Insider Shuts Down Trade Rumors Surrounding Marlins All-Star Infielder
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The MLB trade deadline is just two days away on Aug. 3 and the Miami Marlins are a team that people around MLB are going to have their eyes on. They enter Saturday afternoon's third game of a four-game weekend series against the New York Mets in Queens 1.5 games behind the final National League wild-card spot.
Sitting 9.5 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, the path to the playoffs is clear for Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix and manager Clayton McCullough. It's wild-card or bust. However, that won't stop the phone from ringing in South Florida ahead of the deadline.
The Boston Red Sox are a team that was left for dead entering July in the American League playoff race, but a 21-4 month has seen them go from the bottom of the standings to the second AL wild-card spot. They have gone from clear sellers to clear buyers in a wide-open American League. They have been one team linked to Miami ahead of the trade deadline for shortstop Otto Lopez, but one Red Sox insider has said that those dreams for Boston fans are off, for now.
Red Sox Insider Gives Update on Otto Lopez Talk To Boston
Red Sox insider Sean McAdam of MassLive reported late Friday night that the chance of a potential Boston/Miami Lopez deal is dead, via his sources. For those of you keeping score at home, McAdam is a very informed insider in Boston.
What should Marlins fans make of this? Nothing, if we're being honest. Talks might be dead now, but there is still time for things to pick back up again. Would it surprise anyone if it did? It shouldn't, given how desperate the Red Sox are.
Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow sent one of Boston's top left-handed young pitchers, Connelly Early, to the Washington Nationals on July 25 for infielder Curtis Mead. That filled a big need the Red Sox have. However, in his first game for Boston, Mead broke his wrist in his second at-bat against the Athletics after getting hit by a pitch. He is out until September at the earliest, but adding another infielder, especially in the middle, is something that Boston needs to do.
That's where Lopez comes in. One thing that Bendix and other teams have in their corner is that Breslow might be rather desperate at the deadline to make a move, with his job potentially on the line. It wouldn't be surprising to see him overpay and overpay by a large amount for a player such as Lopez. With that said, just because McAdam said talks are dead for now doesn't mean they can't pick back up quickly by 6 p.m. on Monday.
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