BOSTON \u2014 In the climactic scene of \u201cThe Fabelmans,\u201d the character who serves as an avatar for a young Steven Spielberg meets the director John Ford at his Hollywood office. Describing the artwork on his wall, Ford shares an essential lesson of storytelling:<\/p>\n
\u201cNow remember this<\/a>,\u201d he growls. \u201cWhen the horizon\u2019s at the bottom, it\u2019s interesting! When the horizon\u2019s at the top, it\u2019s interesting! When the horizon\u2019s in the middle, it\u2019s boring as (expletive)!\u201d<\/p>\n Once upon a time, the Boston Red Sox were interesting. Sometimes they won the World Series. Sometimes their egos got in the way of that. But they always acted boldly and decisively. They swung big.<\/p>\n The Houston Astros are the franchise the Red Sox used to be. They\u2019ve gone to four World Series in the last decade, burning through a few managers and general managers along the way. Controversies? They\u2019ve had a few. But they\u2019re always loaded with stars, and when they lose some, they find others.<\/p>\n Thursday, they found one in the alumni directory: Carlos Correa, the prodigal shortstop who returned in a trade with the Minnesota Twins. Correa was back in orange Friday, hitting cleanup and making his career debut at third base. He wore his old No. 1, which also describes Houston\u2019s place in the American League West.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really happy environment right now,\u201d said Bryan Abreu, the Astros\u2019 star setup man. \u201cWe feel like we\u2019re starting the season again.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Justin Verlander before him, Correa left as a free agent and came back before his contract was over. Owner Jim Crane sometimes spends rashly \u2014 Jos\u00e9 Abreu, Rafael Montero \u2014 but he keeps the bedroom just the way you left it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe front office and the coaching staff, they do a really good job of developing players and getting the right people here,\u201d Correa said before batting practice Friday, in the visitors dugout at Fenway Park. \u201cAnd they just know how to win. It\u2019s only one mentality in this clubhouse, and that\u2019s to win \u2014 all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n As the old ditty from \u201cBall Four\u201d goes, it makes a fellow proud to be an Astro<\/a>. Correa was fully engaged with the Twins<\/a> while he played there but kept his home in Houston and maintained good relations with the Astros.<\/p>\n With Minnesota tearing down its roster amid a franchise sale, Correa eagerly approved a trade to the team that rebuilt around him in the 2010s. It was the only other place he could see himself.<\/p>\n \u201cYou never want to burn bridges in this game,\u201d Correa said. \u201cYou never know how things are going to end up panning out. And even after baseball, when you need a job, front office or whatever, you don\u2019t want to ever burn any bridges. My relationship in Minnesota \u2014 fantastic with everybody. Same here in Houston when I left. And now you see that I\u2019m back.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s one way Houston differs from Boston \u2014 when a Red Sox player leaves, it\u2019s often with knives in his back. In the old days, though, the Red Sox would shrug it off, replace a Pedro Mart\u00ednez with a Josh Beckett and win another World Series.<\/p>\n These are not the old days. These are the boring days \u2014 not the players or the games, but the organizational ethos. The Red Sox seem to believe they can build a winner without taking risks, a trait they exhibit every offseason and trade deadline.<\/p>\n This week, Craig Breslow and his staff did the least of any American League contender to upgrade their roster. The Red Sox traded with the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dustin May, a rental righty<\/a> with a 5.95 ERA in his last eight starts, and with the St. Louis Cardinals for Steven Matz, a rental lefty<\/a> with a 6.19 ERA in his last 12 appearances.<\/p>\n Boston started the day 59-51, good for the second wild-card spot, two games ahead of Texas. May and Matz should make the team a little bit better. Joe Ryan would have made the team a lot better. There is work to do.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at the Green Monster, we\u2019re in third place, five games back,\u201d manager Alex Cora said, referring to the AL standings on the wall. \u201cSo we feel like we can compete with anybody, and we\u2019ve got a real shot to win the division.\u201d<\/p>\n The Red Sox haven\u2019t done that since 2018, when they took their third consecutive division crown under Dave Dombrowski and raced to their fourth World Series victory of the century. Within a year, though, they had fired Dombrowski, and Mookie Betts had played his final game for the team.<\/p>\n