Shortly after winning the 2018 World Series, the Boston Red Sox suffered their first loss of the offseason when longtime executive Allard Baird joined the New York Mets as an assistant general manager.
Eight months later, might there be a silver lining for Boston in Baird's departure?
The Red Sox reportedly are among the teams interested in Mets All-Star closer Edwin Diaz ahead of Wednesday's MLB trade deadline. For New York, it's a matter of what assets Boston can offer in return.
As the New York Post's Joel Sherman pointed out Monday, few front offices have a better understanding of those assets than the Mets, who plucked Baird and Jared Banner from the Red Sox last winter.
Prior to joining the Mets, Baird (a New Hampshire native) had been with the Red Sox since 2006, serving as vice president and director of professional scouting before rising to senior vice president of player personnel under president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
Banner, a graduate of Amherst College in Mass., spent over a decade with the Red Sox and was the team's vice president of player personnel when the Mets hired him last December.
ESPN's Buster Olney recently suggested Boston would have to include either third base prospect Bobby Dalbec or 2018 first-round pick Triston Casas in a deal for Diaz. Baird and Banner should have a strong idea of what both prospects bring to the table -- as well as a familiarity with Dombrowski that may aid Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen if he's looking to deal with their former boss.
Baird and Banner aren't the only former Sox staffers in New York, either: Mets hitting coach Chili Davis (2015 to 2017) and first base coach Ruben Amaro Jr. (2016 to 2017) both spent time in Boston's organization recently, although they likely didn't have much contact with Dalbec, who spent 2016 and 2017 in Single-A.
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