With the team going nowhere this year, the San Diego Padres cashed in one of their biggest trade chips. The Padres sent starting pitcher Drew Pomeranz to the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, the Red Sox announced.
Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune first reported the news. Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald noted the Red Sox will part with right-hander Anderson Espinoza. Nick Friar of CSNNE.com reported Pomeranz will take the mound on July 20 against the San Francisco Giants.
Fox Sports’ CJ Nitkowski believes Boston is assuming some risk with the trade:
Boston paid a premium to add Pomeranz. In his midseason update, ESPN.com’s Keith Law ranked Espinoza as the 14th-best prospect in baseball and wrote “the fact that Pedro Martinez comps aren’t laughable is a pretty good indicator of what Espinoza could be.”
Only 18 years old, Espinoza has made 17 starts for the Greenville Drive, Boston’s Single-A affiliate. He’s 5-8 with a 4.38 ERA, 72 strikeouts and 27 walks in 76 innings pitched.
Red Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski discussed the trade with reporters:
Considering the circumstances, that’s a nice return for San Diego. Sports Illustrated’s Joe Sheehan was among those surprised at how well Padres general manager A.J. Preller did:
Preller discussed the decision to trade Pomeranz with reporters:
Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan tweeted the Padres benefited from a major seller’s market but added the trade has positives for each team:
Pomeranz was one of the few things to go right for the Padres in 2016. When San Diego acquired the veteran left-hander last December, nobody expected him to put together an All-Star season.
The 27-year-old spent most of 2015 as a reliever for the Oakland Athletics after having struggled in a starting role. He also underwent shoulder surgery last October.
In an interview with Lin during the All-Star break, Pomeranz explained that Padres manager Andy Green’s faith and a newfound cutter have helped him put together a career year:
I always knew I needed to develop a third pitch, but nothing would ever break through until this offseason. I think that’s really pushed me over the edge this year.
I’ve had such a more consistent role, being a starter, and then Andy ran me out there and let me throw 100-and-whatever pitches. I haven’t been allowed to do that in a while. Early on in your career, you haven’t really proven yourself, and that’s understandable. I really hadn’t proven myself. Andy really just gave me a chance to prove myself and leave me in some of those situations I normally would get pulled out of.
According to Brooks Baseball, Pomeranz had never thrown a cutter before 2016. It has since become his third-most frequent pitch, with Pomeranz throwing it 11.18 percent of the time. He’s also throwing his curveball more than ever (38.15 percent).
The cutter and curve have been Pomeranz’s two most effective pitches. Below are opposing hitters’ batting average, slugging percentage and isolated power against each of Pomeranz’s six pitches, per Brooks Baseball:
Based on his success, Pomeranz was a lock to be moved by the August 1 trade deadline.
The Padres already offloaded James Shields to the Chicago White Sox, and Rich Hill’s trip to the disabled list for a groin injury dented some of his trade value for Oakland. Julio Teheran is another trade candidate. Since he’s signed through 2019 with a 2020 club option, though, the Atlanta Braves don’t need to move him now.
Pomeranz is under team control for two more years, but unlike Atlanta, San Diego had far more incentive to capitalize on its ace’s value now.
The Padres aren’t a contending team, and they won’t be for the foreseeable future based on their thin minor league talent pool. Baseball Prospectus ranked the club’s minor league system 18th to start the year.
And Pomeranz’s trade value may never be higher. The Padres maximized his breakout season by acquiring Espinoza.
Despite some red flags, trading for Pomeranz makes sense for the pitching-needy Red Sox. It’s not as if top-end starting pitchers are readily available, especially in the middle of the year.
Boston’s rotation has been dreadful this season, ranking 19th in starters ERA (4.72) heading into the second half. This is a team with the best offense in baseball, so finding additional arms to support that lineup was essential for president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.
Calling Pomeranz an elite pitcher would be a stretch, but he’ll be in that category if he carries his strong performance through to the second half.
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