On Monday afternoon the Boston Red Sox announced they had traded right fielder Shane Victorino to the L.A. Angels for infielder Josh Rutledge. The deal also included cash considerations being sent to the Angels with Victorino, which was originally reported by Yahoo!‘s Tim Brown, minutes before the Red Sox made the deal official.
Angels acquire Shane Victorino from Red Sox for Josh Rutledge
Victorino has struggled at the plate this year, but his defense will help the Angels’ outfield.
Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The announcement was rather sudden, without much indication that Victorino was even the subject of trade interest. Victorino was hitting .245/.324/.298 with the Red Sox this year, and had gone through a stint on the disabled list earlier this season. Victorino had been shelved since May 24 with a left calf strain until he was reactivated from the DL on July 3. He has been on the DL several times in the last few seasons, often with injuries to leg muscles, and has been limited to just 63 games combined in the last two years.
Since his return from the DL, Victorino has continued to struggle at the plate, going just 9-for-39 (.231) with no walks or extra-base hits. He has been worth 0.8 wins above replacement via Baseball-Reference largely because has been credited with five defensive runs saved this season. While his bat may have suffered, Victorino’s defense is just fine.
Victorino joins an Angels team that sits in first place in the American League West, and is fifth-best in all of baseball. In return for Victorino, Rutledge will join a last-place Red Sox team that just snapped an eight-game losing streak by taking 2-of-3 from the Tigers.
Rutledge was only in the Angels’ minor league system a short time after coming over from the Rockies last winter. He hit .274/.323/.403 in 78 games in Triple-A this year.
See More:
