Ahead of the final regular season matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park, Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts further addressed one trade deadline move which sent a close friend and former teammate to the Houston Astros just ahead of the Aug. 2 deadline date.
Christian Vázquez, who was selected in the ninth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball draft by the Red Sox, spent the entirety of his big league career -- prior to the trade -- in Boston. Bogaerts, an amateur free agent signee from 2009, spent much of his pre-Boston professional career with Vázquez in the Red Sox farm system.
Bogaerts spoke alongside NESN broadcast host Tom Caron during an installment of the "TC & Company Podcast" just before first pitch on Wednesday.
"Vázquez was our starting catcher, he was having a great year with us," Bogaerts told Caron. "So Vazqey leaving, it's kind of like a hole in the area no one was expecting. We was at a point where maybe we were bringing in some guys. ... I felt like that's where we were. Vazqey leaving was the first move like. ... 'What's, what's going on?'"
The Red Sox dealt Vázquez to the Astros in exchange for minor league prospects Enmanuel Valdez and Wilyer Abreu. Prior to the trade, the 32-year-old veteran catcher had hit .282/.327/.432 with eight home runs, 20 doubles and 42 RBIs in 84 games played with Boston.
"It was a hard trade deadline also," Bogaerts said. "As I said, Vazquey leaving. ... I lived with him in the minor leagues everywhere. He was my Uber driver before the Uber. ... If five is the max, I give him six (stars). He was really good and helpful to me. ... He was definitely close to me and it was tough."
Bogaerts and Vázquez spent a total of eight seasons as teammates -- hoisting a World Series trophy alongside each other in 2018 after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.
