Back on July 31, the Red Sox made a trade sending Scott Podsednik and Matt Albers to the Arizona Diamondbacks for left-handed reliever Craig Breslow. At the time, it looked like the Red Sox had sent a bit too much to Arizona as Albers (2-0, 2.29 at the time) had better numbers than Breslow (2-0, 2.70 at the time) and that the aging outfielder Podsednik was seemingly a pot sweetener. The D-Backs had no room on their 25-man roster for Podsednik so they attempted to send him down to triple-A Reno. However, he declined waivers and was released back into free agency.
In a genius move yesterday, Ben Cherington signed Podsednik– who had been very impressive in 19 games with Boston, batting .387 with 6 steals. This effectively turns the Breslow deal into a straight up swap with Breslow and Albers, a deal the Red Sox clearly win as Breslow is left-handed and has one more year of team control.
Beyond the Breslow-Albers deal, though, this is a solid signing for the Red Sox. Podsednik is the perfect example of who you want as outfield depth– he’s blazingly fast, hits for a solid average, and has plenty of experience. Chances are he’ll spend much of August in Pawtucket, but we could see him again during September call-ups when the rosters expand. We could see plenty of him pinch-running, as a late inning defensive replacement, and potentially playing some right field against righties/left field against lefties. All in all, this is a very shrewd move by Ben Cherington.