Post by Admin on Aug 1, 2016 19:14:14 GMT -5
SEATTLE — John Farrell will soon have one of the most dominant left-on-left relievers in the game at his disposal.
The Red Sox have finalized a trade that will bring Minnesota Twins left-hander Fernando Abad to Boston in exchange for minor league right-hander Pat Light.
Without giving up any of their top-10 prospects, the Red Sox will acquire a reliever who has held lefties to a .163 average and .458 OPS while providing servicable results against righties, keeping them to a .257 average and .712 OPS.
Overall this season, the 30-year-old Abad has thrown 34 innings with a 2.65 ERA and 29 strikeouts with 14 walks, though he reportedly has dealt with back pain during the summer months. The Twins signed him to a minor league deal in the offseason after the Oakland A’s designated him rather than offer him arbitration. He’s under team control through 2017 via arbitration, so this isn’t simply a rental.
Light has a live arm that touched triple-digits on the radar gun but he was still considered to have a ways to go in the development process. He only switched from the rotation to the bullpen starting in 2015 and has recently developed a splitter, a pitch that the Red Sox were hoping could give him more than just a fastball to use against major league hitters.
Over two separate appearances with the Red Sox, Light allowed eight runs on seven hits and a walk in 2-2/3 innings. In Triple-A Pawtucket, he had 36 strikeouts with 17 walks in 31 innings with a 2.32 ERA. He was considered the Sox’ No. 14 overall prospect by MLB.com.
With Abad now on board, the Red Sox may have some roster decisions to make before tonight’s game in Seattle, when Craig Kimbrel is also expected to rejoin the club and be activated off the 15-day disabled list.
This could potentially be the end of Tommy Layne’s tenure with the Red Sox, since they’re unlikely to carry three left-handers in the bullpen. Layne is out of options.
www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/clubhouse_insider/2016/08/red_sox_upgrade_bullpen_add_fernando_abad_from_twins?utm_campaign=bostonherald_trending_stories&utm_source=bostonherald&utm_medium=trending_stories