Red Sox trade Pedro Ciriaco to Padres for player to be named later

According to this most innocuous of tweets from Peter Gammons, Pedro Ciriaco has been traded to the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later.

Or a "prnbl." It's not entirely clear.

Ciriaco was designated for assignment when Will Middlebrooks was activated from the 15-day disabled list on Monday. While his Yankee-killing ways had provided a small source of fun and levity on a terrible 2012 team, his flaws had become far more noticeable when surrounded by a winning group. Almost impossibly poor plate discipline resulted in a batting line of .216/.293/.353, including a period where the shortstop barely saw two pitches per plate appearance. Throw in too many defensive gaffes for how little he's played, and the Sox were not exactly sorry to see him go.

Losing Ciriaco does not even fully commit the Red Sox to having Jose Iglesias as their utility infielder. Though there's little enough chance the slick-fielding shortstop with a suddenly productive bat sees the minors again anytime soon, even if injury left them needing another infield glove, Brock Holt is already on the 40-man roster, and if his performance in Pawtucket has been underwhelming, he's been coming around some in recent weeks.