Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland to Houston For Mark Melancon

[Jaypers]

Red Sox Acquire Melancon For Lowrie, Weiland
By Tim Dierkes [December 14 at 10:33am CST]

The Red Sox acquired reliever Mark Melancon from the Astros for shortstop Jed Lowrie and starter Kyle Weiland, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Weiland, 25, struggled in 24 2/3 innings in his Red Sox debut this year. At Triple-A, he posted a 3.58 ERA, 8.8 K/9, 3.9 BB/9, and 0.70 HR/9 in 128 1/3 innings. A third-round pick in 2008, Baseball America ranked Weiland 20th among Red Sox prospects prior to the season. BA says the former Notre Dame closer "relishes pitching inside" and his "best pitch is a low-90s fastball that peaks at 95 but is most notable for its hard sink."

 

[Exposfan]

another sign the Brewers are stuck with Krod.

 

[vwnut13]

David Carpenter for Closer!

 

[Huffamaniac]

At this time is Melancon the most likely to close assuming Bard is a SP and the Red Sox do not sign an establsihed closer?

 

[DeliciousBacon]

So much for my Jed Lowrie collection.

 

[Sean_C]

If this is the best the Red Sox could get under the new administration, then Red Sox Nation is in deep doogie-doo.

 

[mredsox89]

If this is the best the Red Sox could get under the new administration, then Red Sox Nation is in deep doogie-doo.

They moved a utility guy and a AAA RP who struggled in the majors. Getting a half decent RP out of that is a success imo. The sox have 2 SS already and Aviles who's essentially the same player as Lowrie. They managed to pick up a useable bullpen arm without trading any of their legitimate trading chips

 

[numba1yankeefan]

SO HAPPY

Here's my favorite 3 cards of my Melancon collection that has 100+ auto's

 

[mredsox89]

Looks like the rotation will look like this going into ST

Beckett
Lester
Buchholz
Aceves
Bard

 

[JEA2880]

SO HAPPY

Here's my favorite 3 cards of my Melancon collection that has 100+ auto's

Good luck getting Sox fans to buy the RC of a guy in a Yankee uni...

 

[numba1yankeefan]

SO HAPPY

Here's my favorite 3 cards of my Melancon collection that has 100+ auto's

Good luck getting Sox fans to buy the RC of a guy in a Yankee uni...

I know lol

I would still think someone would overlook that fact and still want them.

 

[js0000001]

If MM plays well

And the team plays well

someone will but the cards!

 

[beefycheddar]

Who was the 2003 Red Sox Closer? How many people in Boston can name a closer that is not named Papelbon. I don't think being the potential closer here is an instant boost to value. He has to be dominant, and draw fan attention first. Bard stuff after he debuted never sold very high.

 

[Zymco]

Looks like the rotation will look like this going into ST

Beckett
Lester
Buchholz
Aceves
Bard

I don't think the Red Sox's are done and I don't think Melancon will be closing for them either. I think the Red Sox's will make a trade in some capacity with the A's, either for Gio Gonzalez or for Andrew Bailey, but I don't think the Red Sox's are done making trades.

 

[HPC]

If this is the best the Red Sox could get under the new administration, then Red Sox Nation is in deep doogie-doo.

They moved a utility guy and a AAA RP who struggled in the majors. Getting a half decent RP out of that is a success imo. The sox have 2 SS already and Aviles who's essentially the same player as Lowrie. They managed to pick up a useable bullpen arm without trading any of their legitimate trading chips

This.

 

[braden]

Yeah, I don't see how this is bad for the Sox. They picked up a decent reliever in pre-arb years (as payroll seems to be a big deal for Boston this offseason) for two guys who really aren't that good.

Lowrie, aside from the odd hot streak, sucks. He can't field, has a bad platoon split and can't stay healthy. They have virtually the same guy in Aviles except w/o the health concerns.

 

[mredsox89]

Yeah, I don't see how this is bad for the Sox. They picked up a decent reliever in pre-arb years (as payroll seems to be a big deal for Boston this offseason) for two guys who really aren't that good.

Lowrie, aside from the odd hot streak, sucks. He can't field, has a bad platoon split and can't stay healthy. They have virtually the same guy in Aviles except w/o the health concerns.

I'm pretty surprised with the negative reaction a lot of the baseball writers have of this trade towards Boston. The Sox have Scutaro who is a serviceable SS for this season, and potentially next, and they invested almost $10M in Iglesias who can probably fill in now if absolutely necessary and has a very good shot at starting next season at SS for the big club. I thought Weiland could have been good eventually, but he couldn't perform well whatsoever with the Sox last season, so I'm not really sure why anyone thought he had a chance to make the starting rotation this season.

Do I think they are making a mistake if Bard starts, yes. But if he can be a serviceable #4 starter I think it will be easier to fill that closer role with various guys and/or someone they trade for (Bailey?). They picked up a guy who should fit well in the bullpen without giving up any of their top 6 (maybe more) trade chips.

 

[thefasterblade]

Good trade for the Astros.

 

[notjomommasclint]

this means scutaro is going to be the best hitting shortstop in the red sox organization... UH OH!!!

Lowerie has shown that when he is healthy he can rake... rake... rake... Iglesias cannot hit! he will carry a lifetime batting average of .035 and that guy the sox picked up from the royals last year whats his name... if he is an answer to anything besides who is going to pinch run for pitchers in the late innings of road interleague games you might as well turn fenway into a ******* parking lot. bard needs to move into the closer role! i hope the red sox draft andrew luck!

 

[scotty21690]

FFFFFFFFFFFFFF-----


First they re-sign Scutaro and then they trade Lowrie. Dammit! I am going to watch the Marlins next year instead..