Red Sox agree to trade for Joel Hanrahan

I just don't think any teams are going to give up to much value for a RP who is set to make 6-7 million and averaged over 5 BBs a game last year. Here is Busters blog this morning.

insider.espn.go.com/mlb/blog/_/name/olney_buster/id/8769110/grady-sizemore-joe-saunders-second-tier-free-agents-mlb


• The red flag that some other teams see in Joel Hanrahan was the significant increase in walks allowed last season. After surrendering 16 walks in 68.2 innings in 2011, Hanrahan walked 36 in 59.2 innings in 2012, and there is some concern among rival evaluators that the diminished control is a sign of an arm issue -- something that obviously would be explored if Pittsburg arranges a trade. The Pirates have indicated to other teams they are open to trading their closer.

It's hard to say if last year's high walk rate is a decline in control, or just statistical noise. He walked just a tad over 2 per nine innings the year before. It's hard to judge anything in 60-inning samples. His two-year peripherals and five-year peripherals run close enough to the same that I don't think it's fair to dismiss him because of a mediocre season. There's a solid chance that he's better than Bailey this year, and a very good chance that he's healthier.

The bigger issue I'd have with acquiring Hanrahan is the allocation of resources aspect. If the Red Sox were a bullpen upgrade away from being a championship contender, then sure, take a chance on him him. But the bullpen appears to be an area of real strength, at least on paper. The Red Sox have just have bigger holes, so unless the plan is to flip him to a team in need of a closer (Tigers or Brewers for example), using the resources they have to trade for Hanrahan just wouldn't make a ton of sense.

Part of his career line is skewed by him walking nearly seven guys per nine when he came up as a starter. Since '08 when he moved to the pen his walk rate is right at 4.0, which is below average but not at the level where a reliever can't sustain success with it if he does other things well. In Hanrahan's case, he's struck out over 10 per nine innings since moving to the pen. You can carry a high walk rate when you're getting that many swings and misses.

If I was running a team that needed a good reliever, he'd be on my list, but he just doesn't match what the Red Sox need.

True. Cherington surrendered Lowrie, Reddick, and Miles Head to obtain Melancon and Bailey.

I'd hate to see him surrender more talent to acquire Hanrahan, who not only walked too many guys, but also gave up his share of homers as well. Again, I'm not a huge FIP guy necessarily, but the last thing you want your closer to do is walk guys and/or be homerun prone - especially when he walks guys.

I read that the Pirates are looking at Iglesias, but at this point, I wouldn't even deal Iglesias for a rental like Hanrahan. Even if he had a good year, you wouldn't give him a qualifying offer as a closer, so he'd walk and Iglesias is under another team's control for six years.

I'm not even certain I'd deal him for Aceves. The thing about Aceves is that he would be very valuable in a constant sixth and 7th inning role - as opposed to how he was used last year.

I'd rather see the Sox give Bailey another shot at closer, and if he cannot come thru, Tazawa would merit a long look. And it's not out of the question that Melancon cannot be much better than he was last year. I think the Sox have better options that to spend talent/money on a cardiac closer. I've already seen Heathcliffe Slocumb and I even remember Mark Clear. All I can say is no thank you to Hanrahan.

Hypothetical: Jose Iglesias and miscellaneous parts for Hanrahan and Garrett Jones. Would you make that deal?

How much you want to bet he's heard that a few times from a drunk in the stands.

Why would the Pirates trade their closer and a first baseman who hit 27 hrs for a SS who maybe can't hit and miscellaneous parts?

Why would the Red Sox trade their SS of the future with 6-7 years of cheap control for one year of an above-average reliever and a 31-year-old role player who averaged sub-.800 OPS & 1.5 fWAR in the peak of his career?

add - I'm being argumentative, of course - the whole thing depends on what one thinks of Iglesias

Not sure I see the draw for Jones. 2013 will be his age 32 season and for the most part he's been the picture of mediocrity over his career. Would much rather see Logan Morrison, Smoak or someone who is young enough to have the chance to turn into something long term. 1B is lacking in the system, so if we're down to the Garrett Jones' of the world, that's a problem.

Wait just a minute.

As I understand it the only thing that we know is that the Sox and Pirates have talked about Hanrahan and an exchange while the Pirates are engaged similarly with other clubs. The Sox (maybe) have offered Aceves while the Pirates (maybe) covet Doubront ...which is not going to happen. Is there more substance to the story? Where does this Iglesias stuff come from?

Regardless, to me Iglesias is the perfect NL shortstop...Great fielder and what NL club cares what he hits within reason. I think "Iggy" and Aceves are extremely vulnerable in any proposed trade....the latter by virtue of attitude which the Sox have been aggressively addressing and the former by failure to show that he can be an every day AL shortstop..especially in the AL East.

Now Bailey is SUSPECT so it makes perfect sense for the Sox to copper their bets. Bailey, when healthy, has mostly pitched well. But what assurance do the Sox have that he will be healthy (and remain that way) and/or that his performance will be at least satisfactory? The Sox need an alternative as fallback or competition. I believe that they have termed their off-season quest to build "quality depth". Hanrahan fits that bill.

The tweet copied above that says the Pirates have targeted Iglesias.

I don't see it as a direct contradiction. There is certainly an inherent risk in building a bullpen as you described. However, as I see it, the best way to limit that risk is to ignore small sample variations, put some emphasis on durability, and (as you said) build a broad base of talent. If all else were equal, I'd prefer to have Hanrahan over Bailey, even though Bailey has the superior pure stuff.

My point (which I perhaps didn't explain very well, so your criticism is fair) isn't that the Red Sox shouldn't try to improve their bullpen. It's that the Red Sox have already done a fairly good job with their current bullpen construction, doing pretty much exactly what you said. They've built a broad base of talent, with Bailey, Uehara, Tazawa, Morales, Miller, Breslow, Melancon, and possibly Aceves at the major league level, with Wilson, Mortensen, Carpenter waiting in the wings. The marginal cost of making an improvement -- which might, because of the variance associated with relief pitcher, not turn into a short-term improvement at all -- would be better spent on one of the clear weaknesses of the team. To put it into more concrete terms, I'd be unhappy to see the Red Sox trade Iglesias to solidify the bullpen when the starting rotation and outfield need help.