Why Red Sox Traded Brandon Workman, Heath Hembree So Far Ahead Of Trade Deadline

The Boston Red Sox held two quality trade pieces in Brandon Workman and Heath Hembree. And in what otherwise would be an uncustomary move, Boston moved both of them 10 days ahead of the trade deadline.

But, of course, everything about this season has been uncustomary.

The Red Sox sent the two relievers, as well as cash considerations or a player to be named later, to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night in exchange for righty pitchers Nick Pivetta and Connor Seabold.

So, why Friday? Why didn’t Chaim Bloom and Co. wait things out with the two relievers and see what else they could get?

Boston’s chief baseball officer explained why shortly after the deal went down.

“The timing of trades is not always something that you can foresee,” Bloom said over Zoom. “Philly came hard after these two pitchers and they really wanted to complete something. And anytime you have a situation where you know you’ve got some time before the trade deadline, you’re not just looking at the trade in a vacuum. You’re also trying to think about what’re the options that you could have between now and the deadline. And obviously that’s something we have to weigh.

“But we felt that this return was a really good fit for us, that we got two pitchers that not only fit an area of a need but are also players we like that can be part of this thing for many years. I thought that was worth doing right now.”

Both Pivetta and Seabold now will report to Boston’s alternate spring training site.