Red Sox Slugger Takes Hard Stance On Whether He Wants To Be Traded
The Boston Red Sox are just about a week away from the Major League Baseball Trade Deadline, yet they still do not have a clear path.
It appears that Boston might be headed toward either another buy/sell as we saw a year ago or some sort of half-hearted "buying" in the coming days.
With that in mind, any impending free agent has to walk on eggshells to some degree, as none of them are safe. One slugger who has been in trade rumors for months is outfielder Adam Duvall.
“I enjoy showing up with this group of guys every day and I feel like we’re playing really good baseball right now," Duvall told MassLive's Sean McAdam. "I don’t have any control over (what happens), but like I said, I enjoy showing up with this group every single day. It’s been fun to watch guys get better, watch guys get acclimated. We’re really trending in the right direction.”
Duvall signed a one-year, $7 million deal and is not expected to be a part of the long-term plans due to the emergence of Jarren Duran in centerfield paired with Masataka Yoshida and Alex Verdugo -- all of which are under contract next season.
The right-handed power hitter has been accustomed to trade deadline action, as he has been traded three times at the peak of Summer -- 2015, 2018 and 2021. Still, Duvall would not see a fourth trade deadline move coming.
“It’ll be a surprise to me if something happens. I really like this group of guys," Duvall said.
Duvall is hitting .257 with 20 extra-base hits including seven home runs, 27 RBIs and a .835 OPS (119 OPS+) in 39 games for Boston.
As it stands now, the Red Sox have Duvall, Duran, Verdugo, Yoshida and Rob Refsnyder as primary outfielders with Kiké Hernández able to man the position as well -- he's likely to be moved soon too but Pablo Reyes, a logical replacement, can handle outfield duties if so.
Boston could survive a trade of Duvall but would be playing a risky game as everyone would have to stay healthy for that kind of move to work out. Considering Duran needs to start seeing even more playing time than he's getting and appears to be a rising star, Duvall's trade likelihood probably is above 50%.
While the Red Sox likely will position themselves as contenders by adding more than subtracting, it would be shocking to see them go all-in, which is why all of the impending free agents should be muting their phones. Of the bunch, James Paxton would be the safest.
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