Red Sox history of August trades shows impact of new MLB rule
A look back at notable August trades by the Boston Red Sox that would be prohibited under a new MLB rule being implemented for the 2019 season.
Major Leauge Baseball is in the process of undergoing some significant changes, a few of which will be implemented for the upcoming season. The most notable difference beginning in 2019 is a singular trade deadline. Players can still be claimed on waivers after the July 31 deadline but teams will no longer be allowed to complete trades after that date.
Why does this rule change matter for the Boston Red Sox? For one thing, it leaves less time to bolster the roster for a postseason run. Finding a suitable option to replace a player who falls to injury after the deadline will be a bit more difficult now. Greater emphasis will be placed on the July 31 deadline. Will teams on the fringe of the playoff race be more inclined to sell knowing they won’t have another chance after the deadline or does this mean less talent will be available to acquire mid-season?
It’s rare that an August trade makes much of an impact since players involved in the deal must clear waivers before they are eligible to be included. Occasionally, it does happen though and a look back at the history of Red Sox trades made in August shows several noteworthy deals.
Honorable Mentions
We remember David Wells mostly from his time with the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees when he was an All-Star and Cy Young candidate. He did spend a rather unremarkable year and a half in Boston late in his career when he was on the wrong side of 40. The Red Sox traded Wells to the San Diego Padres in August 2006 for a player to be named later. Wells was solid for the Padres, producing a 3.49 ERA in five starts to help his new team reach the postseason. He pitched well in his lone NLDS start that year, allowing only two runs over five innings, yet still took a loss.
The Red Sox received catching prospect George Kottaras in exchange for Wells. He made his brief major league debut in 2008 and served as the team’s backup catcher the following season.
Lou Merloni spent the first five seasons of his career with the Red Sox before he was claimed off waivers by the Padres prior to the 2003 season. The Framingham native was traded back to Boston in August of that year, appearing in 15 games before leaving again as a free agent. While his brief return was uneventful, Merloni was always a fan-favorite and can now be heard on the airwaves in Boston on WEEI radio.
The Red Sox acquired Pat Mahomes from the Minnesota Twins in August 1996. The fiery reliever posted a brutal 6.85 ERA in parts of two seasons in Boston. This trade is a mere blip on the radar as far as Red Sox trades go but it remains a fun fact in franchise history for one notable reason. When Mahomes was traded to Boston he moved here with his family, including his young son Patrick Mahomes II, who would grow up to earn the 2018 NFL MVP award as the quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs.
August 27, 2013: Red Sox acquire Quintin Berry from Kansas City Royals in exchange for Clayton Mortensen.
The Dave Roberts steal remains one of the most memorable moments in franchise history and showed the Red Sox the importance of having a stolen base threat they could bring off the bench. That clearly played a factor in Boston’s decision to acquire Quintin Berry when they were gearing up for another championship run.
Berry played sparingly down the stretch, appearing in only 13 games, but they picked his spots wisely. He went 5-for-8 with a home run and three steals to wrap up the regular season.
While he didn’t record a plate appearance in the postseason, Berry appeared in three games as a pinch-runner and stole a base each time. His impact on the game was limited but he accomplished what he was brought in to do and the Red Sox ended up winning each of the postseason games he played in.
Berry appeared in only 25 games for three different teams over the next four years. He was always a fringe major league player but he possessed one skillset the 2013 Red Sox sorely lacked on their bench – speed. He provided the team with a threat on the base paths and earned a World Series ring for his efforts.
August 31, 2000: Red Sox acquire Dante Bichette from the Cincinnati Reds for John Curtice and Chris Reitsma.
Dante Bichette was a four-time All-Star and former Silver Slugger. While his best years with the Colorado Rockies were boosted by playing in the pre-humidor Coors Field, Bichette was still a very solid hitter when he came to Boston for the final stage of his career.
Bichette hit .289 with a .854 OPS, 7 home runs and 14 RBI in 30 games after he was acquired on the final day of the waiver deadline. He did his part to aid a late-season playoff push but the Red Sox still finished 2.5 games behind the Yankees for the division title.
He remained a useful player the following season when he hit .286/.325/.460 with 12 homers and 49 RBI in 107 games. Boston finished second in the division once again but this time they were a distant 13.5 games behind New York. Bichette called it a career after that season at the age of 37.
