We are still roughly 13 hours away from the 2013 MLB non-waiver trade deadline (that was a mouthful) but the Red Sox have likely already left their mark on this important day on the baseball calendar. Tonight after they trounced the Mariners, they traded for starting pitcher Jake Peavy from the White Sox and they also received Triple-A reliever Brayan Villarreal from the Tigers. To complete the three-team deal, Boston sent shortstop Jose Iglesias to Detroit and three Single-A prospects to Chicago.
I'm not a huge Peavy fan, I think that he's injury prone and overrated but the guy did win the 2007 NL Cy Young with the Padres (19-6, 2.54 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 254 strikeouts). It seems like he's been around forever and he made his MLB debut in 2002 with San Diego but Peavy is only 32. After not going over 200+ innings since 2007, he performed well in a contract year (surprise surprise) last season: 219 innings, 11-12 with 3.37 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 194 strikeouts. The best part of this is that he's not a rental and the three-time All-Star will be under contract through next season with an option for 2015.
This season he was on the DL for almost two months with a broken rib. In 13 starts, he is 8-4 with 4.28 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 76 strikeouts but keep in mind that the White Sox are one of the worst teams in MLB. This is a depth move for the Red Sox who realize that they need a sharp rotation to reach the playoffs for the first time in four long years and then do damage against loaded teams like the Rays and Tigers. Brandon Workman has looked real good in three starts but he'll go to the bullpen with Peavy aboard. Another factor in this move had to be the health of Clay Buchholz. I assume the Red Sox are worried that he might not return this season so this gives them more veteran experience and skill.
Seeing Boston dump Iglesias appears cold but when you think about it, probably a wise decision. In the few months where he was getting on base and piling up hits, we fooled ourselves into thinking that he'd really improved at the plate. The huge slump of the last few weeks shows that he's still the same guy for the most part and that hot streak was completely out of character. We would all rather have him than Stephen Drew but the Red Sox screwed themselves by overpaying that sack of crap. Furthermore, Iglesias has been playing third base but his natural position is shortstop (where I predict one day he'll win a Gold Glove).
Boston was about to have a logjam on the left side of the infield anyways with Will Middlebrooks hopefully returning to the club later this season if he continues to work out his issues on the field with the PawSox. Plus, the franchise's top prospect-Xander Bogaerts-is already knocking at the door and likely to make his MLB debut any day now. It should be some consolation to Iglesias that he's likely to fall into a great situation since the Tigers are a World Series contender (again) and their starting shortstop Jhonny Peralta is expected to be suspended (as soon as later this week) 50 games for his shady ties to Biogenesis.
Veteran third baseman Michael Young is still on the Phillies and the Red Sox have been mentioned in plenty of rumors involving him earlier this week. I don't know if they'll pull the trigger on that but I'm thinking Peavy will be their biggest new player. I hope they trade for another reliever though since their bullpen could certainly use some help.
UPDATE 7/31: Brock Holt was called up by the Red Sox to presumably play third base, not Middlebrooks.
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