The Boston Red Sox have seen their fair share of struggles in recent days, with a historic loss to the Toronto Blue Jays and a five-game losing streak coming off the All-Star break. With the MLB trade deadline just eight days away, Chaim Bloom and the Boston Red Sox may be more open to being traded before Aug. 2, ESPN’s Jeff Pasan reports.
The debate over whether the Red Sox should be a seller at the trade deadline has been showing the team’s struggles in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Passan said someone in the Red Sox organization will wait and see how he performs in the next series before making the call.
If the Red Sox break even, expect the rest of the league to start selling. “Opposing executives expect Blue to be open for business” if Boston drops the next two games against Cleveland, Passan wrote.
Passan referred to the Red Sox as “the worst team in baseball” since the Fourth of July when they were in second place in the American League East. Since then, the team has dropped to fourth place, just one game behind the Baltimore Orioles.
The Red Sox have been dealing with a fair amount of injuries, with Trevor Story, Rafael Devers, Chris Sale and JD Martinez being the few names that have missed. Martinez Pasan was the first name listed as a trade candidate, saying he is the best outfielder available and could be a candidate to join the New York Mets.
Although Nathan Eovaldi had a poor performance on Friday night (he allowed nine runs in 2.2 innings in the Red Sox’s 28-5 loss to Toronto), he is another trade candidate, according to Passan. Eovaldi is coming off a back/hip injury that will miss more than a month, but if the Red Sox are open to offers, several teams may be interested.
However, Passan mentioned one name that Boston is unlikely to trade, but is still a very narrow possibility: Xander Bogaerts. The shortstop is set to hit free agency this summer, but has been a key member of the Red Sox since joining the team in 2013. Rival executives don’t believe the Red Sox want to trade Bogaerts.
During an appearance on WEI’s Greg Hill Show on Tuesday morning, Red Sox president Sam Kennedy confirmed that the team has no plans to move Bogaerts or star third baseman Rafael Devers.
“All I can say is that there has been no discussion or comment, internally or externally, of trade deadline related activities with Zander or (Raphael Devers) or to my knowledge,” Kennedy said. “We’re focused on getting back into this thing and winning.
The Red Sox have about a week to decide if they will be sellers, with the MLB trade deadline approaching on August 2nd.
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