Boston Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino said on Friday he hoped to remain with the team after the trade deadline. Three days later he was sent to the West Coast.
The Los Angeles Angels acquired Victorino and cash considerations from the Red Sox in exchange for infielder Josh Rutledge on Monday, according to the Angels' Twitter account.
Victorino is owed $4.9 million the rest of the way as he finishes up his three-year, $39 million deal this season. The Red Sox will pay $3.8 million of that salary while the Angels pick up the remaining $1.1 million, according to Alex Speier of the Boston Globe.
Los Angeles fulfilled their need of a left-handed outfield bat (Victorino is a switch-hitter) after various trade rumors surfaced and suggested the team was after a number of players, such as Josh Reddick, Jay Bruce, Ben Zobrist, Gerardo Parra, Ben Revere, David Murphy and others.
Victorino has played in only 33 games this season due to back and calf injuries.
On the other hand, the Red Sox free up some space in the outfield for Rusney Castillo, who was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket after the deal, according to Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com.
While Victorino heads to the West Coast, right-hander reliever Tyler Clippard will come to the East Coast. The Oakland Athletics traded the veteran to the New York Mets on Monday, according to the Mets' Twitter account.
FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal reported the two sides were in talks for Clippard earlier today.
New York also received cash and shipped starting pitching prospect Casey Meisner to Oakland. Clippard will provide relief to the back end of the Mets' bullpen as he's primarily been the Athletics' closer this season due to the injury to Sean Doolittle. The right-hander owns a 2.79 ERA and 1.19 WHIP with 38 strikeouts and 17 saves in 37 games (38 2/3 innings).
Meisner will join Oakland's farm system, which ESPN Insider Keith Law thinks is a steal for the A's, as you can see below.
What the heck are the Mets doing?
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) July 27, 2015
Yep. And that didn't require giving up a legit prospect for 20 innings of a reliever. https://t.co/5sbWWOK0xe
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) July 27, 2015
For ten cents on the dollar? Surplus to you doesn't mean less value to others. https://t.co/lJ5em2kMvH
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) July 27, 2015
The 20-year-old was 10-4 with a 2.35 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 89 strikeouts in 18 starts (111 innings) between Class A Savannah and Class A Advanced St. Lucie this year.
This is the second trade orchestrated by Mets' general manager Sandy Alderson within the past few days and it doesn't appear he's done yet.
"A Mets official said Monday that if the club does acquire a reliever, it will have no impact on its continued pursuit of an outfielder," Anthony DiComo of MLB.com writes. "The Mets have been linked to plenty of them in recent weeks, from Cincinnati's Jay Bruce -- the Mets scouted him heavily over the weekend -- to Milwaukee's Gerardo Parra and San Diego's Will Venable."
Clippard will join Jeurys Familia, Bobby Parnell, Jenrry Mejia, Alex Torres and Sean Gilmartin in the Mets' bullpen.
