The Boston Red Sox acquired left-handed reliever Matt Thornton from the Chicago White Sox late Friday night. Earlier this week Boston lost LHP Andrew Miller for the season and the team acted quickly to fill the void.
“You don’t go into July hoping to trade for a reliever,” Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said in a conference call Friday night. “But we are what we are. We’ve had a lot of attrition in that area, and when Andrew went down, that probably increased our urgency.’
Baseball New Source targeted Thornton as a player on the Red Sox radar earlier this week. The White Sox get cash and minor-league outfielder Brandon Jacobs in the deal.
Thornton is in the last year of a two-year, $12 million contract extension. There is also a club option for 2014 for $6 million.
From 2008 to 2010, the hard throwing Thornton posted a 2.70 ERA (168 ERA+), 1.08 WHIP, 11.0 K/9, and 4.15 strikeout-to-walk ratio and made the All-Star team in 2010 and is pitching to a 3.86 ERA over 40 games and 28 innings in 2013. He has struck out 21 and walked 10.
