Finally, a Trade I Can Get Behind

Boy was twitter fun last night. The back and forth. The crazy loons. The outlandish rumors. But in the end, it all got done.

The Sox managed to acquire a solid starter for a spare part. That has to be a good thing.

Hey, I liked Jose Iglesias as much as the next guy. He obviously was a defensive whiz. His early season hitting certainly raised the bar a bit on his hitting potential. But, his latest performances have brought that back down a bit. But, even if you think he will hit .300 in the bigs, you have to admit he was in a bit of a log jam. He’s a talented shortstop. But, Xander Bogaerts is ready to grab that position away. He could play third, but so does Will Middlebrooks. So, that’s three young prospects for two positions. You could have moved one of them to first, but now you’ve got another player out of his natural position. Really, the only solution was to deal one of them. Iglesias was the logical choice. While I loved the idea of trading Bogaerts, just because of the windfall he would require in return, other than Giancarlo Stanton, can’t think of another name out there worth shipping him off for. Middlebrooks would be a good trade option, but he’d certainly be selling low. After his early season struggles, you wouldn’t get near the return you’d want. Iglesias was the other end of the spectrum. This was a definite “sell high” move. The Tigers needed a shortstop, and the Sox had one ready to deal.

In return, the Sox got Jake Peavy. The talent is obvious. He’s certainly on the back end of his career. But, that’s why Boston only needed to give up Iglesias and some kids. Some have been calling him insurance for Buchholz. But, I think he’s more than that. For the sake of argument, say Buchholz doesn’t come back. A rotation of Lester and Lackey the way they’ve pitched lately followed by Peavy, Dempster, and Doubront is pretty darn good. Toss Buchholz onto the top, and it’s darn near stellar. And, don’t forget that Peavy is signed for at least another year. This isn’t a two-month rental. He’ll be a featured member of the 2014 rotation as well. He’s a quality pitcher. This isn’t a case of the Sox overpaying to get the best pitcher available because that’s all that was out there. They filled a need by dealing from excess. It’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.

No, Peavy can’t swing the bat or close out games. But, other than Stanton, I don’t recall hearing a bat out there that would excite me. The team has plenty of (above) average bats. They don’t need another one. Peavy probably does help the bullpen too. With another rotation spot full, the young guys can move into the pen, and help them out.

I probably would have preferred the Sox sell the farm for Stanton, assuming that was actually even possible. But, I definitely prefer this deal to signing Cliff Lee. They got a pitcher who can definitely help them this year and next, and gave up someone they really didn’t have a role for.

Sounds like exactly what you’re supposed to do at the deadline.