Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom made it clear last week the organization had no intention of dealing away either Xander Bogaerts or Rafael Devers before this Tuesday’s Major League Baseball trade deadline.
Bogaerts later revealed the Red Sox told him point-blank he won’t be traded, and Devers explained Sunday to WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford that he received similar assurance, as well.
“Once I heard that, it was a relief,” Devers told Bradford, through translator Bryan Almonte. “I was like, ‘OK, I don’t have to worry about that anymore.’ They came down and spoke to me and said, ‘Whatever you’re hearing outside, that’s not true, so we’re not trading you.’
“We understand the business of the game so that was something on my mind. So when they told me I wasn’t going anywhere, that was a relief.”
Devers’ situation differs from Bogaerts’ in that the former is under contract through next season whereas the latter can opt out of his deal and test free agency this winter. Thus, it stood to reason Boston was far more likely to trade Bogaerts than Devers, though the club’s conversation with the third baseman still is notable given the unpredictability surrounding the Red Sox before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline.
The Red Sox entered Monday one game under .500 (51-52) and 3 1/2 games back of the American League’s third and final wild-card spot. They’re by no means out of contention — a hot stretch could change the AL playoff picture — but their July struggles raised questions about their ceiling for 2022 and whether Boston is better off selling pieces with an eye toward 2023 and beyond.
Now, we know Devers, like Bogaerts, almost certainly won’t be one of those pieces shipped away, however unlikely a trade seemed in the first place. And the question then becomes: Will the Red Sox look to sign Devers to a contract extension before the 2023 campaign?
