The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles completed a four-player trade Saturday night.
The Red Sox acquired infielder/outfielder Jemile Weeks and minor league infielder Ivan De Jesus Jr. from the Orioles in exchange for infielder/outfielder Kelly Johnson and minor league third baseman Michael Almanzar.
Weeks, a first-round draft pick (12th overall) in 2008, once was a highly regarded prospect in the Oakland Athletics organization. He was traded to the Orioles back in December in the deal that sent then-closer Jim Johnson to the A’s.
Weeks hasn’t lived up to the lofty expectations, hitting .259 with four homers, 56 RBIs and a .319 on-base percentage in 226 career regular-season games over parts of four seasons. The 27-year-old, who has spent the majority of 2014 with Triple-A Norfolk, does bring some speed, though, evidenced by his 38 career steals.
De Jesus’ name might sound familiar to Red Sox fans because he’s already been involved in two major swaps. De Jesus was acquired by Boston in the August 2012 blockbuster that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and Nick Punto to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 27-year-old then was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the deal that put Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt in Red Sox uniforms.
Johnson, meanwhile, will join his fifth and final American League East team. The 32-year-old journeyman was acquired from the New York Yankees just before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline in exchange for shortstop Stephen Drew. Johnson appeared in 10 games with Boston, hitting .160 (4-for-25).
Almanzar was selected by the Orioles from the Red Sox over the offseason in the Rule 5 draft. He was returned to the Red Sox on July 1 after playing nine games in the Orioles system. Almanzar, originally signed by the Red Sox as an international free agent in 2007, hit .277 with five homers and 25 RBIs in 49 games this season with Double-A Portland.
Photo via Twitter/@excelsm
