Jacoby Ellsbury‘s name has been bandied about in trade rumors during the offseason, but those whispers could be dying down in the immediate future.
The Red Sox are currently “disinclined” to trade their 29-year-old center fielder, who will be a free agent after 2013, according to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal. Rosenthal points out that Ellsbury’s trade value is diminished after the outfielder’s injury-riddled 2012, and that the team expects him to be “highly motivated” in his walk year.
Ellsbury missed 88 games last season in an injury-plagued campaign and never looked like the 2011 version of himself at any point. A year removed from finishing as the MVP runner-up while blasting 32 home runs and driving in 105 runs, Ellsbury managed just four round-trippers in 2012 while batting .271.
While the Red Sox may eventually consider dealing the speedy Ellsbury, it seems that now they are prepared to wait and see if he can regain his All-Star form. General manager Ben Cherington could always re-evaluate his stance, however, depending on how both the outfielder and the team fare next season.
