In December, Theo acquired Payton from the Padres with David Pauley, Ramon Vazquez, and cash in exchange for World Series hero Dave Roberts, who had been looking to land a spot in a starting lineup. Payton was unhappy in his reserve role with the Sox and was ultimately traded to the A’s for Chad Bradford in July. He had played in 54 of Boston’s 83 games, hitting .263 with five homers and 21 RBIs. He hit 13 home runs and had 42 RBIs in 275 at-bats with the A’s.