A clause in Xander Bogaerts’ six-year, $120MM contract extension with the Red Sox will allow the shortstop to gain full no-trade protection once he reaches seven full years of service time. With the 2020 season’s prorated service time calendar in mind, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently observed that Bogaerts will hit that seven-year threshold on September 6, leaving Rosenthal wondering whether the Sox could accelerate their rebuild by offering Bogaerts prior to the August 31 trade deadline.
Chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom didn’t completely dismiss the concept of a Bogaerts trade during a recent appearance on WEEI’s Greg Hill Show (hat tip to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford), though that was because, as Bloom noted, “philosophically, I would never want to come out and just unequivocally say somebody is untouchable.” Even if Bogaerts isn’t officially “untouchable,” Bloom stressed that “Xander is a core player for us….I don’t think we’re doing our job if we’re not listening, but it doesn’t mean that it’s something we’re trying to do by any stretch.”
In regards to Bogaerts’ impending acquisition of no-trade rights, Bloom said “I don’t think something like that would change our approach here….I know that news has been out there but it’s not something that is at front of mind for us in terms of how we’re approaching the deadline.”
More from Fenway Park…
- Matt Barnes could be a much likelier trade candidate for the Sox, as the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier reports that Barnes was a popular target for rival teams both at last year’s deadline and in the offseason. The Red Sox weren’t ready to move Barnes in July 2019 but could be more open to the concept now; Boston has already dealt two relievers and seem to be going into at least a mini-rebuild or reload in advance of the 2021 campaign. Barnes might now get some save chances with Brandon Workman gone, both because Barnes is the logical next man up as closer and perhaps due to the team’s desire to showcase Barnes prior to the deadline.
- After the Brewers designated Brock Holt for assignment earlier today, speculation immediately arose among Boston fans that the longtime fan favorite could be a fit to return to the Sox roster. Speier threw some cold water on that speculation, however, noting that adding a veteran like Holt would run counter to the the team’s desire to get a look at younger players who could be longer-term pieces.
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Original Article from https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/08/red-sox-notes-xander-bloom-barnes-holt.html
Did you miss our previous article…
https://sportsgooru.com/mlb/minor-mlb-transactions-8-22-20/
