Sports Then and Now

Erik Bedard was 15-14 for the Mariners after being acquired from Baltimore in 2008.

After losing Rich Harden hours after seemingly trading for him, the Boston Red Sox did indeed make a deal for an arm. They acquired Seattle Mariners right hander Erik Bedard in a very confusing three team deal. Boston surrendered minor leaguers Chih-Hsien Chiang, Tim Federowicz, Juan Rodriguez and Stephen Fife to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Federowicz goes to the Seattle Mariners and  minor league outfielder Trayvon Robinson goes to Seattle.

Bedard allowed six runs to the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, a key start for his trade value. The Red Sox were in on Bedard along with the the New York Yankees it was reported. Bedard has a career ERA of 3.69 in Seattle and Baltimore. He was traded from the Orioles in 2008 for Adam Jones and George Sherrill. Bedard’s strikeout average per nine innings is also at 8.35.

The prospects that Boston gave up are not devastating or really big impact players. Federowicz has the best defense of any catcher in the Boston system and he is a marginal hitter. He probably has the best future of three players. He is hitting .275 this season with 7 home runs. They also trade away Stephen Fife, who lacks some fastball command and tends to let his pitches fall flat. With Portland last season he had an ERA of 4.75 but this season he has improved to 3.66. Likely a high end bullpen pitcher at best.

Chih Hsien Chiang was having a breakout season as the starting right fielder in Portland at 23 years old. He was previously a second baseman and has made many adjustments to playing the outfield but you see that mental mistake sometimes. He is a pure left handed hitter and has a decent power ceiling. He makes good contact but lacks a lot of discipline. He is hitting .338 this season with an OBP of .399.

And then Juan Rodriguez, widely speculated to be a fourth piece in a deal earlier in the week. The big right hander has been clocked at 97 miles per hour and he has a live arm with good movement. Attacks hitters in a very aggressive format but lacks any good off speed pitches. Iffy future as a major leaguer.

Also sent to Seattle is Dodgers prospect Trayvon Robinson. He looks like an ideal lead off hitter of the future with a good eye at the plate and makes good contact. Flashy center fielder with good speed. He has the pop in his bat to hit home runs in double digits. He can be an MLB starter as soon as next season.

Josh Fields was also shipped to Boston from Seattle. Fields will likely join the Pawtucket bullpen and will likely not make much of an impact. He has an ERA of 6.23 so far this season.

The Red Sox needed an arm with the future of Clay Buchholz’s 2011 campaign not looking good, so they accomplished a need. They also did not have to give up prospects like Will Middlebrooks or Ryan Lavarnway who they would have had to for Ubaldo Jimenez. The Mariners did pretty good in this deal as well in getting Robinson who can be an impact player for them very soon. I’m not quite sure what the Dodgers were doing in on this deal but they get a solid backup catcher prospect. Bedard pitched on Friday so we could very well see him pitch for Boston in their upcoming series against the Yankees.

Also, Fife, Federowicz and Chiang would have been Rule 5 draft eligible so there was not much room on the 40 man roster for them.