MLB: Boston Lands Hermida
The Boston Red Sox became the first high profile team to make a move Thursday trading minor league prospects Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez for Florida Marlins outfielder Jeremy Hermida.
The enigmatic Hermida has long been considered a top prospect in the Marlins organization but has never seemed to live up to they hype he had coming out of high school when he was rated the second best outfield prospect in the high school ranks behind Jeff Francoeur. At the age of 25 the Sox think they are getting someone who still has several good years ahead of him and should thrive in the more hitter friendly Fenway Park.
Boston GM Theo Esptein seems to always be in search of outfield depth and the acquisitions of Mark Kotsay and Rocco Baldelli never quite panned out over the past couple of years. In Hermida the Sox are also getting a Plan B for left field in the event they fail to re-sign Jason Bay or lure Matt Holliday to come to Boston over the winter. Hermida is not in the same league as Holliday or Bay but he is a cheaper, albeit younger, option than that of the aforementioned players.
For the Marlins this simply amounts to another in a long line of salary dumps where they get a couple of prospects they like in return. Hermida made just over $2 million last season but is eligible for arbitration and will likely see a significant bump in salary for next season. He likely end up in the four to six million range but the Marlins are not interested in paying someone that much money who had a good chance at being the fourth outfielder in South Florida next season.
Hermida’s best season came in 2007 when he hit .296 with 18 homers and 63 RBIs in just 123 games. He is considered to be a guy with good pop in his bat that strikes out too much.
Jones posted a 9.24 ERA over 11 relief appearances in making his first trip to the bigs this season. Alvarez went 9-4 with a 2.26 ERA in 26 appearances, 12 of them starts, in the lower levels of the Red Sox farm system.
