It’s been awhile since my last post but whether you think it or not, this is a HUGE deal and I can’t, not post about it. So the Red Sox acquire Andrew Bailey and Ryan Sweeney for Josh Reddick, Miles Head, and Raul Alcantra. This is a great deal for the Red Sox who are going through major changes this offseason, trying to revamp the team to reach the playoffs and beyond in 2012. In my mind they got Bailey cheap due to a flooded relief arms market. Bailey is, when healthy, a top closer in the league and I would expect this to continue in Boston through 2014 at least, as he is under Sox control until then. The Sox recently acquired Mark Melancon from the Astros for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland. Melancon will now likely be the setup man for Bailey. The combination of deals fills Papelbon’s spot and Bard’s spot in the pen. (Pap left for the Phillies and Bard is likely moving to the starting rotation.) This will give the Red Sox a very inexpensive bullpen, yet a fairly decent one at this point in the offseason. Now they may have the money to go get a top starting pitcher, or a quality one or two, and also possibly get another right fielder, although less likely. Sweeney and Ryan Kalish will likely be competing for right field time in the Sox lineup, Sweeney is probably not as good as Josh Reddick, but he is serviceable. Reddick was a top prospect for a while and did alright at the major league level, but his stock was hurt by most people’s thoughts that he couldn’t be a consistent player. He ripped things up when he started playing in 2011 but then proceeded to cool off. Alcantra and Head are both high upside, high risk single-A prospects from the Sox fairly deep farm system. Weiland was a solid, not great pitching prospect near ready for the big leagues and Lowrie is a high upside, injury prone, infielder who could be a steal in the Melancon deal. Overall I think this is a huge win for the Sox. People are now speculating they could go hard after Cubs ace Matt Garza since they didn’t give up any top prospects and are owed compensation from Theo Epstein leaving still. Either way I like the deals, all solid players involved for both sides in both trades. Athletics seem to be loading up on prospects after the Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, and now Andrew Bailey deals. My thoughts on the Cahill and Gonzalez deals in short: good for the Diamondbacks who received Cahill, and Nationals who received Gonzalez. I think that the A’s got good prospects in return and will have a bright future, but the Diamondbacks and Nationals got very good pitchers who make them much better now and in the future as both starters are still young. Trevor Cahill is going to help Arizona win the NL west I’ll say that now. Bailey will help the Sox compete in a still loaded AL East, and Gonzalez will help the Nationals stay in contention in a tough NL East. The A’s could have just helped 3 teams win divisions in 2012, unlikely, but definitely a possibility now.
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