It’s that time of year, baseball fans. Let’s break down each and every one of Red Sox's president Chaim Bloom’s trades from the past week, and see what this means for the remainder of the Sox's season, starting with one of the most critical trades of the deadline for Boston.

Christian Vasquez to the Astros

After almost ten years with the club, Red Sox fans officially raised their caps for Vasquez, wishing the catcher the catcher farewell. As the second best catcher on the block in a year where improvement at the position was a must for many contending teams, the Red Sox capitalized on Vasquez's demand, by trading him to the Houston Astros. Vasquez, who had yet to receive a contract extension, looked like one of the most likely players to be traded at the deadline, and expectedly was. While Boston is taking a bit of a hit by trading away Vasquez, if the Red Sox can manage to contend this year, there’s a list of candidates that could potentially take his place. One of whom, the Red Sox acquired at the deadline.

In return, the Red Sox got a couple of good prospects. Both guys, outfielder Wilyer Abreu and infielder Enmanuel Valdez, have been climbing up the Astros farm system, and we could potentially see them in a Red Sox uniform next year. Valdez has been particularly raking in 2022. Right now he’s hitting .296 with ten home runs in Triple-A, good for a 118 wRC+. Neither of the two lefties are amazing with the glove though, which is a little concerning considering the position the Red Sox are currently in defensively. Either way, both of them look like safe options to potentially fill a bench role in the big leagues, due to their skills with the bat.

The vázquez replacement

It’s pretty obvious there were two main objectives from this deal: getting rid of Diekman’s salary, and acquiring a catcher who can maybe fill Vasquez’s shoes. Diekman has neither been good nor bad this year, but when you take into account his $3.5 million contract, a 4.23 earned run average doesn’t cut it. The Red Sox are also avoiding a potential one million dollar buy out next season, passing along his four million dollar team option to the White Sox.

In return, Boston is acquiring a solid defensive minded catcher who can platoon with Kevin Plawecki/ Connor Wong for the remainder of the season. Reese McGuire, a lefty, hasn’t really produced with the bat this year, but what he lacks on the offensive side of things (75 wRC+, no home runs), he partly makes up for with the glove. McGuire has been regarded as an excellent framer, and already has eight defensive runs saved this year in just under 400 innings. He provides a good enough replacement to Vasquez’s mit, while the Red Sox can partly rely on guys like Connor Wong and even prospect Ronaldo Hernandez to fill Vasquez’s shoes with the bat.

Hard hitters: Tommy Pham and Eric Hosmer

Both of these deals were low risk, higher reward trades. Chaim Bloom and the Red Sox organization hardly had to give up anything for either of these guys, especially Tommy Pham. The Red’s will likely only receive some sort of cash exchange or low-tier minor leaguer in the deal. Boston also didn’t have to give up much for Hosmer, and will not have to take on most of his contract.

Pham, a left fielder who can also slot in at DH occasionally, provides good depth for an otherwise lackluster outfield. He’s a bat first player, and while he’s been a little below average this season, in the past he’s been a strong hitter. Fangraphs projects him to be slightly better in the second half too, and he looks like a quality option to play in the outfield when necessary. A right handed batter, He’ll likely platoon in the outfield with Jackie Bradley Jr.; Pham playing against lefties, JBJ righties.

Hosmer, a four time gold glove winner, provides a much needed defensive boost at first base, and has been a solid offensive contributor this year as well. After he used his no-trade clause to reject a move to the Nationals on Tuesday morning, the Padres instead shipped him off to Boston, where the Red Sox are getting arguably the second best first basemen on the market to cover their worst position. Also, now that San Diego is taking on most of Hosmer’s contract, the Red Sox can likely release him at any time without taking much of a hit financially. Overall, Hosmer is the most well rounded player the Red Sox acquired at the deadline, and the player with the most potential out of the recent acquisitions to make an impact.

Another important factor in this trade for the Red Sox was Hosmer’s relationship with top prospect Triston Casas. The two attended the same high school, and have a great, mentor type relationship. Hosmer can help orient Casas with the Red Sox, a quality impossible for Boston to look over.

Minor league moves

A few minor leaguers were also dealt in this trade. To the Red Sox, infielder Max Ferguson and outfielder Corey Rosier. Ferguson is a speed first, left handed hitter, who also has 60 grade potential in the field. His poor hitting ability likely means his ceiling is a below average to average bench player for the Red Sox. Rosier, on the other hand, is more fluid with the bat, and also possesses great speed and athletic ability. His future with the organization looks more promising than the former. Both of these assets, still only 22 years old, have plenty of time to develop, and likely won’t see the big leagues for a while. The lone asset going the Padres way is left-handed pitcher Jay Groome, who has been with the Red Sox organization since 2016, but never reached the big leagues. At almost 24 years old without much traction in the minors, getting rid of Groome was expected.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a pretty successful deadline for Boston. They took advantage of Vasquez’s value and demand, picked up some nice depth pieces in Pham and McGuire, and made a clear upgrade at first base, in acquiring Hosmer. The most troubling takeaway from this deadline is the fact that the organization didn’t trade for any bullpen pieces, an area which has been particularly bad this season. However, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from Chaim Bloom’s tenure with the team, he usually has a plan. Who knows, maybe he’ll pick up the next Garrett Whitlock off of waivers down the line.