Sox acquire Littleton from Texas
So it might not exactly be the trade that everyone was anticipating with the Rangers -- though there's still time for Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Taylor Teagarden -- the Sox did make a trade with Texas today.
The Red Sox acquired righthanded pitcher Wes Littleton this afternoon from the Rangers for two players to be named later or cash considerations. The Sox have been high on his arm for a while, making him a candidate to make the Boston bullpen. But because Littleton is out of options, the return to the Rangers is not expected to be terribly high.
The 26-year-old sidearmer is 5-3 with three saves, a 3.69 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 102.1 innings over 80 career relief outings with Texas. He had a 6.00 ERA in 18 innings for the Rangers last season, spending most of the season at Triple A Oklahoma, where he went 7-1 with a 4.01 ERA and six saves in 44 games.
Littleton has limited righthanded opponents to a .236 batting average in his major league career. During 2006, his rookie season, he held righties to a .157 clip, fourth in the American League among pitchers with at least 30 appearances. That season, he went 2-1 with one save and a 1.73 ERA, the 10th-lowest mark in the AL among relievers with at least 30 appearances and fourth among major league rookies in that category.
He was 3-2 with two saves and a 4.31 ERA in 2007, establishing career highs games (35), innings (48.0) and strikeouts (24).
With the addition of Littleton, the Red Sox now have 38 players on their 40-man roster
Littleton's main claim to fame is earning a save with three scoreless innings in the Rangers' 30-3 victory over the Orioles on Aug. 22, 2007. He entered the game with a 14-3 lead.
Chad Finn of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Woo Hoo!!!
I love it when you guys trade with the Rangers. That Gagne deal worked out so well for us. Want to buy some swamp land too?
That's fine, but what's the deal with Boras and Tek? Only one year? Then he goes to the evil empire with pin stripes?
Help me out here...how does a pitcher earn a save entering the game with a 14-3 lead? Must be some scoring thing I'm not aware of.
Was this a misprint? Did Littleton enter the game with a 14-3 lead or was it 4-3. Since he qualified for a save, my guess is that it was 4-3.
I vaguely remember how ESPN made a big deal of that 30-3 game. Littleton's save just shows how absurd the save rule is; sometimes a mop-up duty can earn you a save. That does bring the question whether Red Sox needs such a mob-up pitcher; his stats really don't stand out and I wonder what they saw in him. A Chad Bradford? I can see he and Aardsma battle for the last roster spot in ST.
I really feel that Jarrod Saltalamacchia would be a perfect addition to the Red Sox. I have watched him play many times and he has that word " POTENTIAL " written all over him. If Jason stays with the Sox Jarrod would be learning from the best. He can handle pitchers pretty well now , but he will only get better. On the offensive side, the kid has unlimited power and would be a real offensive weapon at Fenway Park with the short left field. On the defensive side, He has a pretty strong arm and can cover a lot of space behind the plate with his size. I just think its the perfect situation for the Red Sox to grab him now before someone else does.
Man oh man, nothing like getting this Littleton guy for our team to whet your appetite for the coming of ST. Didn't Texas have just about the worst pitching in the league last year? And we traded for one of their pitchers? I don't think this is going to be a signifiacnt page to add to Epstein's scrapbook, but, then again, there is still some time before March when we can get down to brass tacks and get the reinforcements we need to maybe get back to the WS next year? It would be a dandy if we could do it.
If a pitcher comes in with the lead and pitches the last 3+ innings, no matter what the score was when he entered, he gets a save. I guess they figure protecting a 5-run lead for 3 innings is as good as protecting a 2-run lead for one inning. I don't think they had 11-run leads in mind when this rule was made.
You can earn a save for protecting any size lead while finishing the final 3 innings. Yes, it was 14-3 at the time Littleton came in. One other interesting side note from that game - Texas scored all 30 of its runs utilizing just 4 innings, the 4th, 6th, 8th & 9th!
How good can a pitcher be if Texas is willing to trade him for basically nothing...
That is Texas, the team with just about the weakest picthing in the league...
It wasn't a typo. A reliever earns a save, regardless of the score, if he pitches three or more innings (after coming in with the lead and maintaining that same lead) to close out the game. It's a bit of a "cheap" save, but it is still a save.
I really love the quality of comments we get here, thank god theo runs the sox and not you guys, the fact is the sox have the money to absorb "project" players such as this one at relatively little cost. If he bombs, it costs us a couple hundos, if he ends up doing well, then we have another steal of a quality pitcher for two little known prospects. Have a hard time seeing how this could be compared to trading for eric gagne.
Does anyone else find it a little strange when the Sox sign or trade for players with the same name as towns in Massachusetts? Wakefield, Lowell, Beckett, now Littleton, Bay (State)?
I've seen this guy pitch. He has nice action on the ball. He won't over power guys, but his movement is hard to track, a lot of ground balls. He's a project, but may fit nicely into the middle innings.
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