Sox get Hanrahan from Pirates

[Danzz]

The Sox aquired all star closer Joel Hanrahan from the Pirates for Mark Melancon and 3 minor leaguers. Farrell named Hanrahan the closer after talking to Bailey who will setup. Excellent pickup that will add depth to the bullpen. Now we will have to see if he can pitch in Boston.

 

[mauconnfan]

Strange deal......they get the 2 best players maybe in the trade when you add Holt who looked like he had decent numbers, while the Pirates get nothing........this would seem to be a WTF trade on paper........

 

[Husky25]

Strange deal......they get the 2 best players maybe in the trade when you add Holt who looked like he had decent numbers, while the Pirates get nothing........this would seem to be a WTF trade on paper........

The Pirates get Major League ready players in Melancon and Sands for pennies on the dollar, while dumping Hanrahan who makes about $4.5 Mil all by himself, and most likely more in the future if he regains his WASH. NAT. form. Melancon was lights out in the National League with Houston...not so much (obviously) in Boston. Sands and the other 2 players are likely minor league or Quad-A fodder in the Boston, where they may become underrated Moneyball types in Pittsburgh.

Good trade for Boston. Wait and see for Pitt.

 

[Waquoit]

At least this looks like the Sox and their new manager have a plan. That's a good thing.

 

[G0UCONN]

Strange deal......they get the 2 best players maybe in the trade when you add Holt who looked like he had decent numbers, while the Pirates get nothing........this would seem to be a WTF trade on paper........

Alot of teams are high on future of Jerry Sands potential and DeJesus is seen as future decent hitter/solid glove at 2B/SS...Pirates must be high on them, especially Sands

 

[Danzz]

Strange deal......they get the 2 best players maybe in the trade when you add Holt who looked like he had decent numbers, while the Pirates get nothing........this would seem to be a WTF trade on paper........

Hanrahan is in the last year of his contract and will be a free agent after next season. If the Pirates weren't going to pay him maybe it makes sense to get what they can. I don't get Holt and maybe he will get traded.

 

[mauconnfan]

Saw DeJesus from good seats at Fenway last year vs Hughes I believe.......he was overmatched in a big way, doubt he will ever be a hitter but could be wrong. Couldn't catch up to a decent fastball.........I guess Sands at .296/23/107 in AAA is the man, we'll see.

 

[G0UCONN]

Saw DeJesus from good seats at Fenway last year vs Hughes I believe.......he was overmatched in a big way, doubt he will ever be a hitter but could be wrong. Couldn't catch up to a decent fastball.........I guess Sands at .296/23/107 in AAA is the man, we'll see.

Dejesus is punch and judy guy so far but Mattingly loved him...have to see if he can hit but think he has good glove.

Sands was real big prospect coupla years ago....have to see if he pans out.

 

[sinkhole]

Hanrahan has some major control issues last year he walked 36 in 59.2 innings. That comes out to 5.43 BB/9 which is terrible. He does K 10 per 9. The AL east teams with deep lineups and the DH will make this guy prove he can throw strikes. There are gonna be alot of 25-30 pitch innings in Fenway.

Cherington has a lousy track record in building his pen. Bard has been a yo-yo. Melancon was traded for the valuable Lowrie. The injury prone Bailey was injured and Reddick hit 32 homers at age 25. Meanwhile Papelbon had a great year for a bad Phillie team. Soriano who has proven he can pitch in the AL east would have been a good signing. I have my doubts about the Hanrahan move.

 

[60'sfan]

Hanrahan has some major control issues last year he walked 36 in 59.2 innings. That comes out to 5.43 BB/9 which is terrible. He does K 10 per 9. The AL east teams with deep lineups and the DH will make this guy prove he can throw strikes. There are gonna be alot of 25-30 pitch innings in Fenway.

Cherington has a lousy track record in building his pen. Bard has been a yo-yo. Melancon was traded for the valuable Lowrie. The injury prone Bailey was injured and Reddick hit 32 homers at age 25. Meanwhile Papelbon had a great year for a bad Phillie team. Soriano who has proven he can pitch in the AL east would have been a good signing. I have my doubts about the Hanrahan move.

