Andrew Bailey to Boston Red Sox: Winners and Losers in Big Deal with Oakland A's

The other shoe finally has dropped.  

The Boston Globe is reporting that the Boston Red Sox have acquired closer Andrew Bailey and OF Ryan Sweeney from the Oakland Athletics.

In exchange, the Red Sox will send OF Josh Reddick as well as first base prospect Miles Head and RHP prospect Raul Alcantara to Oakland.

Suffice to say, Red Sox Nation has collectively let loose a sigh of relief. The bullpen is finally starting to take form. While talks started early in the month of December, it was assumed when the Sox failed to acquire Gio Gonzalez last week that talks were dead regarding Bailey.  

On Dec. 7, I wrote how a trade like this could work around Josh Reddick, stating, "A player like Reddick would make perfect sense for Oakland's system."

And he does.

The beautiful thing about this trade is that both teams have come out better for having pulled the trigger.

In Boston, the Red Sox have finally acquired a solid closer with American League experience. The big righty is just 27 years old and will be under team control through 2015. In three seasons with the A's, he has posted a 7-10 record with a career 2.07 ERA and 0.954 WHIP.

He has 75 saves to his name as well.

Bailey's numbers against the AL East have been impressive. He is 2-0 with a 2.20 ERA and 1.022 WHIP in 45 games and 53.2 innings of work.

As for Ryan Sweeney, the Red Sox essentially retain the outfield depth they are giving up in Reddick. Sweeney is just 26 years old and posts a career batting line of .283 with a .342 OBP, .378 SLG and a .720 OPS.

The problem?

Sweeney has only played in more than 120 games once in his entire career. However, as a fourth outfielder he can be serviceable, and he is affordable.  

For the Oakland A's, they get younger and keep getting younger. It's the Billy Beane way.

By acquiring Reddick, the A's have gotten a right fielder that is two years younger than Sweeney and just had his best statistical season in the majors (.280 BA, .327 OBP, .457 SLG and .784 OPS). Let's not forget about the 14 games in May and June where Reddick had a .482 BA, .499 OBP, .704 SLG and a 1.203 OPS.

Reddick has upside, and with the playing time he will receive in Oakland, he very well may flourish.

In Head, the Red Sox gave up their 17th ranked prospect in the system. While in A-ball, the 20-year-old infielder was recognized as the 2010 Fall Instructional League Red Sox Top Hitter, South Atlantic League Player of the Week (May 30 - June 5, 2011) and was a 2011 South Atlantic League All-Star.

He is a career .299 hitter with a .372 OBP, .515 SLG and .887 OPS. His defense is projected as average-to-solid-average.

Alcantara, the third player headed to Oakland in the deal, is only 19 years old and is still an unproven commodity, not ranking in the Red Sox Top 20 prospects as of the trade. However, while in his two season in A-ball, Alcantara was named a 2010 Dominican Summer League All-Star and was the 2010 Red Sox Minor League Latin Program Pitcher of the Year.

Alcantara posts a 6-7 career record on the heels of a 3.42 ERA and 1.207 WHIP. More impressive than that, his K/9 ratio has increased with every level of A-ball he has played in, going from 5.07 in 2010 to 6.75 in the first half of 2011 and concluding with 7.27 in Single-A Lowell last year.

To sum it up, the Sox received the help they needed now, while the A's got the prospects to make things bright for their future. Basically, it worked out to be an even swap. In this trade, there are no winners or losers, only general managers doing right by their teams.