Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

Sox complete trade for Hanrahan

The Red Sox have acquired closer Joel Hanrahan from the Pittsburgh Pirates.

All the details aren't in yet, but it looks to be a 6 player swap (2 to Boston, 4 to Pittsburgh).

MLB Trade Rumors has some details:

The Red Sox and Pirates have agreed to a deal that will send Joel Hanrahan to Boston, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN.com (on Twitter).  Jerry Sands and Stolmy Pimentel will go to Pittsburgh in the swap and there will be more players involved in the deal.  There will be two more players headed to the Bucs in the deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com (on Twitter).

Hanrahan, 31, pitched to a 2.72 ERA with 10.1 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 59 2/3 innings for Pittsburgh last season. He earned $4.1MM and projects to earn $6.9MM through arbitration next year. Hanrahan is scheduled to become a free agent after 2013.

The big take away here: Iglesias gets to stay, and the Sox didn't have to give up too awful much in this trade.  Sands looks promising, but he wasn't in the organization long enough to grow any attachment to him.  Pimentel may still have a bright future, but struggled mightily in double-A last season.

It'll be interesting to see who the final two players the Sox have to surrender will be.  But it's not Iglesias, and it probably won't be any of the top-tier prospects or they would have already been named as a cornerstone of the deal.

Your Morning Dump... Where Pittsburgh wants Iglesias

Hanrahan is apparently the Last Dragon.  photo: psfwallpapers.com

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

The Pirates are seeking Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon or Red Sox shortstop Jose Iglesias in trade talks with teams involving reliever Joel Hanrahan, according to USA Today's John Perrotto.

There's no indication that either young shortstop has been offered by his team for the Pirates closer.

CBSSports.com baseball insider Jon Heyman reported Wednesday that both teams were interested in Hanrahan.

The Dodgers have Hanley Ramirez capable of playing shortstop if Gordon is traded, while the Red Sox' signing of Stephen Drew might make Iglesias available in trade discussions.

CBS Sports - Report: Pirates eye Dee Gordon or Jose Iglesias for Joel Hanrahan

Not a lot of baseball news circulating this morning, with the Holidays and all, so we'll touch on one of our favorite topics around Ted's Army: Jose Iglesias.

Let's clarify one thing right off the bat.  The Pirates wanting Iglesias does not mean the Red Sox are offering Iglesias.  It's entirely feasible that Pittsburgh said, "Give us Iglesias and you can have Hanrahan" and Cherington replied with a quick, "No thanks".  But that's probably not the case.

Other than the gut feeling I have that tells me Iglesias is one of God's great gifts to mankind, I can't really defend anything he's done on the diamond.  There's still a lot of room for growth in his game.  I shouldn't begrudge the Sox if they decide that they've spent enough time and money on the kid, and let someone else see if they can develop him (but I still would). 

But I'm just not that into Hanrahan.  And I'm certainly not into Stephen Drew.  If we do complete this trade, we have another arm in our bullpen to help us achieve those 80 wins we're aiming for.  We get to second-guess Farrell when he puts a pitcher in who blows the game, and we can tell him that he should've inserted Bailey, Bard, Breslow, et al. 

But what happens when Drew goes down for an extended period of time?  What happens when he finds himself on the 30 or even 60 day DL?  If Iglesias is gone, all we've got left to defend the position is Ciriaco.  I love me some Ciriaco as much as the next guy; he's one of the only players that made the last few months of last season watchable.  But that's not a lot of organizational depth at a key position.

The Sox bringing Drew aboard gives you all you need to know about how they feel about Jose, so I won't be shocked if the Sox do pull the trigger here.  I just don't know what I'm going to do with all of my #FreeJose t-shirts if he's traded. 

Rest of the links:

Herald - Why the Red Sox would be closing in on a trade for Joel Hanrahan | Characters welcome | WEEI - Piecoro: Drew 'a good gamble' for Sox | Why Red Sox are interested in Joel Hanrahan, but not Rafael Soriano | CSNNE - Should Sox walk away from Napoli deal? |

Recap: Booooo!

Well, that sucked.  Sox lose to THE Pittsburgh Pirates again, 6-4.

The positives?  Reddick thanked Theo for penciling him in the lineup with a 2-3 evening, including a solo home run.  Adrian Gonzalez (who struck out to end the game) had a solo home run of his own, and another RBI to put him at 71 on the season.  That's about it.

The negatives?  Pretty much everything else.  Wakefield was ineffective, Scutaro left 5 men on base, JD Drew had one hit out of the 5 hole, Youk went hitless, the Pirates bullpen shut us down.

Worst of all?  Not only have the Pirates beaten us on consecutive nights, but we have only 5 more wins than them on the season.  Oh yeah, the Yankees are back in first.

