Sports Q

Sports Q: Should the Red Sox have done more at the trading deadline?

The Red Sox did not move Christian Vazquez, Xander Bogaerts or J.D. Martinez before Monday's deadline.

Christian Vazquez was the subject of trade rumors but was not traded before Monday's deadline. Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

By Chad Finn

August 31, 2020

Welcome to Boston.com’s Sports Q, our daily conversation, initiated by you and moderated by Chad Finn, about a compelling topic in Boston sports. Here’s how it works: You submit questions to Chad through Twitter, Facebook, and email. He’ll pick one each weekday to answer, then we’ll take the discussion to the comments. Chad will stop by several times per day to navigate. But you drive the conversation.

Did the Red Sox do enough at the trade deadline? – Chris P.

Funny, at most trade deadlines we ask this question in the context of acquisitions. Did they add enough players? Did they get enough help for a playoff push and perhaps a World Series run?

This year, in this weird 60-game season in which it sometimes seems like they’re a reluctant participant, the question actually means: Did they get rid of enough players?

I’m going no with that one. I like the deals they did make over the last few days. Connor Seabold and Nick Pivetta for the perennially adequate Heath Hembree and free-agent-to-be Brandon Workman is a promising deal. So too is the deal sending the ever-reliable Mitch Moreland to the Padres for infielder Hudson Potts and outfielder Jeisson Rosario. Moreland is a player who will always be remembered well in Boston, but he’s 35, and there’s no point keeping him around for a rebuild. And trading Kevin Pillar for anything, even a player to be named later, is fine with me. He’s an excellent outfielder, but otherwise forgettable.

The surprise is that Chaim Bloom and Brian O’Halloran didn’t do more. Matt Barnes could have brought back at least a fringe prospect. I was totally on board with the idea of moving Christian Vazquez and his .689 career OPS (.697 this year). Trading Jackie Bradley Jr. to a contender would have been doing him a favor that he deserves, frankly. I’m glad the Red Sox didn’t move 27-year-old cornerstone Xander Bogaerts – I would have been incensed if that had happened, actually – but most of the other players named in rumors should have been dealt. J.D. Martinez included, not that his value is skyrocketing at the moment.

But what does everyone else think? Should the Red Sox have done more at the trading deadline? I’ll hear you in the comments.