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.
