As if Ron Roenicke didn't have enough to do.
Just as the Red Sox manager finds himself knee-deep in trying to pull his team of last-place while navigating the COVID-19 dynamic, along comes the Major League Baseball trade deadline. More specifically, the task of dealing with all the rumors leading up to all the deals.
It was a dynamic Roenicke was forced to deal with Friday afternoon with reports surfacing from Philadelphia that the Red Sox and Phillies were engaging in trade talks that centered around relievers Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree.
There was also another murmur that Christian Vazquez might be on the block.
Speaking before the Red Sox' game against the Orioles Friday night at Camden Yards, Roenicke explained how he is handling it all ...
"I know this is a time of year when a lot goes on, a lot of speculation, a lot of rumors," he said. "Certainly if it’s in-house with our guys, I would never make a comment on it. Until things happen, I can’t say anything. One thing I would like to say on it though, you know, if people have the rumors right and things are true, I get it, I get that it’s out there and we’re going to try to report it. One thing I really don’t like is when rumors are out there about some players that really we haven’t even talked to another team on and that happens all the time. I had to talk to a player today that we’ve had no discussions with any teams on and yet his name has been out there. It’s unfair to him because he’s got to try to play a ballgame and yet his name is out there thinking that any time, he could be traded. I understand this time of year. But I also know it’s really hard on players. I hope that when rumors come up, I hope that they’re true. I certainly can’t make any mention of anything until it comes from Chaim and his group and what goes on there. Obviously I’m planning right now to go along in this game how we always do and hopefully there is a close situation and I use the same guys that I use."
Roenicke added, "It’s a really uncomfortable time for a lot of the players. So the way I go about it is whenever the names come up, and I’ve already talked to Chaim (Bloom) about it, I’ll talk to Chaim and if there is no legitimacy to the rumors I will let a player know. That doesn’t mean that player is not going to be moved. What it means at this time with the rumors that are out there there is nothing going on. We’re not in any discussions. Just to ease their minds some. Something could come up later but I don’t want their focus to think any time, any day I could be moving on when it really isn’t true."
As for the player who was concerned about what ended being a false rumor, Roenicke said that the subject of the report had broached the situation with a coach, who brought it to the manager. After confirming that it was false with Bloom, Roenicke eased the mind of the player.
So, how does Roenicke keep track of it all?
"What I just asked today, and (assistant general manager) Zack Scott is traveling with us, and I asked Zack, ‘If you guys see names that are out there -- I’m not following everything -- if you see some names we aren’t in discussions with and you think our player could be reading this let me know so I can talk to that player.’ That’s kind of how we set it up," he said. "Again, you can tell a player that and the next day a team calls and there could be a move. I will never tell a player, ‘Hey, there is no way in the world you’re ever going to be traded’ because that’s not my job. I just know that I need them to focus. If they have families that are concerned about, ‘Oh no, we’re going to have to get up and move,’ I think they have a right to know when things are not true. So that’s the biggest way I do it."