I am not so sure about this trade either. Hanrahan does have control issues and I hate watching closers who struggle to throw strikes. On the other hand, he had 40 and 36 saves over the last two years so it is a reasonable gamble. Holt may have some potential but he has absolutely no power. Melancon was not going to be successful in Boston and with the departure of Sands and DeJesus, Ben has now unloaded almost all of the parts he got in his salary dump to the Dodgers. Stolmy Pimentel has a good arm but had made not progress in his career so far. I think its very hard to determine who got the better deal at this point. We'll see.

 

[The Viking]

I am not so sure about this trade either. Hanrahan does have control issues and I hate watching closers who struggle to throw strikes. On the other hand, he had 40 and 36 saves over the last two years so it is a reasonable gamble. Holt may have some potential but he has absolutely no power. Melancon was not going to be successful in Boston and with the departure of Sands and DeJesus, Ben has now unloaded almost all of the parts he got in his salary dump to the Dodgers. Stolmy Pimentel has a good arm but had made not progress in his career so far. I think its very hard to determine who got the better deal at this point. We'll see.

The two most valuable parts in the Dodgers are still with teh Red Sox, the two pitchers Webster and DeLaRosa. there's no way in the world he would trade either of them for a closer. Sands and DeJesus were basically throw ins to the trade.

The Sox had a numbers crunch on their 40 man and had to do a 3 for 1 or 4 for 2 type of swap anyway, so I don't have a huge issue with Hanrahan. Plus if he's really good and the Sox are slipping out of it in July or August, maybe they can a nice piece for him with a team that is having closer issues. Especially if there are 2 or 3 teams looking for a closer.

 

[The Viking]

Hanrahan has some major control issues last year he walked 36 in 59.2 innings. That comes out to 5.43 BB/9 which is terrible. He does K 10 per 9. The AL east teams with deep lineups and the DH will make this guy prove he can throw strikes. There are gonna be alot of 25-30 pitch innings in Fenway.

Cherington has a lousy track record in building his pen. Bard has been a yo-yo. Melancon was traded for the valuable Lowrie. The injury prone Bailey was injured and Reddick hit 32 homers at age 25. Meanwhile Papelbon had a great year for a bad Phillie team. Soriano who has proven he can pitch in the AL east would have been a good signing. I have my doubts about the Hanrahan move.

Couple of things you touched on.
Who cares about Papelbon, giving a 31 year old closer a 5/60 deal or whatever it was is nuts. Yeah, he looked good in the first year he was gone - as he is supposed to - as he should for the next 1-2 years as well. Its the 4th and 5th year when he's taking in 13 or 14 mil where the Phillies are going to be shaking their heads.

Soriano - The Sox would be stupid to give up their 2nd round draft pick (roughly 50th overall) for a closer. It's not like they are a closer away from competing for a championship. The Hanrahan deal was as much to clear out some guys from the 40 man as they were having a numbers crunch and had to get something for some guys who may be AAAA guys or maybe have a small impact in the majors. None of the guys they gave up are eye openers. Actually the best minor leaguer that was given up may turn out to be that Brock kid, although if Sands proves his power is more than just pacific-coast minor league inflated, we'll see.

Melancon and Bailey underperformed big time no doubt. But if you look at the potential of the current pen I'd say it's pretty darn good.

Hanrahan
Bailey
Tazawa (very impressive last year and may end up being a closer in 1-2 years)
Miller
Breslow
Bard (if he returns anywhere close to his old form)
Some very good arms down there and you throw in Aceves that knucklehead if he's still on the team and he's a great piece as long as you keep him away from the end of the game.

 

[mauconnfan]

Couple of things you touched on.
Who cares about Papelbon, giving a 31 year old closer a 5/60 deal or whatever it was is nuts. Yeah, he looked good in the first year he was gone - as he is supposed to - as he should for the next 1-2 years as well. Its the 4th and 5th year when he's taking in 13 or 14 mil where the Phillies are going to be shaking their heads.

