Wednesday, 26 December 2012 13:04

Written by Michael Sanserino

The trade that will send Joel Hanrhan to the Boston Red Sox for four young players has been completed.

The Pirates will send Joel Hanrahan and infielder Brock Holt to the Red Sox for outfielder/first baseman Jerry Sands, right-handed pitchers Stolmy Pimentel and Mark Melancon and infielder Ivan DeJesus Jr., the Pirates announced this afternoon.

The two teams agreed to the framework of the trade Saturday.

Hanrahan, 31, joined the Pirates in a 2009 trade that sent pitcher Sean Burnett and outfielder Nyjer Morgan to the Washington Nationals. He became the closer in 2010 after the Pirates traded Octavio Dotel at the trade deadline.

He had a 2.94 ERA in four seasons with the Pirates.

Holt, 24, made his major league debut with the Pirates last season, hitting .292 in 24 games after being called up in September. Holt provided a spark for the Pirates, who dwindled toward the end of the season, and his name had not been publicly mentioned in trade talks until today.

Sands, 25, has spent most of his career in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor-league organization, where he hit .289 hitter over five seasons. He has appeared in 70 games in the major leagues, where he has a .244 batting average.

Pimentel, 22, spent all 2012 and most of 2011 pitching in Class AA, where he went 6-16 with a 5.96 ERA.

The 27-year-old Melancon is a former top prospect in the Yankees system who has made 147 major league appearances. He has a career 4.07 ERA in four major league seasons.

DeJesus, 25, is a former second-round draft pick who has a .205 career major league batting average in 48 games.

DeJesus and Sands were acquired by the Red Sox in a trade that sent Adrian Golzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Sands, Melancon and Pimentel have been added to the Pirates 40-man roster, and the team will have to make one corresponding move later today.

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I was a bit surprised to see Holt as a part of this package. Perhaps that's a bit indicative of Hanrahan's trade value and the interest the Pirates have in the package of players coming from the Red Sox. 

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UPDATE:

Here is what Neal Huntington had to say about the deal.

"We felt like this was a good baseball trade that brings us back guys that we like, guys that can make an immediate impact on our club as well as free up some resources to do some other things."

"We've had a number of dialogues on a number of fronts for quite awhile, and we eventually got to a point in time where both teams felt good about the deal, and we made it."

“We gave up two very good players in Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt,” Huntington said. “Brock’s a very good baseball player – he’s a tough out. He's a gamer. He was somebody Boston came after, and we reluctantly put him in the deal.”

On the criticism the team has faced for dealing Hanrahan...
“There’s a lot of reminders for us in Mark Melancon of the player that we acquired in Joel Hanrahan. I'm not saying that Mark’s going to become Joel, but sometimes we get caught up in what we’ve done today and not necessarily take a look in how we’ve gotten there.”

On Jason Grilli as the team's closer...
"As Clint and I have talked, it will be Jason Grilli's job to keep." 

On how Brock Holt figured into the future of the team:
"We are looking at having Neil Walker as our second baseman for years to come." 

On finalizing the Francisco Liriano deal...
"We are still working through the process, and nothing to officiallt comment at this time."

Huntington referred to the team's prepared statement in evaluating the players the Pirates will receive. Here are those quotes...

Mark Melancon
“Mark Melancon has been a quality major league reliever with closing experience who displays key subjective and objective indicators as a candidate to bounce back from a challenging 2012 season. Similar to when we acquired Joel Hanrahan, our scouts saw a quality pitch package that was not accurately reflected by his present level of performance. Mark will be a solid addition to our bullpen.”

Jerry Sands
“Jerry Sands has impressed our scouts with his well-rounded tools package, highlighted by his ability to command the strike zone as a hitter and drive the ball for extra base hit potential. Additionally, his defensive versatility will increase his opportunity to contribute to our major league club in the near term as well as in the years to come.”

Stolmy Pimentel
“Stolmy Pimentel is a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher with a quality pitch package as well as several other traits of major league starting pitchers. We believe we can help Stolmy reach his potential as a quality major league pitcher.”

Ivan DeJesus
“Ivan DeJesus is a versatile and reliable defender who can handle the bat and will compete to make our major league club in an extra infielder role."