Red Sox Acquire Erik Bedard In 3-Team Deal
BOSTON (CBS) – The Red Sox acquired lefty Erik Bedard in a three-team deal on Sunday.
Theo Epstein acquired the lefty after it appeared that righty Clay Buchholz, the team's No. 3 starter, may be out for the rest of the season due to back trouble, according to WBZ-TV's Dan Roche
Here's how the trade shakes out:
- Red Sox get: starter Erik Bedard, reliever Joshua Fields (both from Mariners)
- Dodgers get: catcher Tim Federowicz, reliever Juan Rodriguez, starter Stephen Fife (all from Red Sox)
- Mariners get: outfielder Trayvon Robinson (from Dodgers), outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang (from Red Sox)
The Red Sox, whose deal for Oakland's Rich Harden fell apart late Saturday night, also got right-hander Josh Fields, a 2008 first-round draft pick.
"He was real tough on us," Boston manager Terry Francona said of Bedard, who started his major league career with the Baltimore Orioles.
"He's a guy who has shown he can pitch in the American League East. First half of the year before he tweaked that knee he was pretty solid," Francona said. "His stuff was good. We're excited."
Francona said he would talk to Bedard before lining up his rotation for the coming week.
"I know that (general manager) Theo (Epstein) talked to him and he sounded like he was excited. We'll kind of build him back up," Francona said. "He just came off the DL Friday. We'll build him back up and get him in there."
Bedard, who is 4-7 in 16 starts with a 3.45 ERA this season for the Mariners, wasn't so good against an AL East team on Friday when he faced Tampa.
He showed the effects of his 32-day layoff after going on DL with a sprained left knee. He threw 57 pitches in just 1 1-3 innings and was tagged for five runs and three hits, walking four and striking out two.
AL East-leading Boston was in need of a starter to help shore up its rotation with Daisuke Matsuzaka out for the season and Buchholz still on the disabled list.
"We talked with a few other clubs but in the end we thought this was the one that made sense," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said.
The Mariners sent Baltimore five players for Bedard before the 2008 season but he has been a bust because of injuries.
Bedard was 15-14 with a 3.31 ERA in 46 appearances with the Mariners. He missed most of the 2009 season and all of 2010 after left shoulder surgery. He was 4-7 with a 3.65 ERA in 16 starts this season but spent most of July on the disabled list (knee).
He was 40-34 in five seasons with the Orioles, going 15-11 with a 3.76 ERA in 2006 and 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA the following season.
Fields, 25, the 20th player taken in the 2008 draft out of Georgia, was 2-1 with a 2.77 ERA for Double-A Jackson and 0-0 with a 6.23 ERA in nine games for Triple-A Tacoma.
"We've been talking Chiang for a while. Robinson came in a couple hours (before the deadline) as we discussed it," Zduriencik said. "He was the guy we settled on."
The Mariners have been struggling offensively -- the Mariners designated Jack Cust for assignment Friday -- and both 23-year-old prospects have power potential.
Robinson is hitting .293 with 26 home runs and 71 RBI for Triple-A Albuquerque.
"He'll go to Tacoma and we'll watch him there," said Zduriencik, when asked if Robinson was close to a promotion. "We'll see what happens."
Chiang is hitting .338 with 36 doubles, 18 home runs and 76 RBI in 87 games for Double-A Portland.
SI's Jon Heyman, a frequent guest of Gresh & Zolak on 98.5 The Sports Hub, first reported that Bedard was traded.
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