Jonny Gomes is well aware that he could be wearing a different uniform come next week.
The outfielder has been one of several Boston Red Sox players mentioned in trade rumors as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches.
Gomes knows the nature of the business, though. The Red Sox are his fifth major league team, and he’s already been involved in one midseason deal earlier in his career (from the Cincinnati Reds to the Washington Nationals in 2011).
Gomes said Sunday that he uses the nonstop speculation as motivation.
“This happens every year,” he said, via WEEI.com. “This isn’t my first rodeo with this and me. You truly have got to wait for the moment, play for the moment. I’ve seen guys get wrapped up in it and fail. I’ve seen guys try too hard. I’ve seen guys shine, get traded and they go somewhere else and lay an egg because they were putting on a front. That’s one thing that won’t happen with me.”
Gomes already has seen one of his teammates from last year’s World Series-winning squad — new San Francisco Giants pitcher Jake Peavy — shipped out of Boston this season. The 33-year-old hopes that if he is the next to go, it would be in a deal that would help the Red Sox improve.
“I signed a two-year deal here. I would love to fulfill that agreement that I signed,” Gomes said. “But I feel the same way that (Peavy) probably feels. I truly hope that if I leave, it would be to help the organization.”
Gomes has struggled both in the field and at the plate at times this season, but his pinch-hitting prowess and success against left-handed pitching (.315/.410/.450 slash line against southpaws this year) make him an intriguing trade target for contending teams.
