Crazy things happen in December.
Baseball’s annual Winter Meetings are just around the corner and it remains anybody’s guess how the Red Sox will operate with new Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow at the helm.
Breslow does not have any attachment to players from the Chaim Bloom regime, so it’s safe to say that no move is off the table.
Here are three players whose time with the Red Sox could come to an end during the Winter Meetings.
3 players whose time with Red Sox could end after Winter Meetings
Alex Verdugo
Rumors surrounding Verdugo have run rampant ever since last summer’s trade deadline. The 27-year-old outfielder was even on “hug watch” in late July, but Bloom decided to keep the entire big-league roster in place, holding on to Verdugo, as well as veteran trade chips Adam Duvall and James Paxton.
This offseason, trade talks involving Verdugo have been rekindled. He has already been linked to three NL clubs and could be a popular name discussed when baseball’s brightest minds convene in Nashville, TN next week.
In order for the Red Sox to move on from Verdugo, they would need to receive a trade offer they can't refuse, presumably from a club outside of the American League (or, at the very least, outside of the AL East). Furthermore, a potential Verdugo trade would leave Boston with a vacancy in the outfield. In a best-case scenario, Boston ships away Verdugo for a pitching prospect and an outfielder who can play 100-plus games.