The Boston Red Sox completed a trade
this weekend, sending starting pitcher Jake Peavy to the San Francisco Giants
in exchange for minor league left-handed starter Edwin Escobar and right-handed
reliever Heath Hembree.
While both prospects acquired by Boston have modest
ceilings, the move was a smart one in terms of baseball business. By all
accounts, Peavy, who had been acquired in a separate trade
last summer, is an outstanding guy and an excellent teammate. Heck, the former
National League Cy Young winner even purchased
a duck boat in the aftermath of Boston winning the 2013 World Series riding
the unique vehicles down the streets of Beantown.
Baseball is a game of sentiment but is primarily a game of
dollars and cents. Although Peavy may have immediately become a respected part
of the tapestry of the Red Sox mystique, smart management made his departure
inevitable.
The 33-year-old veteran is being paid $14 million in the
final year of a long-term deal. Boston will apparently pay approximately half
of the remaining $5 million he is set to earn, according
to ESPN’s Buster Olney. With Boston in a season-long funk and sitting in last
place in the American League East, this combined with a lack of production make
his trade a sound move.
Once one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball, Peavy
pitched like a back-end starter during his time in Boston, combining for a 5-10
record and 4.48 ERA in 30 regular season starts. Here’s how some of his other
numbers with the Red Sox broke down:
- · He allowed 26 home runs in his 30 starts, including an American League 20 this season at the time of his trade.
- · The team was just 1-12 in his last 13 starts, though to be fair the lineup scored just 37 runs in those contests.
- · The struggling Boston offense seemed to save its worst performances for Peavy starts, as they scored two or fewer runs nine of the 20 times he took the mound this season.
- · It appeared his stuff was starting to fail him a bit, as his average fastball velocity dipped under 90 MPH this season for the first time since his rookie season in 2002, according to FanGraphs.com. Additionally, his 4.81 FIP is his highest mark since 2003, and his 1.43 WHIP would be a career-worst.
- · After a strong April that saw him go 1-0 with a 2.87 ERA in five starts, he had been 0-9 with a 5.50 ERA in 15 starts since.
The reports on Hembree
and Escobar
indicate they have the talent and polish to get a chance to pitch at the major
league level. Whether they will be able to stay and contribute is another
matter. However, being able to squeeze some value out of a declining pitcher
with a heftier salary is a boon that should be applauded by fans. Peavy is a
stand-up professional who has had an outstanding career, but on this team in desperate
need of an overhaul, he wound needing to go.
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