Chaim Bloom says Red Sox are not ‘planning to’ discuss trading Devers, Bogaerts with other teams
With four days to go until the Aug. 2 MLB Trade deadline, Boston Red Sox general manager Chaim Bloom has some important decisions to make.
On June 26, Boston possessed the third-best record in the American League at 42-31 and held the top wild card spot in their grasp. They were on the rise after a rough start and were looking like definite buyers come the deadline.
Fast forward 33 days later, the Red Sox have completely fallen apart, going 8-19 since — the second-worst record in MLB over that span — and are holding on for dear life in the AL Wild Card race at 50-50. Boston is 3.5 games back of the third and final wild card spot held by division-rival Tampa at 53-46.
While speculation has risen about what the Sox should do — especially in regards of potentially dealing its two franchise cornerstones Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers — Bloom spoke to the media this week and dispelled any speculation about whether the team has discussed with other organizations about moving them.
“Yeah, I look at what we’re trying to accomplish and just the stature that those guys have, not just for our fans, but also for what it means for what we’re trying to accomplish,” Bloom told the media Wednesday. “I know it’s hard at this time of year, but I’m at least trying to at least minimize whatever potential distraction [Bogaerts, Devers trade rumors] can cause. So I’ve just said the truth, that we hadn’t discussed them with anyone and we’re not planning on it.”
Quote via MLB
Boston has dropped 11 of their last 14 games and have been outscored 111-46 (!!!) in that span, its third-worst 14-game stretch this season (they have two overlapping 14-game July spans of getting outscored by 67 and 68 runs.)
Now that we’re on the precipice of the deadline, Bloom and Co. have to make a conscious decision on whether they’re going to sell or not. Realistically, they could do both, but it’s worth noting that Bloom still views the roster as a good team.
“Obviously, we haven’t played well lately. We’ve been banged up and we haven’t been playing well. I do think we have a good team. I think we have a very talented team,” Bloom said, according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “It’s not a perfect club. No question. At times, we haven’t played as well as we could. At times, some of the ways that games have played out, especially early in the season, have kind of exposed some of the imperfections on our club. But I’d stack our talent up against just about any team in the league.
“We’re not too happy with how it looks right now. We have to factor that in. But I think to really dictate the course of an organization over a handful of games usually is not the right course [of action], so we’re going to factor in obviously where we are … I don’t really like the label of buy or sell. In theory, any move you make you’re doing both regardless of where you are.”
Full quotes here, via MLB.
Bogaerts technically has four years, $80 million remaining on his contract (not including 2022), but he has an opt-out after this season that he could use to simply gain more money. Devers’ final year of team control is at the end of 2023. Both rightfully deserve extensions with Boston as two of the best players at their respective positions leaguewide — the ultimate question is whether or not Bloom will pay them, should they remain with the team after 2022.
Assuming Chaim Bloom chooses to part with pieces at the deadline, J.D. Martinez and Nathan Eovaldi — both on expiring contracts — are likely two of the first out the door.
Conversely, if they elect to add for a playoff push, the Red Sox will have 13 more series against teams above them in the AL Standings — 11 of those against other AL East foes.
Boston is already a lowly 0-11-1 in series against the AL East (12-29 in total) this season, so they’re going to need to turn it around fast if they have any aspirations at squeaking into the final wild card spot. FanGraphs has them at a 26.6 percent chance to make playoffs after it was 80.3 percent on June 26 — it starts with handling its division.
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