The trade rumors have been plentiful regarding the Boston Red Sox. With new president of Dave Dombrowski in town, many believe no player is safe once he begins his re-tooling of the roster. Well, Dombrowski did his best to address the many questions surrounding the team on Wednesday.
As we wrote earlier this week, rival evaluators are under the impression Dombrowski is going to change how the organization approaches the trade market. That could mean moving players on the MLB roster or prospects in the farm system, but either way it's clear the team will look to acquire starting pitching and the best way to do that might be on the trade market.
When Dombrowski took over it was said no player was "untouchable," which has many on their toes about how the team might look next year. Are youngsters Xander Bogaerts and Mookie Betts subject to being traded? There were some rumors suggesting the Red Sox and Mets could possibly make a deal involving starter Matt Harvey, and such a deal would more than likely have to include one of those two players.
However, Dombrowski specifically addressed how he felt about Bogaerts and Betts, and it seems as if Sox fans can let out a sigh of relief for now.
"Mookie and Xander are two you think are going to be backbones of the organization for years to come. So that's how you approach it, and then you see what's taken place," Dombrowski told John Tomase of WEEI.com. "I would be very surprised if they're not strong parts of our lineup next year."
And for anyone worried about the possibility of him trading Jackie Bradley Jr. or Rusney Castillo ...
"Bradley and Castillo are in a spot where they showed a lot of good things, and there's no question they'll go into the season as our starting group," he added. "But they have to continue to grow like a lot of young players do. Jackie's one of the best defensive outfielders I think I've ever seen. So that's a plus, and Castillo's got the all-around game."
Of course, this doesn't really mean anything. Dombrowski didn't make any promises and he doesn't have to, but it's at least reassuring he views these young players as integral aspects of the organization's future.
The only problem would be is if he views another player outside the organization as more valuable than any of the previously mentioned players. That's what would result in a trade, and it's something we need to keep a close eye on as the offseason progresses.
