The Major League Baseball trade deadline has come and passed, and Alex Cora believes the Red Sox still have what it takes to compete for a postseason spot and beyond.
The Boston manager had to bid farewell to Christian Vázquez after the catcher was traded to the Houston Astros on Monday. The Red Sox brought in Tommy Pham from the Cincinnati Red Sox and Reece McGuire from the Chicago White Sox on Monday. They also traded for first baseman Eric Hosmer from the San Diego Padres on deadline day.
“We’re good. We’re good, and we have a good baseball team,” Cora told reporters on Tuesday prior to facing the Astros, as transcribed by MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “Obviously, we have work to do, but I think where we’re at as a team, it’s not perfect. There’s some pieces that got here. Obviously, we traded Christian, that wasn’t great on a personal note. It’s a business.”
J.D. Martinez’s name had been floated in trade discussions, but the Red Sox designated hitter will be staying in Boston as it hopes to clinch an American League Wild Card spot — the Red Sox sit three games behind in the AL Wild Card race heading into Tuesday’s trade deadline.
“Well, I mean, it’s like on New Year’s Eve, 3, 2, 1, fireworks,” Cora told reporters on having Martinez stick with the Red Sox. “We get a phone call, and here we go. There’s a lot of excitement. For how down we were yesterday, there’s a lot of people excited in the clubhouse keeping some of these guys to make a push.”
The Red Sox will hope for a third straight win as they take on the Astros on Tuesday. You can watch the game using NESN 360 following pregame coverage.
