Red Sox get pitchers Porcello, Miley, Masterson; Cespedes to Tigers
— -- SAN DIEGO -- In a flurry of moves late Wednesday and early Thursday, the Boston Red Sox added three starting pitchers as they attempt to fill the rotation void left when Jon Lester decided to sign with the Cubs.
The Red Sox acquired lefty Wade Miley and right-hander Rick Porcello in trades and reached an agreement with free-agent southpaw Justin Masterson.
In acquiring the 25-year-old Porcello from the Tigers early Thursday, the Red Sox sent outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, pitcher Alex Wilson and minor league pitcher Gabe Speier to Detroit, sources said. That move was preceded by the team acquiring Miley, 28, from the Arizona Diamondbacks for pitchers Rubby De La Rosa and Allen Webster on Wednesday night.
Shortly after the Porcello move, the Red Sox reached agreement with the 29-year-old Masterson, sources told ESPN's Buster Olney.
The Red Sox came into the winter meetings with a need for at least two starters to add to their rotation. Despite adding three, they might not be done. Their biggest need was replacing Lester with an ace-caliber starter, a need they have yet to fill. Neither Porcello, Miley, nor Masterson projects as a top-of-the-rotation ace. Boston is still likely to be on the hunt for a No. 1, whether it be on the free-agent market ( Max Scherzer, James Shields) or on the trade front.
On Wednesday, Red Sox manager John Farrell said the team was placing a premium on acquiring durable starters capable of throwing 200 innings in the season. Between them, Porcello, Miley and Masterson have thrown 200 innings in a season five times.
Porcello is coming off the best season of his career, going 15-13 with a 3.43 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 204.2 innings for the Tigers in 2014. In six seasons with Detroit, the 25-year-old right-hander won 76 games and had a 4.30 ERA.
Miley is not a hard thrower -- his fastball sits at 91 miles per hour -- and threw his slider last season much more (25.8 percent) than he did in his first two seasons in the rotation. His effectiveness is a product of his control -- although his numbers have risen from 1.71 walks per nine innings in 2012 to 3.35 walks last season -- and an ability to induce ground balls (1.81 ground-ball to fly-ball ratio).
His earned run average also has climbed in each of his first three seasons, to 4.34 last season, when he went 8-12, although his fielding independent percentage remained the same (3.98) in each of the last two seasons. His strikeout rate also climbed to a career-best 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
Masterson had a difficult 2014 campaign, struggling with a knee injury that landed him on the disabled list with the Cleveland Indians and later in the season was relegated to the bullpen by the St. Louis Cardinals, who acquired him in a trade-deadline move.
Masterson finished 7-9 with a 5.88 ERA last season between the two clubs and was 3-3 with a 7.04 ERA with St. Louis after the trade. He opened last season as the ace of the Indians, following an All-Star season in 2013 when he went 14-10 with a 3.45 ERA.
Cespedes, who was traded from the Oakland Athletics to Boston at the deadline last season, will add some punch to a Tigers lineup that is anchored by two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera. The 29-year-old Cespedes, an AL All-Star selection last season, hit a combined 22 homers and drove in 100 runs for both teams last season. Cespedes has a .263 career batting average with 71 homers and 262 RBIs in his three major league seasons.
Both Cespedes and Porcello are slated to be free agents after the 2015 season.
The Red Sox were dealing from a position of strength in trading Cespedes, whom they acquired for Lester this past July. The Sox have a glut of outfielders, especially after signing Hanley Ramirez to be their left fielder earlier in the offseason.
The Tigers had added former New York Yankees pitcher Shane Greene to their rotation this offseason in a three-way trade with New York and the Diamondbacks.
