The Boston Red Sox fire sale continues. After trading a pair of relievers to the Phillies, Mitch Moreland is the next name who has been traded. The Sox starting first baseman has been traded to the San Diego Padres. The Pades send a pair of prospects that include Hudson Potts and Jeisson Rosario to Boston.
Dennis Lin of The Athletic was the first to report the details:
Moreland, 34, is having the year of his life in 2020. Which, I guess makes sense because 2020 is a weird year. Moreland is posting a batting line of .328/.430/.746. Moreland is playing out of his mind. Moreland has a 1.225 OPS vs. RHP this year. I promise you that’s not a typo.
Tommy Pham is already out for the season so San Diego needed another bat. I just didn’t think it would be a left handed hitting 1st baseman. That’s exactly who Eric Hosmer is. Moreland is a great defender at 1st too winning the gold glove in 2016. Hosmer is having a pretty good year but Moreland has been better. It creates an interesting locker room dynamic.
There is one thing that is clear. AJ Preller and the Padres are going for it. The Padres have a record of 20-15 and are just 5 games behind the LA Dodgers. Moreland gives this young team a veteran bat and postseason experience.
For Boston, Chaim Bloom did about as well as you can do. Moreland was on an expiring contract and was playing out of his mind. Bloom was able to net two top 20 prospects from a deep San Diego farm system. You have to be happy with that return. Now it’s a question of if those prospects pan out.
Hudson Potts, 21, ranks 16th in the Padres system. He has not reached the major league level yet but was a former first round pick in 2016. In 2019, Potts compiled a stat line of .240 avg., .302 OBP, .423 SLG, 17 HRs, 65 RBIs, 59 runs, 3 steals, 32 walks, 131 strikeouts (111 games, 421 at-bats).
Jeisson Rosario, 20, is ranked 19th in the system. The profile on Rosario is that he is an on base machine. He’s never completed a minor league season with an on base less than .368.
Time will tell if Boston picked the right prospects.
