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Red Sox trade Brandon Jacobs to White Sox for Matt Thornton

The Red Sox have traded outfield prospect Brandon Jacobs to the White Sox for reliever Matt Thornton.

Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

The Red Sox have traded outfield prospect Brandon Jacobs to the Chlicago White Sox for left-handed relief pitcher Matt Thornton.

Thornton, 36, will try to fill the void left by Andrew Miller, who suffered a season-ending foot injury on July 6th. Thornton hasn't been great for the White Sox in 28 innings this year, holding a 3.86 ERA with somewhat worse peripherals, but he has a long history as a serviceable bullpen arm and should serve to keep innings away from some of the guys who really belong in Triple-A.

The big part of this is that the Red Sox surrendered relatively little in the deal. While there was some implication Thornton would come at a high price, Brandon Jacobs is not much of a hit to take. While he was an interesting prospect when first signed for $750,000 back in 2009, his performances since 2011 have left something to be desired. The prolific strikeout pace has caught up to him, and a resurgence in June was powered more by BABIP than anything else. Jacobs is certainly a toolsy prospect, but there's a long list of toolsy prospects who have amounted to very little in the history of the game.

All-in-all, this seems like the right deal for bullpen help. The Sox get a warm body--one who can provide decent innings and possibly even more if his decline is more of a slump. The White Sox get something back--albeit a lottery ticket prospect--for a left-handed reliever who is not really in the conversation for the best name on the market.

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