The Boston Red Sox made some peculiar moves at the trade deadline this year and All-Star shortstop Xander Bogaerts called them out for it.
The Boston Red Sox made some moves that a lot of people outside of the organization question and for good reason.
They traded for Padres first baseman Eric Hosmer, Reds outfielder Tommy Pham, and acquired catcher Reese McGuire from the White Sox. But they also traded reliever Jake Diekman to the Chicago White Sox and traded their primary catcher Christian Vazquez to their rival, the Houston Astros.
In other words, they decided to both buy and sell … which confused people, including their shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
Xander Bogaerts is not happy with the Red Sox front office
Xander Bogaerts spoke to the media, including Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe, and he did not mince words.
He was asked if the moves made him question the direction of the organization.
“The one for Vázqy, I mean, if you ask me, yeah,” Bogaerts said. “No one saw that coming. You obviously saw a lot of stuff coming out, but it doesn’t kick in until it really happens. And, obviously, Diekman going to the White Sox, so that was two pieces going out and nothing coming in. So the first move was going out, then (the next move was) coming in.”
The Red Sox, at least, made some moves coming in whereas the Baltimore Orioles, who are ahead of the Red Sox in the standings actually decided to sell. They traded closer Jorgé Lopez to the Minnesota Twins for prospects and first baseman/outfielder Trey Mancini to the aforementioned Astros.
The Red Sox have an uphill battle for the rest of the season as they are 52-52 and in last place in the American League East. While Pham and Hosmer are additions and even improvements, the moves were not big ones and the other moves (like with Vázquez) could end up hurting the clubhouse.