Red Sox deal Clay Buchholz to Phillies for minor leaguer
— -- BOSTON -- Clay Buchholz, the longest-tenured member of the Boston Red Sox pitching staff, has been traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league second baseman Josh Tobias, the teams announced Tuesday.
The Red Sox picked up their $13.5 million option on Buchholz's contract at the end of last season, but there was always a possibility he could be traded in the offseason. It became almost inevitable two weeks ago after the Red Sox completed a blockbuster trade for ace left-hander Chris Sale, giving Boston seven major league starting pitchers.
Although the Red Sox could have opted to trade lefty Drew Pomeranz -- and would have obtained a greater return for him by virtue of his lower salary and a contract that is controllable through 2018 -- multiple teams that spoke with president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski during and after the winter meetings suggested he strongly preferred to move Buchholz, who is eligible for free agency after this season. The Phillies agreed to pay his 2017 salary, which also decreased the prospect value the Red Sox received.
Buchholz spent 10 seasons with the Red Sox, and expectations for him were impossibly high from almost the day he was drafted with the compensatory first-round pick obtained when Pedro Martinez signed with the New York Mets. The bar was raised even higher on Sept. 1, 2007, when Buchholz no-hit the Baltimore Orioles at Fenway Park in only his second career start.
Dogged by injuries, Buchholz made frequent trips to the disabled list. He never pitched more than 189 1/3 innings in a season and averaged only 140 innings per season from 2010 to '16.
But Buchholz also outlasted high-profile starters Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester and John Lackey in Boston. He wound up going 81-61 with a 3.96 ERA in 206 appearances (188 starts). In six career postseason starts, Buchholz was 0-1 with a 4.25 ERA. Save for the no-hitter, Buchholz's crowning moment with the Red Sox was arguably grinding through a shoulder injury to pitch four innings in Game 4 of the 2013 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, a series the Red Sox won in six games.
Without Buchholz, Boston's rotation consists of Sale and David Price, reigning Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, Pomeranz, lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and knuckleballer Steven Wright. By subtracting Buchholz, the Red Sox also nearly offset the combined 2017 commitments for luxury tax purposes to newly acquired Sale, reliever Tyler Thornburg and first baseman Mitch Moreland, leaving them more likely to avoid going over the tax threshold for a third consecutive season.
Tobias, 24, hit .291 with 9 home runs and 69 RBIs last season in two stops in the Phillies' minor league system. He finished the season at Clearwater, Philadelphia's affiliate in the Class A Florida State League.
Buchholz joins a Phillies rotation led by 2011 American League Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson, who was 12-10 with a 3.71 ERA last season. The right-hander accepted the team's qualifying offer of $17.2 million earlier this offseason.
The rotation is also expected to include right-handers Jerad Eickhoff (11-14, 3.65 ERA in 2016) and Vince Velasquez (8-6, 4.12 ERA in '16).
Related Stories
ABC News Live