Red Sox acquire reliever Tyler Thornburg from Brewers
— -- NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- With one trade here Tuesday morning, the Boston Red Sox found an eighth-inning reliever and maintained what little financial flexibility they have in order to stay below the luxury-tax threshold.
Oh, and they renewed their faith in Pablo Sandoval.
The Red Sox acquired right-handed reliever Tyler Thornburg from the Milwaukee Brewers in a multiplayer trade, the team announced Tuesday. First baseman/third baseman Travis Shaw and infield prospect Mauricio Dubon will be headed to Milwaukee along with pitching prospect Josh Pennington.
Thornburg, a hard-throwing 28-year-old, posted a 2.15 ERA, 13 saves and 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings in 67 appearances last season, taking over as Milwaukee's closer after Jeremy Jeffress was dealt to Texas at the trade deadline. But he also dealt with elbow issues that caused him to miss time in 2014.
The Red Sox were looking for an eighth-inning upgrade. Koji Uehara and Brad Ziegler, who shared the role at times last season, are both free agents. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Monday that the Red Sox preferred to find a setup reliever with closing experience to pitch in front of closer Craig Kimbrel.
Thornburg fills that description. He also is inexpensive, no small detail for a Red Sox team that is trying to keep its payroll below $195 million for luxury-tax purposes. Thornburg made $513,900 this year and is eligible for arbitration for the first time. The Red Sox will control him through the 2019 season.
But it appears the Sox paid a steep price in talent to acquire Thornburg.
Dubon, a 22-year-old infielder, batted .323 with six homers and an .840 OPS between Class A Salem and Double-A Portland this year, putting him squarely on the prospect map. Pennington, a 21-year-old right-hander, had a 2.86 ERA in 13 starts for short-season Lowell.
But the decision to include Shaw in the trade underscores what Dombrowski and manager John Farrell said Monday, namely that the Red Sox intend to trust Sandoval with third base after he missed almost all of 2016 because of shoulder surgery.
Sandoval, signed by the Red Sox to a five-year, $95 million contract two seasons ago, struggled in 2015, reported to spring training out of shape and lost the third-base job to Shaw. And although Shaw faded after the All-Star break, he still finished with 16 homers in 480 at-bats, production from the left side of the plate that can't be discounted in a lineup that will lean right-handed now that David Ortiz is retired.
On Monday, Farrell called Sandoval "one of the keys for us" and "a left-handed bat who is a proven guy and has every opportunity to make a major impact on our team this year."
At no point did Farrell mention Shaw, an omission that is now more easily understood.
