Is Chris Sale wearing red socks right now? No. He’d probably cut them up anyways. But the Boston Red Sox didn’t do bad on trade deadline day, August 1.
Their biggest issue, of course, is their situation on the mound. But, controversial opinion here, they weren’t really in position to do anything about their starting rotation. They were, however, in position to do something about their bullpen. In particular, adding a left-handed specialist had to be a priority of theirs given Tommy Layne’s struggles to do the same this season.
The Sox called the worst team they could find and got their best left-handed reliever. OK, so that would be the Minnesota Twins and Fernando Abad. Yes, but he is no longer on a bad team. Now, that honor belongs to flamethrower Pat Light, who the Red Sox sent to Minnesota. No, they really sent him to Rochester, the Twins Triple-A affiliate.
Abad happens to be great at what he does — sitting lefties down. They are hitting just .163 this season with a .458 OPS in 49 at-bats this season. So yeah, he’s just what the Sox need.
In contrast, lefties have an OPS over .700 against Layne this season.
The Red Sox did not move Layne today, so he will likely be designated for assignment as a result of this transaction.
Light, a hard-throwing righty, had made two appearances for Boston this season. And given his electric fastball, he looked to be a viable trade piece. After all, he enjoyed success closing out games for the Pawtucket Red Sox, has some command issues and was not a part of Boston’s immediate plans. Yes, they liked him, but they got an established left-handed reliever for him.
The Twins are probably hoping he’s the next Rick Vaughn.
Too bad Rick Vaughn didn’t throw 102 mph, like Light tops out at.
A little light of a haul for the trade deadline, right? No. The Sox have made five trades in the past month — adding Aaron Hill, Brad Ziegler, Michael Martinez, Drew Pomeranz and now Abad. That’s way more than usual. You just opened all your Christmas presents early this year, you ungrateful child.