Red Sox send four to the Pirates, gain Joel Hanrahan
On Wednesday, the Red Sox and Pirates completed a trade that sends closer Joel Hanrahan and infielder Brock Holt to Boston. In return, the Red Sox gave the Pirates reliever Mark Melancon as well as three prospects: Stomly Pimentel, Ivan De Jesus Jr., and Jerry Sands.
The two new Red Sox seem to be excited about the deal, both tweeted about it Wednesday night, and Hanrahan had even changed his twitter picture to the Red Sox logo.
I’m very excited to be joining the @redsox and look forward to joining the great history of Boston and making some new history!!!
— Joel Hanrahan (@hanrahan52) December 26, 2012
Excited to join the @redsox!!! Looking forward to being part of something special!!! #RedSoxNation
— Brock Holt (@BrockStar4Lyf) December 26, 2012
Both players also used Twitter to express their gratitude towards the Pirates organization and fans. Hanrahan said he “enjoyed every minute” of being in Pittsburgh.
Before the trade was officially announced, Red Sox manager John Farrell reportedly called Hanrahan and closer Andrew Bailey, telling them that Bailey would now be the Sox set-up man, and Hanrahan the closer. Hanrahan was definitely happy about that.
“It was a great conversation, obviously,” he said. “They look forward to having me at the end of the bullpen here, closing for them.” He added, “I wasn’t sure what the role was going to be because there’s obviously guys that have closed before and had great success closing as well.”
Hanrahan boasts a 1.83 ERA, 95.8 mile-an-hour fastball, and had 40 saves in 44 attempts in 2011. He’s the real deal. However, his 2012 wasn’t as great. He walked 36 batters in 59 and two thirds innings, leading to a 2.72 ERA. Hanrahan explained the dip in his stats, saying it was an injury issue.
“I hurt my hamstring early on in the year and had a sore ankle for a while that went under the wraps. I was wearing a tight ankle brace for a couple of weeks that kind of restricted my mechanics. I don’t think that walks are going to be a concern.”
About the hamstring issue, Red Sox assistant General Manager, Brian O’Halloran, said that they’re not too worried about it.
“It’s not something that we’re concerned about long-term,” said O’Halloran. “We believe that we’re going to get the guy that has been a great closer for two years.”
Farrell explained that they weren’t necessarily looking for a closer, but they couldn’t pass up this chance.
“This makes us a better team, Joel will come in and join a strong group. This is an All-Star closer, a pitcher with a high conversion rate for saves,” he said.
Hopefully this trade will work out better for the Red Sox then last year’s trade that gave the Red Sox Bailey and sent Josh Reddick to Oakland. Due to injury, Bailey pitched only 19 games all season, while Reddick starred for the A’s blasting home runs and picking up a Golden Glove. However, if the Red Sox management seems confident in this trade, it will hopefully turn out well. We’ll find out this spring.
