The MLB trade deadline is just a few days away, and if the Boston Red Sox move Xander Bogaerts by then, it apparently will be the product of a monumental shift in thinking.
Red Sox execs Chaim Bloom and Sam Kennedy have spent the bulk of the week insisting that Bogaerts (and Rafael Devers) won’t be going anywhere. Of course, this is all happening as the Red Sox deliver a 1-5 record since the All-Star break and a 2-10 mark in their last ten, so fans could be forgiven for wondering if the pending free-agent shortstop might get moved.
But the team is adamant that won’t be the case, while also stopping short of guaranteeing Bogaerts will be on the roster when the Red Sox face the Astros in Houston on Tuesday, with first pitch slated for two hours after the deadline passes.
"You know where I stand and where we all stand on Xander and on Raffy that we just haven’t discussed them with other clubs and we’re not planning to," Bloom said Thursday on "The Greg Hill Show".
"It’s sort of a blanket answer, I just think to make those types of guarantees is kind of silly," Bloom later said. "But I will say this: I cannot conceive of a set of circumstances between now and August 3 that would change that. I don’t like to say things that I absolutely can’t back up, but I don’t know what would change that situation, because it’s not something that’s on the radar for him to not be here in any way, shape or form.
Bogaerts is a 10-and-5 player, which means he has 10 years of service time, with the last five all with the same team. Because of that, he gets the power to veto any trade.
Bloom says they haven’t broached the possibility of Bogaerts waiving that power to the player or his agent, Scott Boras.
“If we did, I wouldn’t come here and tell you. But look, no,” Bloom said. “Because again, we’re not discussing him with anybody, so there’s no reason for us to approach him with that. It’s not on our radar.”
We’ll know in the next few days if that ends up popping onto the radar. Until then, it seems like Bogaerts is staying put.
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