The New York Yankees stole the headlines yesterday when they capped off what was an already good bullpen when they added Zach Britton. Dave Dombrowski simply wasn’t just going to let Cashman’s move go unanswered. Former Yankee and most recently started for the Tampa Bay Rays, Nathan Eovaldi, has been traded to the Red Sox in exchange for minor league pitcher Jalen Beeks. With Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright on the shelf, trading for another starter made a lot of sense for Boston.
The Red Sox have already confirmed the move:
The #RedSox today acquired RHP Nathan Eovaldi from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league LHP Jalen Beeks.
— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 25, 2018
Eovaldi, 28, is having a decent year after a career-threatening Tommy John surgery. Eovaldi is currently 3-4 with a 4.26 ERA but his advanced numbers would show that he’s pitched much better. His 0.98 WHIP is excellent and has only walked just 8 batters in 57 total innings. Eovaldi also has 53 strikeouts as well. Eovaldi was scheduled to start against the Yankees but will now obviously be scratched.
I’m sure Dombrowski loves to throw salt in the wound of the Yankees considering they cut him to save a few pennies after not believing in him following the surgery. Eovaldi is a pure rental but a damn cheap one owed less than $2 million for the rest of the season. For a team like the Red Sox, they want to avoid crossing the highest luxury tax threshold so they don’t move down 10 spots in the draft.
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Boston gives up Jalen Beeks who was damn good in AAA but was beyond pathetic in two starts with the big league club. Beeks, 25, has a 12.79 ERA in Boston which probably made him expendable for at least this season. Beeks had a crazy strikeout rate in AAA punching out 117 batters in just 87.1 innings which makes this a fun get for the Rays. I’m sure Dave was willing to pay that cost after watching Drew Pomeranz suck again.
Personally, I love this move for the Sox. Eovaldi is going to start a playoff game for this team in a crucial spot. With Eddy Rodriguez down for the count, Eovaldi will probably start a game 4 of a series. Chris Sale is nails but David Price and Rick Porcello scare me to death. In a potential series with the Yankees, I can’t wait until Eovaldi shoves it down their throats in a big game.
