Red Sox Trade Mitch Moreland 1 Day Before Trade Deadline

The Boston Red Sox traded first baseman Mitch Moreland to the San Diego Padres, in exchange for minor league third baseman Hudson Potts and minor league outfielder Jeisson Rosario on Sunday, August 30th, 1 day before the August 31st trade deadline.

To make room for Potts and Rosario in the Club Player Pool, the Red Sox released infielder Marco Hernandez

Potts, 21, is ranked by MLB.com as the Padres’ No. 16 prospect. A right-handed hitter, he was selected by San Diego in the first round (24^th overall) of the 2016 June Draft out of Carroll Senior High School in Southlake, TX. In 423 minor league games, he has hit .256 (419-for-1,639) with 57 home runs, earning California League mid- and post-season All-Star honors in 2018 with High-A Lake Elsinore. Potts has made 331 starts at third base, as well as 25 at second base, 25 at shortstop, and five at first base. He spent most of the 2019 season with Double-A Amarillo.

Rosario, 20, is ranked by MLB.com as the Padres’ No. 19 prospect. A left-handed hitter, he was signed by the Padres as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2016. In 289 minor league games, he has hit .264 (278-for-1,053) with a .376 on-base percentage and 37 stolen bases. He spent the entire 2019 season with High-A Lake Elsinore, where he led High-A players in walks (87) and ranked ninth in on-base percentage (.372). Rosario has made 271 starts in center field, five in left field, and five in right field.

Moreland, 34, has appeared in 1,159 games with the Texas Rangers (2010-16) and Red Sox (2017-20), batting .253 (954-for-3,773) with 203 doubles, 174 home runs, 580 RBI, and 491 runs scored. A 2018 All-Star and 2016 Gold Glove Award winner at first base, he has hit .328 (22-for-67) with a 1.177 OPS in 22 games, leading the Red Sox in home runs (8) and RBI (21). Moreland earned the BoSox Club’s 2019 Man of the Year Award for contributions to the success of the Red Sox and for cooperation in community endeavors. One of the club’s most active members in the community, he was the team’s 2020 Jimmy Fund captain.

Moreland helped his teams reach the Postseason seven times, winning two AL pennants with the Rangers (2010, ’11) and the 2018 World Series with the Red Sox. In Game 4 of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium, he delivered a pinch-hit, three-run, two-out home run that cut the Red Sox deficit to one run, leading to the franchise’s largest comeback victory in Fall Classic history. He owns a .581 slugging percentage in World Series games and has hit more home runs from the No. 9 spot in the batting order (three) than any other player in Fall Classic history.

Hernandez, 27, has hit .265 (68-for-257) in 122 major league games, all with the Red Sox. Originally signed by the Cubs in July 2009, he was acquired by the Red Sox on December 15, 2014, to complete the July 30, 2014 trade of Felix Doubront. Hernandez missed most of the 2017 and 2018 seasons recovering from left shoulder surgery but worked his way back to the majors in 2019, earning the Comeback Player of the Year Award from the Boston Baseball Writers.