Boston Red Sox: Rafael Devers should not be included in any trades
By Oliver Gold
No need for big trade
Manny Machado is a terrific baseball player. Whenever a player with as much talent as Machado becomes available on the trade market, it is tempting to try to make a move for him.
However, the Boston Red Sox should not be tempted to trade for Machado. The 25-year-old will be a free agent this winter, and the Red Sox already have a lot of players on their roster who are due for a big contract soon.
Craig Kimbrel will be a free agent this winter and the Red Sox will certainly want to lock him up. Chris Sale, Bogaerts, and Jackie Bradley Jr. will all be free agents after the 2019 season. Mookie Betts will be a free agent after 2020.
Because of this, the Red Sox will have to start choosing which players they would like to resign and which players they will either want to trade or let sign with another team. With Bogaerts and Devers already on the team, the Red Sox are fine at the positions Machado can play. Being just 25 years old, Machado will certainly want an enormous contract that will likely surpass $35 million per year for a long period of time.
The Red Sox shouldn’t pay Manny Machado this kind of deal with all the expiring contracts they have coming up. Their focus should be on locking up their current core. Dombrowski would have to give up a lot for just a half season guaranteed of Machado. This season, Machado is hitting .310 with 18 homers and 53 RBIs on the Baltimore Orioles, the worst team in baseball.