Boston Red Sox Trade: Mark Melancon for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland

The Boston offseason restructuring took a dramatic step forward Wednesday as the Red Sox shipped infielder Jed Lowrie and pitcher Kyle Weiland to the Houston Astros for their closer Mark Melancon. 

Melancon is as of now the Boston Red Sox closer. The potential still exists that Melancon could end up a setup man should the Red Sox decide to trade for A's closer Andrew Bailey, but that seems a bit less likely now that the Red Sox have parted with Lowrie, one of their more expendable trade pieces. 

Who is Mark Melancon? Melancon was a ninth-round draft pick of the New York Yankees in the 2006 amateur draft. He is 26 years old and throws right handed. Last season was his first as a closer. He saved 20 games which isn't really an impressive number, but on the Astros it's not as if there were a lot of games to save with their 56-106 final record. 

Melancon had a breakout campaign 2011. His earned run average was a very respectable 2.78, and his WHIP was a bit less impressive at 1.224. Melancon can throw gas—he had 66 strikeouts in 74 1/3 innings pitched. These numbers pale in comparison to the numbers posted by Jonathan Papelbon, but Melancon isn't a free agent until the 2017 season. He will make only $421,000 in 2012. 

The Red Sox are clearly banking on Melancon continuing to improve. His low salary also leaves the Red Sox with plenty of flexibility to go out and get an insurance policy. It would be premature to count them out of the Ryan Madson sweepstakes or the Andrew Bailey trade talks.

The Red Sox part ways with Jed Lowrie, a long-time infield prospect who has shown flashes of real promise with his bat and maddening inconsistency with his glove. Lowrie has also had a number of injuries that have cropped up at precisely the wrong times.

Lowrie is only 27, and he's yet to have a full season of consistent play at a stable position. He'll likely get that chance in Houston, and if he stays healthy he could be a solid contributor.

Kyle Weiland would have had a difficult time regaining the trust of the Boston fan base after last season's miserable ending. In his defense, he probably wasn't ready to be thrust into the fire while the Red Sox stumbled to a disastrous finish.

The 25-year-old righty was terrible in seven appearances last season. He had an ERA of 7.66 and a WHIP of 1.662. Those are bad numbers, but it was also a very small sample size of only 24 2/3 innings pitched. That being said, with a career minor league ERA of 3.51 over 449 1/3 innings, the Red Sox may very well feel that his major league ceiling is fairly low.

This looks to be a low-risk deal for Boston, which acquires a low-cost option at closer while also clearing roster space from the logjam in the infield.