Hanrahan traded to Red Sox

[DJBeasties]

Melancon strikes me as a NL pitcher because he has all the right supporting data but he sucked in the AL. April, July and August were all brutal.

Hanrahan better get his walk rate down or it will be messy.

[Moonlight J]

I agree. Doesn't Hanrahan have one year left on his contract? Pretty sure he does. I just don't get this trade for the Red Sox at all. The Pirates did very well.

yes, he's one and done as the Red Sox would be insane to give him a qualifying offer

[revo]

Really? I hope you're right. I'm a big fan of Hanrahan and i am finding it difficult to get excited over this deal right now. Maybe when/if Sands and Melancon put up some good numbers for the Pirates, i'll be convinced. I was hoping Franklin Morales would be one of the players coming to the Pirates, but i guess the Red Sox still have plans for him.

Hanrahan seems like he's been all over the statistical map the last few years:

2010 - 12.9 K/9, 3.4 BB/9
2011 - 8.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9
2012 - 10.1 K/9, 5.4 BB/9

His HR/9 also shot up to 1.2 in '12, as he gave up more long balls than in '10 & '11 combined.

I know Sands has done little at the MLB level, but his minor league numbers are tremendous and he's still just 24.

Melancon had similar numbers to Hanrahan during his time in Houston. Maybe the AL East freaked him out and he'll revert to form.

Not sure about Pimentel or DeJesus, but if Sands can deliver at the MLB level, it seems like this trade will be a winner for PIT.

[madducks]

So, who closes for Boston, now?

from Rotoworld:

Red Sox assistant general manager Brian O'Halloran said Wednesday that manager John Farrell wants Joel Hanrahan to be the closer.

Source: Evan Drellich on Twitter
Dec 26 - 3:09 PM

[popeye]

from Rotoworld:

Red Sox assistant general manager Brian O'Halloran said Wednesday that manager John Farrell wants Joel Hanrahan to be the closer.

Source: Evan Drellich on Twitter
Dec 26 - 3:09 PM

Thanks.

[Moonlight J]

Hanrahan seems like he's been all over the statistical map the last few years:

2010 - 12.9 K/9, 3.4 BB/9
2011 - 8.0 K/9, 2.1 BB/9
2012 - 10.1 K/9, 5.4 BB/9

His HR/9 also shot up to 1.2 in '12, as he gave up more long balls than in '10 & '11 combined.

I know Sands has done little at the MLB level, but his minor league numbers are tremendous and he's still just 24.

Melancon had similar numbers to Hanrahan during his time in Houston. Maybe the AL East freaked him out and he'll revert to form.

Not sure about Pimentel or DeJesus, but if Sands can deliver at the MLB level, it seems like this trade will be a winner for PIT.

They took the money saved by giving Hanrahan $7M in 2013 and gave it to Liriano AND got 3 players for the 25 man roster in Melancon, DeJesus, and Melancon for cheap.

[joncarlos]

I like this deal for the Pirates. I don't love it. If you think the Porcello for Hanrahan deal was ever really on the table, even if the Pirates would have had to add in a B-level prospect like Victor Black or someone, then they should have done that. But I am not sure if that was ever really true.

Hanrahan is going to get PAID, and his surplus value is basically zero. The Pirates could have kept him and hoped someone got desperate in season, but if that didn't happen, they'd get nothing. He wasn't as good in 2012 as he was in 2011. He might be worse this season. Theoretically, Melancon is going to look just as good in PNC Park and they can turn around and flip him next off-season.

Sure, the Pirates didn't get a lot back. But maybe Jerry Sands is something. And by something, I mean, Gaby Sanchez. Wait, they already have him.

[BuckyBuckner]

Hanrahan said he was dealing with a hamstring injury last year that effected his delivery. So maybe he can get back to his earlier form. He walked a lot more batters last year than previous years and that can be explained by a change in delivery. I still don't see why they Sox made this move. It's not like he was the missing piece to a title run. They completely screwed their bullpen when they panicked over a month of work by Bard in September of 2011. Trying him out as a starter instead of making him the closer is still hurting the team.

[Moonlight J]

I wondered aloud of the Red Sox gave up the wrong guy

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/35880/red-sox-could-use-melancon-right-now

[chancellor]

I wondered aloud of the Red Sox gave up the wrong guy

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...ncon-right-now

Maybe. Or maybe Melancon can't handle the big city media pressure. Look how well AJ Burnett has done since escaping NY.