Boston Red Sox send confusing message at MLB trade deadline

The Boston Red Sox have had an interesting day on Monday as there is less than 24 hours before the MLB Trade Deadline. Thus far, the team has made a slew of moves that have been both buying and selling.

They have traded away catcher Christian Vazquez to Houston and traded left-handed reliever Jake Diekman to the White Sox. They have also added catcher Reese McGuire (in the Diekman trade) and traded for Reds outfielder Tommy Pham.

So with buying and selling, it begs the question: What in the world are the Red Sox doing?

What are the Boston Red Sox doing at the trade deadline?

Quite frankly, as of now, the answer is “who knows?” But the Red Sox have about 24 hours to make that clear.

Pham can be a free agent at the season so the Red Sox think that they can be contenders … yet they traded Vazquez and Diekman. Vazquez is a free agent at the end of the season but Diekman is signed through next season and he has a team option for 2024.

Last trade deadline, the Seattle Mariners (who were one game out of a playoff spot at the time) traded their closer Kendall Graveman to their divisional rival (the Houston Astros). The players on the team were not happy about trading him away but their GM Jerry Dipoto said that his plans would become more clear because they were in negotiations with other teams for deals.

But those deals never happened. The Mariners ended up missing out on a playoff spot by one game.

Perhaps, that is the same case for the Red Sox right now. However, if no further moves happen, it seems to be that they thought that they wouldn’t be able to re-sign Vazquez.

The Red Sox needed to address their outfield because they have injuries and none of them have hit well. Pham is an upgrade in that regard and he has a mutual option for next year. The Red Sox also got a Triple-A outfielder (Emmanuel Valdez) and a Double-A outfielder in the deal too.

If things don’t work out with Pham, they can decline their end of the mutual option for next season.

With getting rid of Vazquez, they needed some catching and they got it in McGuire, but’s he a downgrade from Vazquez. Trading Diekman is more of a salary dump (a small one, but a salary dump at that).

Only time will tell for the Red Sox but thus far, it has been a peculiar turn of events for the team that 3.5 games back of a playoff spot.