The Red Sox continued to add veteran help to their roster when they traded two minor leaguers to the Arizona Diamondbacks for closer Brad Ziegler. The trade continued a brisk week of activity for the Red Sox and president Dave Drombowski as he also added infielders Aaron Hill and Michael Martinez in separate deals. The Sox have been beset by injuries lately and the deals replenish their big league roster even if they’ve traded a half dozen prospects in the pursuit of depth.

Why the Red Sox make this deal

Craig Kimbrel went down on with discomfort in his left knee. He’s had an MRI, but at the very least he will not be able to close any games until after the all-star break. The Red Sox do have former closer Koji Uehara, but the loss of Kimbrel coupled with the losses of Carson Smith (out for the season with Tommy John surgery) and Junichi Tazawa is also out with shoulder soreness. So, they felt they needed to add some experience at the end of their bullpen to help get them through.

The fact that Ziegler is a submarine style pitcher also probably came into play. Sometimes you have to think in terms of putting several relievers together and think of what it would be like to face that during a game. If you give an opposing team numerous looks and styles during a game it will keep them off-balance. Ziegler doesn’t throw hard, but he is a master at keeping hitters off-balance. Couple him with Uehara and Kimbrel at the end of a game and you have an effective trio come playoff time.

Ziegler is 2-3 with a 2.82 ERA and 18 saves this season. Unless Kimbrel misses significant time, he will not get more than a handful of save opportunities, but he has been a setup man for most of his career, so it should be a role he is comfortable with. Since the pen has been one of the Red Sox weaknesses all season, adding Ziegler could catapult them back into contention for the division title.

Why the Dbacks make this trade

 The deal wasn’t surprising from the Red Sox perspective. Teams in contention love to add middle relievers and setup guys to bolster their chances down the stretch. It is more surprising from the Dbacks perspective. It means they are essentially giving up on the season. It should be interesting to see what else they end up bartering out from here on out. It puts a bow on a season of disappointment for a team that hoped to be in contention for at least a wild card berth.

For Ziegler, the Dbacks get right-handed pitcher Jose Almonte and infielder Luis Basabe. Basabe ranked as the Red Sox’ eighth best prospect according to MLB.com. At 19 years old, he still has some developing to do, but scouts are impressed with his speed and outfield arm. He has been playing right field, but he can also play center field. Almonte did not register on the Red Sox top thirty, but he is only 20 years old and has made the uneasy transition to full season A ball this year with some success.

More importantly, the Dbacks took a position of strength (late inning relief) and parlayed it into two prospects with upside. Ziegler was due to be a free agent after the season and was also due to probably double his salary. They are shifting their late inning relief to Tyler Clippard (signed through 2017) and Daniel Hudson who will be a free agent after the season. There wasn’t going to be enough money lying around for all three of them.

What this deal means for you

The closer’s game is like a game of musical chairs. There are only 30 spots available and Brad Ziegler owners just lost a closer. The good news is that Daniel Hudson and Tyler Clippard should probably share the role down the stretch, so they both just became more valuable. I’m sure the Dbacks hope that Hudson will take the bull by the horns. He has more traditional closer stuff. If you don’t own either of those two and they are available in your league then you might want to take a look.