Xander Bogaerts has been informed by Red Sox that he will not be traded
BOSTON -- With the Red Sox struggling to win games consistently since the end of June, trade rumors have been dominating the headlines. The majority of the speculation centered around whether or not the Red Sox would be sellers at the deadline, and potentially deal shortstop Xander Bogaerts.
Bogaerts can opt out at the end of the season and with Boston toeing the line of contention and sitting at home in October, there was a chance that Chaim Bloom may want to deal Bogaerts before he potentially leaves for nothing.
That will not be the case. Shortly after he crushed a game-winning three-run homer in Boston's 4-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday night, Bogaerts let everyone know that the Red Sox have told him he will not be traded ahead of the Aug. 2 deadline.
"I don't know if I should say that. I hope I don't get in trouble," Bogaerts said following his big reveal. "It's much better like that. Communication is always huge in everything. So getting the feedback is beneficial. I would say that's the word."
Bogaerts said that dealing with the great unknown over the last few weeks was not a lot of fun and led to some challenging stretches. But being told that he won't be going anywhere this season has made his life more "relaxing."
"This is my first time really dealing with this. It's been up and down," he said.
So the Red Sox will not be sellers at the deadline -- at least not on the Bogaerts front. There remains a chance that with the team on the outside of the postseason picture (the Red Sox are currently 3.5 games back of the final AL Wild Card spot), Bloom could trade away pending free agents like Nathan Eovaldi and J.D. Martinez.
Bogaerts does not want that to happen. With a slew of players set to come back from the disabled list, he wants the team to have another chance to recreate their success from June, when they went 20-6 and were playing like the best team in baseball.
"We've had our good times, we've had our bad times. I feel in the end it's a really special group," said Bogaerts. "Everyone wants to stay together. No one wants to separate.
"Those decisions aren't up to us," he added. "The only way we can kind of help that a little bit is if we continue to win games. Right now, every game matters."