Dante’s son Bo Bichette is the No. 13 overall prospect in baseball and could make his big league debut with the Toronto Blue Jays in the near future, making him a rival of his father’s former team for years to come.
August 25, 2009: Red Sox acquire Billy Wagner from New York Mets in exchange for two players to be named later.
Billy Wagner’s time in Boston was brief but he was excellent down the stretch for the Red Sox in 2009. The right-hander allowed only three earned runs over 13 2/3 innings for a spectacular 1.98 ERA while producing a 14.5 K/9.
Wagner made two playoff appearances, totaling only one inning, as the Red Sox were swept by the Angels in the ALDS. Facing elimination in Game 3, Wagner took the mound in the eighth inning to protect a three-run lead. He allowed a leadoff double and a walk while recording only two outs in the frame before closer Jonathan Papelbon took over. A base hit by Juan Rivera drove in two runs, both charged to Wagner. A pick-off helped Papelbon escape the inning with a one-run lead still intact but he ended up blowing the save in the ninth to end Boston’s season.
The meltdown was blamed on Papelbon but Wagner’s shaky outing forced the closer into the game early and he was charged with two runs late in a game the Red Sox would lose by one. It was an unceremonious ending to Wagner’s short tenure with the club but fans can still look back and say the Red Sox once had one of the all-time great closers and a potential future Hall of Famer on their side.
Boston completed the deal in October by sending Chris Carter and Eddie Lora to the Mets. The former played only 100 games the following season before his big league career was over and the latter never made it to the majors. Wagner’s last appearance in a Red Sox uniform may not have ended well but Boston clearly got the better end of this trade.
August 13, 1997: Red Sox acquire Tony Armas and Jim Mecir for New York Yankees for Mike Stanley and Randy Brown.
A rare trade between fierce division rivals would come back to haunt the Bronx Bombers. No, not because Armas developed into a star. In fact, the pitching prospect never actually played for the Red Sox. However, Armas turned out to be the player to be named later in a November deal that also sent Carl Pavano to the Montreal Expos for… Pedro Martinez!
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So yes, this August waiver deal didn’t move the needle on its own but it did give the Red Sox a trade chip used to acquire the greatest pitcher in franchise history. The deal for Pedro was arguably the greatest trade in franchise history and it may never have happened if the Red Sox didn’t have Armas to make the package a bit more enticing.
As for Stanley, the former Yankee returned to New York after spending parts of two seasons in Boston. He helped push the Yankees to the postseason where they were ultimately eliminated by the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS. Stanley spent the first half of the 1998 season in Toronto until the Blue Jays traded him back to the Red Sox at the July deadline.
August 25, 2012: Red Sox acquire players to be named later (Ivan De Jesus, James Loney and Allen Webster) from Los Angeles Dodgers for Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Nick Punto, and cash.
None of the prospects received by the Red Sox ever amounted to anything but that hardly mattered. This trade wasn’t about restocking the farm system, it was about shedding a quarter of a billion dollars from their payroll.
The Red Sox clubhouse had become a toxic environment in the midst of a mutiny against new manager Bobby Valentine. Beckett vilified himself as the face of the “Chicken & Beer” pitching staff and Crawford became a malcontent who crumbled under the pressure of playing in a big market. Both carried bloated contracts that threatened to hamstring the team’s budget for years as they continued to poison the clubhouse chemistry.
The Dodgers would end up being their savior. Los Angeles was so enamored with Gonzalez that they were willing to take on Boston’s worst contracts in order to pry him away. The Red Sox gladly accepted, hitting the reset button on a dumpster fire of a team loaded with underperforming stars.
Boston used the savings to retool the roster with several cost-efficient players with an emphasis on finding veterans with strong clubhouse reputations to repair the shattered chemistry. The result was a World Series championship the following season.
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The Red Sox weren’t quite ready to throw in the towel on the 2012 season when the July trade deadline hit. They waited nearly a month before pulling the trigger on a deal that drastically reshaped the organization but under the new rules, they wouldn’t have that luxury. There are certainly reasons why having one firm trade deadline will benefit baseball but this deal with the Dodgers is a prime example of why this change matters.