Forget the whining about contracts, the imminent return of two-thirds of Boston’s outfield and the Red Sox bats getting hot again at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox need a statement this weekend against the Yankees -- and it needs to be much louder and clearer than any David Ortiz interview with USA Today.

The Red Sox need to show they are serious about being a player in the AL East the rest of the way. They need to show that to fans, ownership and, most of all, themselves.

The Red Sox have said all season they know they’re a better team than they’ve been playing. They’ve said all season they know how talented they are inside the clubhouse. They have said all season they haven’t listened to the naysayers who have said this is just an extension of last September.

They don’t need words this weekend. They need action.

Take three of the four weekend games and they would be 5 1/2 out with plenty of time (and games against the AL East) left. Split and fans will have the same attitude they’ve taken all year -- we’ll see what you’re really made of in September.

Lose three of four or get swept, and get ready for a lot of trade rumors before the July 31 deadline.

That’s basically what’s at stake this weekend for the team that annually feels it's neck-and-neck with the Yankees in baseball’s best division.

The Yankees have held up their end of the bargain and are 49-32 and own baseball’s best winning percentage (.605) two days after the Fourth of July.

The Red Sox? They are consistent in their inconsistency.

One week after completing a 7-2 homestand against the Marlins, Braves and Blue Jays, they laid a complete egg and scored 14 runs in seven games at Seattle and Oakland.

They moved up to as high as third place and had passed the Rays in the process. They have since dropped back into fourth, a half-game ahead of the last-place Blue Jays, at 42-40.

The Red Sox return to Fenway this weekend with again so many questions after it seemed home cooking had righted their ship before they headed out on the road to a miserable 2-5 swing through Seattle and Oakland.

Where did the Red Sox offense go?

“Our offense has just been terrible. Don’t want to sugarcoat it. It sucked, basically,” Cody Ross acknowledged to reporters after the Sox were swept by the not-so mighty A's.

Will Jacoby Ellsbury be back, and will he be able to make a difference? Maybe.

Is Carl Crawford close behind, and will he be a real improvement over the on-base production and plate patience of Daniel Nava? Maybe not.

What got under David Ortiz’s skin again, and why -- just two weeks after saying he was sick and tired of the drama in the Red Sox clubhouse -- did he create more of it by telling USA Today that the Red Sox won’t have it so easy with him this year in free agency?

This is the most troubling, since again the most productive player in the clubhouse is certainly the unhappiest, with Kevin Youkilis now in Chicago playing for the other Sox. Will the Red Sox consider going to Ortiz if his grumbling continues?

Imagine if the wheels fall off this weekend like they did in April. Would the Red Sox dare ask Papi to waive his 10-5 no trade rights if the right deal to a contender came along?

But to me, the most important question of all is what kind of fight do they take to the best team in the division?

Yes, Dustin Pedroia’s thumb is banged up and he may well land on the disabled list. Will Middlebrooks is dealing with a strained left hamstring.

But excuses won’t cut it this weekend.

The Yankees -- with former Red Sox outfielder Darnell McDonald now on their roster -- enter this weekend somewhat vulnerable. Andy Pettitte just went on the disabled list with a fractured ankle. CC Sabathia is out with a groin strain.

Their rotation is Hiroki Kuroda, Phil Hughes, Freddy Garcia, Ivan Nova and David Phelps. Stop me if that struck fear into you in spring training, especially up against Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz. Yes, the Red Sox trio had their troubles in September, but seriously, the Red Sox would be right in thinking that was a clear advantage.

With David Robertson, Rafael Soriano and Boone Logan, the Yankees bullpen is deep if not intimidating with Mariano Rivera gone after his freak knee injury suffered early in the season in Kansas City.

Their top catcher -- Russell Martin -- is batting .178 with eight homers.

Yes, they have Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson doing damage again. And Alex Rodriguez is still filling time and space at third while occasionally showing why he was given $275 million before the 2008 season.

But the real point is this: The Yankees have shown the ability to overcome adversity after adversity and post the best mark in baseball. The Red Sox have lost Jacoby Ellsbury for most of the first half of the season while losing pieces like Beckett and Buchholz for much less time.

The Yankees have had all the answers so far this season. The Red Sox have had discontent and disappointment.

It’s time for the Red Sox to put up or shut up.

Two-part Trags Bag this week:

Will the Red Sox consider the unthinkable and approach David Ortiz about a trade out of town if he continues his swings at management?

@0_LayDX No way he is traded with the offense snakebitten by injuries. He's said it so much that it's falling on deaf ears.

@SBennett15 If trading team were willing to extend him for 2013 as a condition of the deal, it could work.

@CraigMacCormack He's 10-5, so no chance.

@toeingtherubber I think the 'drama' is overblown. Papi complains (and, really, has a right to even if the timing stinks) a lot. Not a big deal.

@steveherskovitz INSANE.

@shelley1005 How could the Sox even think of trading him now...he's been the only consistent piece of the lineup.

@docvarmint Better chance of a Fenway Brick being inscribed "Chicken and Beer" than Ortiz being traded.

@TrentSouth no way... I think they're more like to give him what he wants then they are to trade him...

@jetsjets1028 they do that and they’ll easily be last place team with very little offense

Is Ortiz more frustrated with his contract or the fact that he’s the only one in the lineup consistently producing?

@Sportsgal1972 Both. But no one forced Papi to sigh that contract. He needs to keep his mouth closed and do his job. The whine won't motivate team.

@docvarmint I think he needs to stop with the hot sauce enemas, shut up and play. Starting to piss a mentally fragile fan base off.

@dtufts the unhappiness in the team clubhouse is rampant...it almost unifies them, in a sad way

@FrenchieFowler He sees all the FA signings that have done little to none for the team while he's been raking & fighting for deal. Understandable.