Soriano - The Sox would be stupid to give up their 2nd round draft pick (roughly 50th overall) for a closer. It's not like they are a closer away from competing for a championship. The Hanrahan deal was as much to clear out some guys from the 40 man as they were having a numbers crunch and had to get something for some guys who may be AAAA guys or maybe have a small impact in the majors. None of the guys they gave up are eye openers. Actually the best minor leaguer that was given up may turn out to be that Brock kid, although if Sands proves his power is more than just pacific-coast minor league inflated, we'll see.

Melancon and Bailey underperformed big time no doubt. But if you look at the potential of the current pen I'd say it's pretty darn good.

Hanrahan
Bailey
Tazawa (very impressive last year and may end up being a closer in 1-2 years)
Miller
Breslow
Bard (if he returns anywhere close to his old form)
Some very good arms down there and you throw in Aceves that knucklehead if he's still on the team and he's a great piece as long as you keep him away from the end of the game.

You were raving about them last year too........how did that crystal ball work for you Vike? LOL

 

[Danzz]

They picked up Hanrahan beause he was the best closer available. Control aside, he is an allstar pitcher and they will only have him for 1 year. Hanrahan is good as opposed to great. I think he was an outstanding pickup based upon past performance and contract length. I hate long term contracts for closers unless the player's name is Rivera.
They may think that Bard is their future closer once (if ever) he gets his act together. Bard also has control issues; he misses belt high in middle of the strike zone and that is not a good thing even if you throw 98.
As things stand now, there are few teams in the AL that will have better bullpens. They were good the first 2/3 of last season until the starters burned them out.

 

[60'sfan]

They picked up Hanrahan beause he was the best closer available. Control aside, he is an allstar pitcher and they will only have him for 1 year. Hanrahan is good as opposed to great. I think he was an outstanding pickup based upon past performance and contract length. I hate long term contracts for closers unless the player's name is Rivera.
They may think that Bard is their future closer once (if ever) he gets his act together. Bard also has control issues; he misses belt high in middle of the strike zone and that is not a good thing even if you throw 98.
As things stand now, there are few teams in the AL that will have better bullpens. They were good the first 2/3 of last season until the starters burned them out.

I agree with you on Bard. I don't think he will ever be a closer. He doesn't seem to have the mental make-up for the job. At best, he regains his form from a couple of years ago and becomes a solid late inning pitcher. The Sox also have Clayton Mortinson who pitched well for them last year and unless someone signs them, Rich Hill and Scott Atchison are still available. I am glad that they released Padilla and I hope they unload Alfredo Aceves too. As good as he has pitched, he is a big distraction for the team. Franklyn Morales could replace Aceves as the long innings/spot starter without the drama. I am not as high on Andrew Miller as some are. He had some good moments and later in the year some bad ones. He can throw hard but the more batters he faces, the worse he gets.

 

[The Viking]

You were raving about them last year too........how did that crystal ball work for you Vike? LOL

How do you define "raving"? I think your definition may be a bit out of touch with the actual definition. But why is that suprising. You're out of touch with a lot of things.

 

[mauconnfan]

I must be because it's been obvious so far how "in touch" you are..........congrats on that Vike!! You're the baseball brains of the BY and I dared to go head-to-head with your intellect and lost, I admit it. I hereby retire from any thread with you and hope to find some 10 year olds to now do battle with...................where my brain will be in touch with theirs! LOL........

PS I promise I've forgotten more about baseball than you'll ever know!! Happy New Year

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Every time I hear the name Hanranhan I think of the movie Slapshot. It was even funnier hearing the news of this trade shortly after a Christmas Story marathon.

 

[The Viking]

PS I promise I've forgotten more about baseball than you'll ever know!! Happy New Year

Judging by your posts I have no doubt you've lost baseball knowledge over the years.

 

[mauconnfan]

Judging by your posts I have no doubt you've lost baseball knowledge over the years.

At least I had some to start with Vikey........your posts prove only that you are a Sox fan, probably bandwagon 25 year old from the new Nation