Former First Lady Nancy Reagan may have told kids to "just say no" to drugs in the 1980s, but perhaps we should borrow the slogan in light of some rumors swirling around about the Boston Red Sox.
There's always craziness going on during the MLB Winter Meetings. Some of it turns out to be true and some of it turns out to be something you could put between two slices of bread and make a sandwich out of: bologna or baloney or however people like to spell it.
That said, however, there's been some reports going around saying the Red Sox would like to cut some payroll--and this could involve dealing certain players. Names on this list include Rick Porcello, Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. Before we go any further, here's one quick answer: no.
The Boston #Redsox, trying to clear salary space for bullpen help, are openly listening to offers on Rick Porcello, and rivals insist also are willing to talk about Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) December 11, 2018
The Red Sox are coming off a World Series championship. They had their best season in franchise history. Should they try to get better this offseason? Of course, but only for the same reason that Usain Bolt practices running.
They don't need to seriously shake things up big time to contend for another title. What I would like to know is how trading any of those three guys would make them a better team.
Their lineup is already sound, so there's no reason to deal Porcello. He is a durable arm who can pitch over 200 innings in a season and doesn't walk a lot of guys.
Shortstops are super hard to come by (as we know having seen the revolving door the Red Sox had at the position for nearly a decade after trading Nomar), so no on dealing Bogaerts.
And Jackie's defense is his value and the Red Sox need that at Fenway Park. He had a bad year at the plate, so he's probably not that sought after.
Yeah... just keep these guys...