MLB News: Boston Red Sox Trade For Brad Ziegler From Arizona Diamondbacks

The Boston Red Sox continued make additions to their roster late Friday night by trading for Arizona Diamondbacks reliever Brad Ziegler, according to Sports Illustrated.

Ziegler’s acquisition comes a day after the Red Sox linked up with the Milwaukee Brewers to deal for third baseman Aaron Hill. Boston will send minor league pitcher Jose Almonte and minor league second baseman Luis Alejandro Basabe over to Arizona in exchange for Ziegler.

Red Sox President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski will hope Ziegler can fortify the bullpen, which has been depleted in recent weeks with the pitching staff as a whole struggling. Craig Kimbrel and Junichi Tazawa, the two best late-game relief arms for Boston, were both unavailable Friday with knee and shoulder problems respectively, and the bullpen has been inconsistent beyond them.

Koji Uehara may finally be slowing down at 41-years-old with an ERA approaching 5.00 this season, and presumptive setup man Carson Smith didn’t even throw a pitch this season due to an elbow injury. Ziegler should provide a nice boost to the unit by taking over some of those high-leverage innings in front of Kimbrel once the latter is healthy.

The 36-year old Ziegler has turned in a number of fine seasons in nine years in the Majors between the Diamondbacks and Oakland Athletics. Last season was one of Ziegler’s best in the big leagues, as he compiled a 1.85 ERA (3.44 FIP) with 30 saves as Arizona’s primary closer, according to FanGraphs.com.

Ziegler has been strong again this season with a 2.82 ERA (3.44 FIP) and 18 saves in 38.1 innings. While Ziegler doesn’t generate a lot of strikeouts, his sidearm delivery allows him to get some wicked movement on his sinkerball, and he generates groundballs at an incredible rate of 63 percent. That will play well in Boston, as the home run has been a problem for Uehara and other Boston relievers this season.

Almonte is a 20-year-old pitcher at the A-Ball level who has a 3.91 ERA (3.73 FIP) in 53 innings this season, according to FanGraphs.com. The new Diamondbacks prospect does have some interesting peripherals, as he’s done an excellent job of limiting home runs and reduced his walk rate from 13.7 percent last year to 5.9 percent this season.

Basabe has hit at every level he’s been at and could be an interesting piece for Arizona to keep an eye on. The 19-year-old has a 155 wRC+ in 271 plate appearances in A-Ball this year and has posted gaudy walk rates throughout his career, per FanGraphs.com.

Both are several years away from the Majors, and the Red Sox are clearly in win-now mode, so Dombrowski won’t mind parting with either prospect. Acquiring Hill, who will fill out a third base platoon with Travis Shaw, and Ziegler are two cheap moves that can help Boston keep up with the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays in a competitive AL East race.

Now that some of those small trades are out of the way, the next move from the Red Sox could be a major splash. Boston still has some holes to fill on the roster, and a deep farm system gives the team the resources to acquire any big name that becomes available.

The catching situation is unsettled in Boston, so Milwaukee’s Jonathan Lucroy stands out as a good fit. Boston will also be looking for any starting pitching help behind David Price, who has been shaky himself, so a blockbuster for Sonny Gray or Julio Teheran could be in the works.

It will be more interesting to see what the Diamondbacks do after trading Ziegler, as the move indicates they might sell. Arizona made a lot of expensive moves in the offseason to build an instant contender, but Shelby Miller’s implosion and A.J. Pollock’s preseason injury took away whatever playoff chances it had, and there are a lot of pieces on the roster that could fetch a huge return.

The Red Sox trade for Ziegler won’t move the needle much, but it’s a cheap enough move to bolster a struggling bullpen.

[Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images]