Red Sox Trade Clay Buchholz to Phillies

The Boston Red Sox announced Tuesday that they have traded right-handed pitcher Clay Buchholz to the Philadelphia Phillies. In return, Boston received minor league second baseman Josh Tobias.

Boston decided to exercise the $13.5 million option on Buchholz’s 2023 deal just after the end of the season. The club made the splashy move to trade for Chris Sale during the Winter Meetings, however, which suddenly meant they had a logjam in the rotation.

They were always going to trade one of their arms, and Buchholz turned out to be the odd man out. The Phillies agreed to pay his full salary for next season, which effectively forced Philadelphia to give up a lesser prospect in return.

Boston likely could have gotten more in return had they decided do deal left-hander Drew Pomeranz instead. Pomeranz is not making nearly as much money as Buchholz is due next season, and his contract is also controllable through the 2018 season. However, general manager Dave Dombrowski reportedly preferred to get rid of Buchholz because he will be a free agent following next season (quote via ESPN):

“When it came down to it, as we looked under all scenarios, the deal that made the most sense was dealing Clay. The others have some longer time with us as far as being with the organization. We have longer control over them. He’s in his last year, the dollar perspective. It was really our choice to pursue this one rather than some of the other guys.”

What are the Phils getting in Buchholz?

Buchholz bounced in and out of the Red Sox rotation all year in 2016. On the whole, he went 8-10 with a 4.78 ERA in over 139 innings of work. He was inserted into the rotation permanently in early September when knuckleballer Steven Wright was lost for the season with a shoulder problem.

Buchholz also started Game 3 of Boston’s American League Division Series showdown with the Cleveland Indians. He lasted just four innings and gave up two runs on six hits while striking out four.

Can he regain his old form?

He was better in the second half of the year than he was in the first half, and Phillies GM Matt Klentak says he called Boston about Buchholz back before the trade deadline. Philadelphia reportedly views Buchholz as a good bounce-back candidate, and there’s a strong possibility that he could rebound pitching in the National League for the first time.

Buchholz also has a history with Phils’ pitching coach Bob McClure, who had the same post with the Red Sox until 2012.

He had been Boston’s longest tenured starting pitcher. He was tabbed as one of the team’s top prospects after being drafted with a compensatory first round pick in 2005. He threw a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles back in 2007, though injuries and inconsistency kept him from ever reaching the bar that had been set for him during his time with the Red Sox.

Buchholz figures to join what looks on paper like a fairly solid starting rotation in Philadelphia. He will slot in somewhere between Aaron Nola, Vince Velasquez, Jeremy Hellickson and Jerad Eickhoff.

The 24-year-old Tobias slashed .279/.349/.400 with nine home runs across two levels of class-A ball in the Phillies’ organization last season.