BOX SCORE

How we see it goin' down: Sox - Pirates series

First Pitch: Friday 7:05, Saturday 7:05, Sunday 1:35

Arms: Friday: Jon Lester, LHP (9-3, 3.70 ERA) vs. Paul Maholm, LHP (3-8, 3.29)

Saturday: Tim Wakefield, RHP (4-2, 4.26 ERA) vs. Jeff Karstens, RHP (4-4, 2.54 ERA)

Sunday: Andrew Miller, LHP (0-0, 4.76)  vs. James McDonald, RHP (5-4, 4.86 ERA)

Yard: PNC Park   Watch it:  NESN  Hear it:  WEEI

Get your tickets here

The Matchup

Record: 44-30 (1st AL East)	Record: 37-37 (4th NL Central)
On road: 22-14	At home: 17-19
Streak: Lost 2	Streak: Won 2
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Gonzalez (.359)	Average: McCutchen (.289)
Homers: Ortiz (17)	Homers: McCutchen (10)
RBI: Gonzalez (69)	RBI: Walker (50)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Lester (9)	Wins: Correia (9)
ERA: Beckett (1.86) | Bowden (1.29)	ERA: Karstens  (2.54) |  Watson (1.13)
K's: Stauffer (95)	K's: McDonald (62)

Last time

The last time these teams met was June 17-19, 2005 at Fenway Park.  How is this for a blast from the past that will likely give you a headache...Matt Clement got the win in the third game of the series to move to 8-1. The Red Sox took 2-of-3 from the Pirates and another "one and done", Keith Effin Foulke got the win in the first game. Tim Wakefield got the start in the first game and went 7 strong innings without giving up a run before Alan Embree coughed it up.
 

This time

Laser Show: Adrian Gonzalez, Dustin Pedroia & Kevin Youkilis

Gonzo is going into this series with a lot of chatter surrounding him and Ortiz and we all hope that all goes well when he plays in right. The Pirates have two righties going in the series and the PNC Park fence does not hit 400 ft at any point, giving Gonzo a nice chance to boost his home run numbers.

Pedey is looking great and is not swinging his best bat of the season, and it's a good thing. Pedroia is getting free passes to first is unusual quantities and is giving Gonzo some great chances to produce runs. I will take a Pedey walk any day when he has Gonzo, Youk, and Ortiz behind him in the lineup.

Kevin Youkilis is swinging his best bat of the season. Youk rocked the Padres with an 8-for-13 series and 3 RBI. That series may have been the turning point for Youk this season.

Pitch Around: Andrew McCutchen

For the second straight series there are no significant threats. McCutchen's team leading .289 batting average is pathetic and his 10 homers are a minor concern. He is in this category only because he leads the team in those two categories. If the Pirates play well, they will hurt the Red Sox as a team and keep it in the yard. They may try to attack Gonzo if the does play in right this series.

Don't Fall Behind: Jeff Karstens

Karstens is a very good pitcher that just doesn't get the support. He pitches very well at home where he is 2-2 with a 1.85 ERA. In 7 of his 12 starts, Karstens has been given 3 or less runs of support. He is not a big strike out pitcher so the high-powered Sox offense can knock him out of the game early.

 

How we see it goin' down

I had a lot of confidence in the Sox going into the San Diego series, and I had a lot of reason to. San Diego did the unexpected and took 2 from the Sox as Boston couldn't get their offense going in games 2 and 3. Even with the result of the last series, I can't give much credit to the Pirates and think that they will win any games against the Red Sox.

Tim Wakefield is going back to where it all started for the first time and He will shut down their offense, taking a step closer to 200.

I don't know what the hell Tito will do with the Gonzalez/Ortiz situation, and I don't think it will play a huge role in the outcome of the series. The Red Sox will sweep the Pirates, getting them back on the winning track.

Confirmation: The Sox sold high on Craig Hansen

As if you had any doubt that Theo was right in moving Craig Hansen as part of the Jason Bay/Manny Ramirez deal a few years back, it can now be confirmed. Hansen, after years of injuries, has been released by the Pirates.

Hansen started off the 2009 season with the Pirates, but only made five appearances, with a 5.68 ERA in 6.1 innings.  After that he went on the disabled list, and was eventually diagnosed with a rare nerve injury, which has put his future in doubt.  Hansen missed the rest of the 2009 season, and only pitched in 12 games in 2010, most of those at the high-A level.  In those games, he threw 16 innings with a 3.38 ERA.  When I saw him at the end of Spring Training, he was only throwing 88-89 MPH, down from the 93-97 MPH range that made him a first round draft pick in 2005, and a top prospect in the Boston Red Sox system.

Many people were as excited about Craig Hansen then as we are about Daniel Bard now. I recall there being criticism that we brought Hansen up too fast -- perhaps that contributed to his injuries. Perhaps his injuries were merely a fluke, just a result of repeatedly throwing a baseball very, very hard. Or maybe there was something in his throwing motion that caused the Sox to identify him as a guy to let go.

Not that we want to celebrate a guy's misfortune, but this clearly was not a big loss for us in including him in the trade. I remember thinking it was insane at a time -- include a major prospect to help facilitate a trade where we downgrade from Manny Ramirez to Jason Bay -- but ultimately it worked out. Hopefully Hansen will be able to build up his arm strength and get another change in the big leagues elsewhere.