Craig Breslow has made another trade. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan , the Red Sox are acquiring right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for prospect Nick Yorke.
The Red Sox later confirmed the deal and also announced that they had optioned Priester to Triple-A Worcester.
It’s an interesting move for Boston because Priester may not prove to be a big help right now, but he is a promising young pitcher that the organization has been lacking.
Priester, 23, has appeared in 20 major-league games over the past two seasons, including 10 this year (six starts, four relief appearances). He has struggled at the big-league level, though, posting a 2-6 record this season with a 5.04 ERA and 1.46 WHIP.
Priester, however, was ranked as a top-100 prospect in all of baseball as recently as last year before graduating out of prospect status. He has put up good numbers with Triple-A Indianapolis this season, going 3-1 in seven starts with a 3.21 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.
Breslow has been open about the fact that the Red Sox have depth when it comes to hitting prospects, but were thin on pitching prospects. This trade helps address that imbalance while landing Boston a pitcher who, at the very least, is close to big-league ready despite his struggles in Pittsburgh.
Yorke, 22, had been considered one of Boston’s top prospects in recent years, but had slipped a little in some organizational rankings – SoxProspects.com most recently had him 12th. He was hitting well since moving up to Triple-A Worcester in early June, though, batting .310 with six home runs, 19 RBIs and an .898 OPS in 38 games (169 plate appearances) while splitting time between second base and left field.
The trade comes on the heals of moves for starting pitcher James Paxton on Friday and catcher Danny Jansen on Saturday. We will see if Breslow has anything else in store before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline.
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