Jake Peavy is no stranger to being traded in July, as the reports that he is headed to San Francisco will make this the third time he has been traded the week of the deadline in the past five years. It appears Jon Heyman was the first to officially confirm the deal,
Peavy is going to giants
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 26, 2014
and Buster Olney later confirmed the return for the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox will get Giants prospects Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree in the deal, pending approval.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 26, 2014
The Red Sox will receive the San Francisco Giants number 2 and 11 ranked prospects per MLB.com’s rankings, and our number 3 and 12 Giants prospects from the pre-season. Those prospects are LHP Edwin Escobar and RHP Heath Hembree.
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Escobar has struggled in 20 starts for Triple-A Fresno this season, putting up an ERA of 5.11 and an opponent’s batting average of .287. He struggled each of his first three seasons in the minor leaues, but has had an ERA under 3.00 each of the past two seasons. He features a plus fastball and two above average off-speed pitches, a slider and change, while showing solid command of all three pitches. He is also the 75th ranked prospect on MLB.com’s list, one spot ahead of Trey Ball, which means he will probably slide in as the Red Sox seventh ranked prospect.
Hembree is a pure reliever and potential future closer candidate. His fastball can reach the upper 90s, but can sit as high as 95. He also has a wipeout slider that has helped him strike out 46 batters in less than 40 innings in Triple-A this season. His ERA is also high this year, 3.89, but is actually the lowest in three partial seasons in the Pacific Coast League.
Hembree appeared in nine games and put in eight innings in the big leagues last September, allowing just four hits and walking two, while striking out 12 and not allowing a single run.
In all, this is a pretty solid haul for a pitcher who has gone 15 consecutive starts without a win to his credit, mostly due to a lack of run support. Both pitchers can certainly help the Red Sox in the big leagues next year, if not this season, and are probably as much talent any Red Sox fan could have reasonably expected to receive in return for Peavy, even if the Red Sox have to eat a chunk of Peavy’s salary.