The Red Sox clubhouse was filled with sighs of relief Tuesday as the MLB trade deadline came and went without any more core players getting traded.
On the latest “Bradfo Sho,” Nathan Eovaldi, who was mentioned in rumors leading up to Tuesday, says the players are now in a much better mental space. “It was just that sigh of relief, because you really don’t know what’s going to happen, especially when you’re on the fence as to whether you’re going to sell, or you’re going to buy,” he said. “You really don’t know what is at stake, and what’s going to happen.”
Nathan Eovaldi reacts to the trade deadline
The Red Sox bought and sold at the deadline. On Monday, they traded Christian Vazquez to the Astros, which elicited palpable frustration from players, including Xander Bogaerts. But they reversed course on Tuesday, adding first baseman Eric Hosmer.
Outfielder Tommy Pham and catcher Reese McGuire were also acquired.
After a historically miserable July, the Red Sox have taken their first two games from the Astros this week. Eovaldi, who got the win Monday, says the team is reinvigorated.
“I think it’s just the guys are believing in ourselves again,” he said. “We had a tough stretch. We went through it at the beginning of the season, and then that second month we turned it around, and we kind of hit that road right there before the All-Star Break and after the All-Star Break. We had a distraction from the trade deadline, because we didn’t really know what was at stake, and I think now we got out there and compete, and play the game.”
A free agent at the end of the season, Eovaldi says he’s gearing up for one more World Series run.
“I want to win a World Series here — from the start to the end,” he said. “We were six games away from that last year, and obviously, getting rid of Vazqy is a tough one for us, and it’s hard to see the future with the two prospects we got for him. But getting Hosmer in that deal as well — and McGuire, Pham — getting Hosmer in that one is a huge pickup for us. I’m excited for him to get here tomorrow.
“J.D [Martinez], and I are still here, Bogey is still here. We thought we were all going to be traded. It shows they believe in us, and the guys we have."