Mets Acquire Kelly Shoppach from Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox were looking for a way to make room for catching prospect Ryan Lavarnway and, apparently, the New York Mets were looking for a right-handed hitting catcher to help them walk down the NL Wild Card leaders. After all, they are only 9.5 games back. Whatever the motivation for the Mets, New York swung a deal with Boston to bring in catcher Kelly Shoppach. In return, Boston gets a player to be named later.

Shoppach, a free agent at season’s end, has produced a .798 OPS over 48 games for Boston this year, doing most of his damage versus left handed pitching. Lavarnway will step into that role in Shoppach’s stead while the now former Sox will split time with Josh Thole as New York’s backstop.

Neither the Mets nor the Red Sox have much hope for the playoffs. This deal makes a lot more sense for Boston, as they transition Lavarnway into a full-time big leaguer.

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John P arent is the Senior Director of Human Resources for the Fansided Network. He can be reached at john.parent@fansided.com or via Twitter @JohnJParent.