Red Sox

‘They’re kind of in a weird place’: Red Sox seen as potential deadline buyer and seller

"What I'm hearing from other teams is they think the Red Sox will at least be partial sellers."

JD Martinez could be one of the Red Sox players on the move at the MLB trade deadline. Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

By Hayden Bird

July 26, 2022

The Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak by defeating the Guardians 3-1 on Monday night. Boston faces Cleveland again this evening (7:10 pm) at Fenway Park.

Today, Patriots players report to training camp (if they have not already done so). The first training camp practice is set to begin tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.

The Red Sox and the trade deadline: Despite finally rediscovering the win-column on Monday, the Red Sox have had a rough week. After some lopsided losses to the Yankees and a historically brutal defeat to the Blue Jays (amid a Toronto sweep), Boston is now 49-48 with a week to go before the Aug. 2 MLB trade deadline.

What exactly will Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom do? Will his team be a buyer or a seller at the deadline?

ESPN baseball reporter Buster Olney, speaking on SportsCenter Tuesday morning, explained why it could be a little bit of both for Boston.

“Folks with other teams wondering about the Boston Red Sox and whether they’re going to be buyers or sellers. What I’m hearing from other teams is they think the Red Sox will at least be partial sellers,” said Olney. “They’re kind of in a weird place. They’re among four teams vying for the last wild-card spot, but you’ve seen in recent days they have really struggled.”

The Red Sox are currently three games back of the final AL wild-card spot. Still, Boston could look to offload some of the team’s current roster. Olney named one player specifically.

“A guy that other teams say is available is designated hitter JD Martinez, who’s in his last year of his contract with the Red Sox,” Olney said. “The Red Sox could flip JD Martinez, maybe hang onto Xander Bogaerts if they feel like they have a shot to make it to the playoffs, and replace Martinez with another designated hitter.

“So the Red Sox, as we get to the deadline, could be both buyers and sellers,” Olney concluded.

Olney’s ESPN colleague, Jeff Passan, has reported similarly regarding Bloom and the Red Sox. Bogaerts, as he noted, has not been linked to a trade, though that could change.

“There’s one name that hasn’t been mentioned: shortstop Xander Bogaerts. Rival executives anticipate that even if Boston unloads a half-dozen players, Bogaerts, the star 29-year-old shortstop, won’t be among them, even though he’s set to hit free agency this winter,” wrote Passan. “Should Boston make Bogaerts available, however, he would be the best player out there, non-[Juan] Soto division, and potentially upend the market days before the deadline.”

Trivia: The last time JD Martinez was traded during the season, it came in a year in which he hit a combined 45 home runs for two different teams. Can you name those two teams?

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: AL Central, NL West.

More from Boston.com:

Previewing Patriots training camp:

On this day: In 1987, the Red Sox pounded the Mariners 11-1 behind 16 hits (including a 4-4 performance from Wade Boggs). Roger Clemens struck out 11 for Boston, allowing one unearned run in a complete game effort.

And in international news, Stephen Roche became the first (and still only) Irish winner of the Tour de France, holding off Pedro Delgado of Spain by just 40 seconds.