Veteran knows it’s all part of the business of Major League Baseball and until someone tells him otherwise, he’s staying in Boston
The Boston Red Sox are 9-20. The trade deadline is in a week.
It’s a formula Kevin Pillar is familiar with.
"The worse you play, the realistic opportunity of trading some of your teammates and friends becomes more realistic," the outfielder said. "If you care about the guys next to you the best thing to do is go out and try to turn this thing around."
Barring a win streak that would go down in the annals of baseball history, the 2020 Red Sox season is one that fans from around New England are going to largely pretend never happened.
So over the next week or so, with no postseason rotation or lineup to worry about, the only thing the organization has to build for is the future.
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Some of that started Saturday when Chaim Bloom unloaded Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman to Philadelphia for Nick Pivetta and prospect Connor Seabold.
Pillar could be next, something he was oddly comfortable talking about after Sunday’s 5-4 loss to Baltimore. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact it happened to him last year when the cash-strapped Toronto Blue Jays shipped him to the San Francisco Giants in a salary dump early in the season.
"Getting traded last year’s opened my eyes to the reality of what might happen, what could happen," Pillar said. "Obviously last year when it happened it was unexpected and my whole world flipped upside down."
No one outside the world of pro sports can wrap their heads around getting traded. It just doesn’t exist in any other business. Fans might not mind the trades or roster moves, but no one stops to think how if effects the athlete on a real-world level. It’s why sayings like "fans root for laundry" exist.
Some players might say they don’t hear the rumors, but that’s not necessarily true. It’s something they talk about because, believe it or not, it’s something they have to deal with on a human level.
"Initially being traded I took as kind of a slap in the face especially given everything I felt I gave to my previous organization. You soon realize being traded is not necessarily because a team doesn’t want you, it might be because another team wants you more and they might be going in a different direction," Pillar said. "For me it’s not getting caught up in if and where and just going out, doing my job every single day and if it happens it happens. If it doesn’t, I’m happy to be there I’m going to continue to go out and play the way I play."
Rumors flew Saturday about Hembree and Workman but before the players could get together and talk about if there was any truth to them, the reality of the situation hit.
"It kind of hit me in that ninth inning when Workman wasn’t coming out for the close [Saturday night]. I thought maybe they were just giving him a day off. Then you come in and they were in their street clothes and the reality set in," Pillar said. "I don’t think anyone’s really talked much about it. I think we’re just living in the moment."
Pillar knows there’s a chance he could be dealt, but also knows there’s a chance he won’t be. He understands and hopes if any of his teammates need help dealing with rumors surrounding themselves, he can offer assistance.
After all, he is still a member of the Boston Red Sox until someone tells him otherwise.
"Until it happens, it’s kind of all just rumors," Pillar said. "We’re human beings. We do see our names come up and we have natural emotions and reactions to it but for everything this organization has said, if it’s something that’s becoming a little more of a reality they’ll definitely take the time to let us know and prepare us. I haven’t had that conversation yet so as far as I know I’m here to stay."
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