Report: Red Sox Received Offer From NL Team to Facilitate Three-Way Trade for Chris Coghlan

by Ricky Doyle on Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 12:01PM

The Red Sox signed first baseman Lyle Overbay on Thursday, but it wasn’t before one National League team attempted to steer them in a different direction.

According to Peter Gammons, before signing Overbay, the Red Sox had an NL team offer to get them Chris Coghlan from the Marlins as part of a three-way trade.

Obviously, this news doesn’t mean a whole lot, as it’s unclear if those talks ever went anywhere or whether Coghlan is someone the Red Sox would be interested in pursuing even in the wake of signing Overbay. If nothing else, though, it shows that some team over in the Senior Circuit was trying to set Boston up to fail.

Coghlan, a former first-round pick of the Marlins, has been in a downward spiral since earning Rookie of the Year honors in 2009. The 27-year-old hit .140 with a .393 OPS in 93 at-bats last season before the Fish had enough of his woes and sent him down to Triple-A in June for the remainder of the season.

It should be noted that Coghlan has never played first base in his big league career, although he would have represented a potential left-handed bench option for the Red Sox. Overbay, on the other hand, fits both of those descriptions and doesn’t stink, which is always a plus.

Before signing Lyle Oberbay, Boston had an NL team offer toget them Chris Coghlan from Miami in 3-way. .850-.595 4-yr. OPS scary.

— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) February 1, 2013