Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said he was relieved when management told him they were not planning to trade him. Steven Senne/Associated Press
BOSTON — Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom and Red Sox President Sam Kennedy recently said publicly that the Boston Red Sox weren’t going to trade Xander Bogaerts.
“I think I started playing better after that, right?” Bogaerts said.
Bogaerts said the Red Sox even assured him personally that they would not trade him.
“Yeah. I don’t know if I should say that. I hope I don’t get in trouble but yeah,” Bogaerts said. “It’s much better like that. As I said, communication is always huge in everything in life. So to get that type of feedback, it’s beneficial.”
Bogaerts blasted a go-ahead three-run homer to lead the Red Sox 4-2 over the Guardians on Thursday at Fenway Park.
“He’s locked into this. He wants to win here,” Manager Alex Cora said.
The All-Star shortstop went 6 for 13 with a homer, three doubles, three walks, four RBI and two runs in Boston’s four-game series split with Cleveland.
“It’s obviously more relaxing. … I just feel like it makes you freer,” Bogaerts said about knowing he won’t be dealt at the deadline. “And pretty much this is my first time really dealing with it (trade rumors). I know I had it a couple years ago in the 2020 season. COVID on its own was a distraction to that. So this is actually my first time really, really dealing with this. So it’s been up and down. But it’s been good.”
Bloom said Wednesday the Red Sox are “not planning” to hold trade talks involving Bogaerts and Rafael Devers ahead of the Aug. 2 deadline.
“We haven’t discussed them with anybody and we’re not planning to,” Bloom said.
Bogaerts has the ability to opt out of his contract and become a free agent after this season. So it’s only natural for his name to be mentioned in trade rumors.
Bogaerts said it has been a challenging time for him.
“But we’re professionals in the end,” he said. “If you sign up for this, you’ve got to deal with it. This comes with it. It can be really tough. Some days more than others. But get this thing over with and keep rolling with the boys because I know we have a lot of help coming on the way (returning players from the IL). That’s like a trade deadline on its own.”
Bogaerts didn’t miss an 85.6 mph slider that Guardians starting pitcher Triston McKenzie left right down the middle of the plate.
Bogaerts’ 412-foot three-run home run left his bat at 105 mph and put Boston ahead 3-1 in the sixth inning.
He connected down 0-2 in the count. He and Devers are tied for the most homers (12) in the majors with an 0-2 count since 2015, according to Red Sox notes.
“That was a huge swing for us,” Cora said. “We haven’t had one of those in a while.”
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