It’s one thing that Red Sox fans were left confused after their team’s moves at the 2022 trade deadline.
It’s another when members of the organization share that sentiment with fans.
Trading away a good catcher in Christian Vasquez for prospects, then trading for Tommy Pham and Eric Hosmer showed both buying and selling tendencies. And left some in the organization wondering what direction the organization is heading in.
Alex Speier of the Boston Globe reported earlier in the week that many in the organization were confused about the team’s plan at the trade deadline, when it appeared Boston tried to walk the buy-sell line and only marginally improved its roster. On this week’s Fenway Rundown podcast, Speier shed some light on his report.
“There were other voices within the organization at a number of levels that just came out of (the trade deadline) feeling a little bit uncertain about exactly what the team had tried to accomplish, and what the team did accomplish,” Speier said.
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Speier pointed out that some teams around the league became hesitant to strictly buy or sell, and that this trend isn’t unprecedented. For the case of the Red Sox, though, it’s possible the team got only marginally better on the field while the moves -- chiefly the Vázquez trade -- made ripples in the clubhouse.
Boston’s chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said he wanted to more at the deadline. Players such as Nathan Eovaldi and J.D. Martinez were very available in trade talks, but only for a certain price.
“Others in the industry were like, ‘Yeah (the Red Sox are) aiming really really high, and it’s not that shocking that they didn’t get things done with those rentals as a result of it,” Speier said on the podcast.
Bloom was only going to sell if the price was right. And because it wasn’t, improvements at first base and outfield and a downgrade at catcher equated to a soft buy. The belief that the Red Sox can make a real pennant push after some key players like Trevor Story, Michael Wacha and Kiké Hernández allowed Bloom and his staff to have some hope for the rest of the year.
Speier mentioned the 2021 Atlanta Braves, who were 52-55 on July 31, then went on to win the World Series. That obviously isn’t going to happen every year, but not waving the white flag makes that a possibility for the Red Sox.
While it feels like a safe play, there’s a situation in where the Boston misses the playoffs and lose Martinez and Eovaldi for nothing other than compensatory draft picks. The Red Sox are currently 55-58, last in their division and 4½ games back of a wild card spot.
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