I still can’t get over the fact that the Red Sox and Yankees are best friends and are out here making trades. However, scooping up Adam Ottavino and collecting a prospect is one that probably made sense for the rebuilding Red Sox. So much so that Brian Cashman praised Chaim Bloom for pulling the trigger on the trade?
Brian Cashman spoke to reporters Friday and applauded the move by Chaim Bloom:
“I thought Chaim Bloom … it was a smart play by him,” Cashman said, via MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “He gets to import a player that’s going to have a bounce-back year, I’m sure, because it’s hard to judge a player on a shortened season. (Ottavino) is better than what his numbers showed last year. Otto was well-liked in our clubhouse, provided full effort, competed to the best of his abilities and had a lot of success Year 1. In a shortened season, not the season he or we all wanted, but he was a good teammate, a good person and did everything he possibly could to help us succeed. Last thing I wanted to do was put him in the hands of our competitors but ultimately I’m not afraid to do business with everybody if it serves what our purposes have to be.”
For Boston, you never want to do the Yankees any favors. However, if Ottavino rebounds, this is a huge win for the Sox. Ottavino carries a power slider and was one of the best relievers in baseball prior to 2020. All it cost was eating his $8 million salary and were able to secure an additional prospect Frank German along the way.
The Yankees were desperate to clear salary. So much so that they were willing to ship the right-handed reliever to the Sox and face him all year. New York is about $10 million under the luxury tax threshold and they wanted some flexibility to add to the roster.
