Report: Red Sox get Wade Miley in trade with D-backs
SAN DIEGO — The Boston Red Sox need starting pitching to complement what looks like a potent lineup, so they reportedly went out Wednesday and acquired Wade Miley in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
But, oddly, they gave up two young starting pitchers to get him.
The Red Sox have a surplus of bats, which most of us thought they’d look to unload in their quest for pitching. Well, not yet.
The trade, according to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi, sends Rubby De La Rosa, 25, and Allen Webster, 24, to the D-backs.
The deal isn’t official yet, and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe says it likely won’t be made official Wednesday. He also says the Red Sox will be giving up one more player.
Miley isn’t a front-of-the-rotation pitcher, but he has given the D-backs more than 200 innings the past two seasons, and 194 the season before that. The Red Sox need that dependability. In 2012, Miley was an All-Star and Rookie of the Year runner-up, going 16-11 with a 3.33 ERA. But since then, his numbers have gotten worse each year. In 2014, he was 8-12 with a 4.34 ERA. He’s 28 and has two more years of club control left after 2015.
Miley joins Clay Buchholz and Joe Kelly in the rotation, but the Red Sox still need an ace because they couldn’t convince Jon Lester to come back. Whether that means they go all-in for Max Scherzer or put together a huge package to pry away Cole Hamels from the Phillies, that’s Boston’s No. 1 priority now.
For Arizona, they save a little money, as Miley was projected to make about $4.3 million, based on MLB Trade Rumor’s arbitration projections. They also get back two players that their new front office is familiar with.
Both De La Rosa and Webster were with the Dodgers when De Jon Watson was their head of player development. Watson recently joined the D-backs as the senior vice president of baseball operations under new GM Dave Stewart.
Both pitchers split time between Triple-A and the big leagues in 2014. De La Rosa made 18 starts for Boston last season with a 4.43 ERA, while Watson had a 5.03 ERA in 11 starts.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Mike Oz is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
