Grading the the Red Sox 2013 Trade Deadline

SP Jake Peavy acquired at the deadline

So as we covered before, we thought the Red Sox should be both Buyers and Sellers at the 2013 Trade Deadline. Well a lot has changed since that original blog as the Sox found themselves pulling away from the pack with the Rays for the Division lead. If you had asked me weeks ago like I had said in previous blogs I would have said, BUY, but not at the expense of their "B" prospects and by "B" prospects I mean, Bogaerts, Bradley Jr., and Barnes. Those three guys (And a few others) are the future of this organization, and to deal them for ANYONE less than a Giancarlo Stanton or a Jeff Simardzija would be organizational suicide in my opinion. With that being said, given the moves the Sox made at the deadline, and given the overall quietude of the deadline, I give them a solid B+ for the moves they made.




Red Sox traded INF Jose Iglesias and 3 to the Tigers for OF Prospect Avisail Garcia who was in turn traded to the White Sox with 3 "lesser prospects" for SP Jake Peavy
The immediate buzz on twitter was filled with mixed cries of happiness, hopefulness and buyer's remorse. I saw people asking why would the Sox trade away Iglesias, the guy with quite possibly the best hands since Vizquel who is hitting .330 this year? Why would the Sox get Jake Peavy who has an unflattering 52-46 record with a 4+ ERA since 2008? Who are the Red Sox going to replace in their rotation? Who is going to be the future at SS/3B for the Red Sox? I will answer all of these questions for you.

Why trade Iglesias? Because he is playing the best baseball he will EVER play, why not capitalize on that right now and trade him away for ANYTHING. Iglesias will NOT be anything more than a utility backup while in a Red Sox uniform, so this deal makes absolute sense on the side of of the Red Sox and I do not want to hear anything else. Runs saved (by good defense) is much less important than runs created and Iglesias will never have an OBP much higher than his BA, so his Runs Saved value will NEVER compensate for his dismal Runs Created value.

Why get Jake Peavy? Peavy was one of the best pitchers in the game in his prime. He is a winner, he is consistent and outside of an arm injury years ago, he is reliable. Peavy is a competitor. He hasn't been to the playoffs since 2006 so it will be exciting to see how he performs come playoff time.  Most importantly Peavy throws strikes. He has a career 3.3 K/BB ratio and over a 4 K/BB ratio over the past 3 seasons. He is also boasting a career best 1.9 BB/9 ratio this season which is another good sign. This is important because it puts pressure on the opposing offense, and as a team in first place who is expected to be ahead a majority of the time, it is imperative to throw strikes and make the offense earn every base they get. I think this guy will be willing to put his nuts on the line when it counts the rest of the way, unlike some other pitchers on this team who are soft, and am looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the table.

Who are the Red Sox going to replace? Well with Buchholz still nursing his sore ???, Peavy will immediately
take his spot in the rotation, but if/when Buchholz the Sox will be faced with a tough decision. You have to assume Buchholz and Lester have earned their rotation spots with their careers, Lackey has pitched will enough to earn his spot this season, and Peavy will have a spot because we didn't trade for him to be our long relief arm. That only leaves Doubront and Dempster to be replaced. The immediate first reaction is to replace Doubront. Dempster was signed this offseason to be in the rotation, but if that is the decision, they will be left with 4 righties and one lefty. The Sox may end up keeping the live-armed Doubront in there and moving the veteran righty Dempster to the pen which I would not hate. If having too many solid arms is the Red Sox biggest problem entering September, I will be a very happy Sox fan.

Who is the future SS/3B? This was probably the most annoying thing to see all over my twitter feed last night as people thought Iglesias was the second coming of Derek Jeter out there. Like I said before, Iglesias was nothing more than a platoon utility infielder with the likes of the infielers in the Red Sox farm system:

SS Xander Bogaerts (MLB.COM's #6 overall prospect) and the Red Sox' top overall prospect. I have not seen him play much, but watching him in the 2012 futures game, I loved him. His presence in the box was calm, he had a smooth, quiet confidence about him that rivaled hitters previous Sox power threats like Manny Ramirez. His size is great and he looks every bit as imposing as he reads at 6'3" and at 185-190 lbs he absolutely has room to grow and develop more power. He doesn't quite have the speed of Hanley Ramirez, who he is so often compared to, but certainly has the power/average potential and with his freakish athletic ability he could reign over short at Fenway for a decade.

SS Deven Marrero - Former 1st round pick of the Red Sox in 2012

3B Will Middlebrooks - Everyone loves to bash Middlebrooks for a rough first half this season, but let's not forget how good he was last year hitting over .300 for most of the season and exhibiting serious power to all fields. He has had trouble making an adjustment to pitchers who have made an adjustment to him, but that will come with time. I see him manning the hot corner for plenty of years.

3B Garin Cecchini - former 4th round pick of the Sox who has constantly hit over .300 and has nearly as many walks as strikeouts (143/172)

Would I have liked the Sox to go after Michael Young? Somewhat. The guy is not great in the field and is nothing like the hitter he used to be, but he still would have been an upgrade at 3rd and not put any pressure back on Middlebrooks. All in all, I think the Red Sox made out great in this deal. They got rid of Iglesias while his value could not be any higher for a guy who I think brings an unbelievable competitiveness and work ethic to a locker room that is poised to make a deep playoff run. worst case scenario, Peavy is a complete flop and the Sox are basically in the same position they started in, but if Peavy brings any bit of the magic he's capable of you could be looking at the Sox taking home the AL Pennant for a 3rd time in 10 years.