The Red Sox traded Christian Vázquez to the Astros on Monday, the culmination of a few days of whispers toward this very deal. The Sox also traded for Reese McGuire, Vázquez’s effective replacement, and Tommy Pham, who will give the Sox some outfield depth.
It was weird.
First part first: Losing Vázque plainly sucks. Even if it made sense to trade him, it blows to a) lose your longest-tenured player, b) your strongest vibes guy and c) “the player to whom you just told the game plan for beating the Astros” when you’re about to play the Astros.