Busy Day for Red Sox Front Office
By Brian Phair
As soon as the Red Sox finished off an impressive walk-off victory, the flurry of activity continued in the clubhouse. The Red Sox announced they completed a trade for Colorado Rockies left-handed reliever Franklin Morales, signed starter Kevin Millwood to a minor-league deal, designated Hideki Okajima for assignment, and called-up Drew Sutton in a swap for Jose Iglesias. With Dan Wheeler expected to return in a few days, Michael Bowden is likely going to be sent to Pawtucket soon, adding to the crazy number of transactions over a short span of time. The trade of Morales and the signing of Millwood added some depth to an injury-depleted pitching staff, while the move to bring Sutton to the bigs was just to allow Iglesias more playing time in Pawtucket. (more after the jump)
Since Franklin Morales is not a familiar name to many Red Sox fans, let’s take a look at his numbers. He has spent all 5 years of his major-league career with the Rockies and has a 7-11 record with a 4.83 ERA. This year, he has allowed 10 hits and 6 earned runs in 14 innings, while striking out 11. He has an okay 3.86 ERA this year, but the Red Sox are really interested in his career .185 opponent batting average against lefty hitters. The Sox are looking for a lefty-specialist who can get the job done, so Morales may have an opportunity to fill that role quickly. He has allowed an okay .250 average against lefties this season, but in a small sample-size and playing half of his games in the thin air of Colorado, which skews pitching numbers.
Kevin Millwood on the other hand, has been in the Red Sox pocket all year in order to add depth to the starting rotation. They finally reached a minor-league deal this week, but supposedly have been in conversations for a while attempting to make a deal work. In his 14-year career, Millwood has played in the majors for the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and Baltimore Orioles, making Boston his 6th stop if he makes the bigs. He has a career 159-137 record and can prove to be an innings eater, posting more than 168 innings pitched in all but 2 of the past 13 seasons, crossing the 200 mark 5 times (not that they need or want him to throw 200 innings). At age 36, he won’t wow anyone, posting a 5+ era in 3 of the last 4 seasons, but could provide added security with a veteran presence if called upon.
The last addition to the Sox yesterday was Drew Sutton, an infielder who had an excellent spring. He wowed a lot of people with his bat, and now will have the opportunity to be a utility back-up on the infield for the Red Sox until Marco Scutaro returns. With Iglesias being pegged as the next great shortstop, the Red Sox didn’t want him to sit on the bench and not develop, so they opted to send him back down to the Paw Sox to gain more everyday experience and to continue improving his ability in the batter’s box. They are less concerned with Sutton’s overall development, hence the swap.
The designation of Hideki Okajima will allow the Red Sox to attempt to trade him over the next week or so, but it hardly comes as a surprise to anyone that he is on his way out of town. He has allowed 4 earned runs on 7 hits in 8.1 innings so far this season, but the most telling stat is a .364 opponent batting average against lefty hitters. He was supposed to be a lefty-specialist, but couldn’t get any lefties out.
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