for a month. I always try to put everything in perspective, obviously, and where we’re at roster-wise, and team-wise.

“It’s not about getting hot. It’s about playing well,” Cora added. “You start playing good baseball, we’ll be fine. We’re very talented. And we have guys coming off the IL who can contribute.”

If the Sox play well in the next week, Bloom might fortify their roster and put them in contention. If they continue to scuffle, some of the most important players who have worn the uniform in the last decade might be traded. No pressure, right?

“We’re very talented,” Cora said. “We can talk about trades, we can talk about guys being traded and all that, but at the end of the day, we have to play better.”