Xander Bogaerts not particularly pleased with Red Sox' direction at trade deadline
BOSTON -- Baseball players want to win baseball games. Baseball players know that to win baseball games, they need as many good baseball players on their team. It's not a complicated situation.
And when a front office does not appear dedicated to collecting the best baseball players possible, the baseball players on the baseball team certainly take notice.
That's the position Xander Bogaerts found himself in this week. After feeling relief for being told that he wouldn't be traded away from Boston before Tuesday's deadline, he watched as the team sent away Christian Vazquez during batting practice on Monday night in Houston. The team made some other moves -- notably adding first baseman Eric Hosmer on Tuesday -- but Bogaerts suggested to reporters that he didn't feel as though the team is any better after dumping the starting catcher for prospects on Monday.
Here are some paraphrased comments from Bogaerts -- the de facto captain of the Red Sox -- from Houston prior to the game on Tuesday:
Deleted my initial Bogaerts tweet. Here is his full answer regarding the direction of the organization and the trade(s). pic.twitter.com/NXudHzy9rx
— Julian McWilliams (@byJulianMack) August 2, 2022
Xander Bogaerts deferred when asked about his confidence in the direction of the franchise. Said he doesn’t see how they got better losing Vázquez. He was downcast, as you would expect.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) August 2, 2022
Xander Bogaerts on Red Sox moves so far: “I wouldn’t say we got better because we lost (Vazquez).”
— Sean McAdam (@Sean_McAdam) August 2, 2022
Of course, Bogaerts has been moderately to severely disheartened by the Red Sox front office all season, as he gave a rather sad press conference in New York ahead of opening day, after the team failed to put forth a fair offer to extend his contract. That underwhelming offer came after the team had signed Trevor Story, presumably to fill in at shortstop once Bogaerts opts out and cashes in on free agency in the coming winter. So the events of this week merely add to that disappointment.
Nevertheless, even though Bogaerts said he felt relieved to have gotten confirmation that he won't be sent to a new home this week, it ought to be a challenge for the Red Sox to trudge through the last two months of the season without getting the necessary reinforcements to really compete.