Boston Lands Trade for Gonzalez
The Red Sox announced the addition of their newest trade acquisition Monday morning at Fenway Park in the face of the first base slugger Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez is a two time all star from the San Diego Padres.
The details of the trade bringing Gonzalez to Boston include sending three Minor League prospects to the Padres. At the top of the list is high-handed pitcher Casey Kelly, considered by many as Boston's number one prospect. Additionally the Red Sox will send first baseman Anthony Rizzo, outfielder Reymond Fuentes and a player to be named later to San Diego.
As the deal unfolded throughout the weekend, Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein and Gonzalez's agent, John Boggs were unable to reach an extension agreement by the Sunday afternoon deadline instituted by Major League Baseball. According to reports the Red Sox offered a six-year but the young all-star, playing in his prime, was looking for more years. For now extension discussions have been tabled. Gonzalez is under contract until the end of the 2011 season. Both the Red Sox and Manager Theo Epstein are confident an extension deal can be formulated before the 28-year-old becomes a free agent.
With the addition of Adrian Gonzalez to play first base in the upcoming season, Kevin Youkilis is expected to be moving across the diamond to his natural position at third base. Youkilis came up through the minors playing 168 games at the third base position and has said that he is more comfortable playing at third. This bodes well for Red Sox fans as Youkilis is a Gold Glove player at first.
Another outcome of the trade is that Boston is all but certain to completely pull out of their pursuit of former Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre. Beltre had an All-Star season with the Red Sox in 2010 after coming out of a disappointing season the year before.
While Kelly, Rizzo, and Fuentes could all make a huge impact on the Padres club in the future the Red Sox are looking for Gonzalez to make significant contributions to the team right from spring training as the BoSox look to once again make the post season after falling short to the Yankees and Rays. Gonzalez's big bat is expected to move right into the No. 3 spot in Boston's batting order.
In 2010, Gonzalez hit .298 with 31 HRs and 101 RBIs. In a career 858 Major League games he has hit .284 average with 168 homers and 525 RBIs.
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Article Tags:
red sox
,theo epstein
,adrian gonzalez
,san diego padres
,casey kelly
,anthony rizzo
,reymond fuentes
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