Christian Vázquez handled Red Sox trade with class and dignity
Everyone knew the trade was coming, but it didn’t make it hurt any less when it happened.
If anything, the Boston Red Sox trading Christian Vázquez ahead of the trade deadline hurt even more, because of how it went down. As the news broke of his trade to the Houston Astros, the team the Sox were about to play for three games in Texas, Vázquez stood on the field with his teammates, taking batting practice and doing glovework.
By all accounts, Alex Cora had warned Vázquez that a trade was in the works (but not confirmed) before he took the field. Still, standing on the field, he was exposed to the world when he found out that the team he’d been with since 2008 was trading him to the team they were playing. This led to him getting swarmed by the media in a sensitive moment, and they peppered him with questions while he stood by the dugout, visibly upset.
Vazquez when asked if he was traded to Astros, “I think so, yeah.”
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) August 1, 2022
How does it feel: “It’s a business.”
Red Sox PR pulled him away. pic.twitter.com/fQ06LVzwW0
As if the footage of Vázquez minutes after the trade broke wasn’t heartwrenching enough, his message on Instagram to his “extended family” the following morning put fans over the top:
"“My extended family.There are a lot of mixed feelings as I am writing this. It has been a 15 years that we have spent together. Starting back in 2008 when I was drafted by the Red Sox and I left home at 17. Going through the minors and finally making it to the big show in 2014, with all of you behind me. Then in 2015 getting Tommy John and healing from that. To 2018, the great season, when I and you became WORLD CHAMPIONS. Red Sox Nation has been with me all the way. You have seen me grow up as a person and as a player. I went through all the minor league teams, from the extended rookie season, Lowell Spinners, Greenville Drive, Salem Red Sox, Portland Sea Dogs, and the Pawtucket Red Sox, and I have so much to be grateful for. The coaches, clubhouse staff, trainers, and teammates who became my family during my time in all of the Red Sox teams, I am forever grateful, for you helped me when I was away from my family and I felt supported by you. It is true that Red Sox Nation is one of the best fan base in baseball and in the WORLD! Your energy at Fenway, and even on the road, cannot be replicated, and I will hear your cheers in my heart forever. I hope to one day come back to you again, even if I have a different uniform on my back. My family and I will always miss you. Boston will always have a place in my heart, and this is me leaving a piece of it with you. May God Bless all of you, Love you forever Red Sox Nation!And to the Houston Astros, thank you for this opportunity! I look forward to playing for Astros Fans and taking it all the way! Let’s GO!– Christian”"
The 31-year-old catcher was the longest-tenured member of the organization. Though Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. made their big-league debuts the year before, Vázquez was drafted before both of them, in the ninth round of the 2009 draft. He was a teenager when he came to this franchise, so when he says this is his extended family, he means it.
Vázquez a class act for responding this way after the way the trade went down so publicly. While he asked to be on the field with his teammates, someone from the Sox should’ve collected him as soon as the trade became official so that he could have the privacy to process such a significant change. Instead, they let their most veteran player and a World Series champion face the music.
He deserved better.