Red Sox acquire Eric Filia from Seattle to complete Roenis Elias deal

This is old news for many at this point, but we’re catching up on things we missed and one of those things is the fact that the Red Sox added to their position player depth on Tuesday. If you’ll recall, earlier in the year Boston sent Roenis Elias back to Seattle for a player to be named later. Well, the player has been named. In exchange for the left-handed pitcher, the Red Sox will receive 25-year-old outfielder Eric Filia from the Mariners.

This is a more interesting piece than I ever expected to get for Elias, but don’t mistake that for Filia being a slam dunk or anything close to that. Still, there is real talent here and a legitimate track record of minor-league success. The former 20th round pick out of UCLA has been a professional for three years now, and while he’s only played one full season a trend is developing with his game. Judging by his numbers, he will not provide a ton of power, but he gets on base a ton thanks to great plate discipline (he’s walked more than he struck out at every level to date) and an ability to turn balls in play into hits.

Now, as I said he has only played one full season. Back in 2016 it was simply because he was drafted that summer. It’s tough to play a full season when you spent the first part of the year in college, ya know? Well, this season he missed the first 50 games after his second positive test for a drug of abuse. Now, as far as I can tell there’s no information of the drug for which he tested positive, and it should be mentioned that minor-league players can be suspended for smoking weed. Do with that information what you will. According to reports, the Filia was always going to be the player to be named later here, but the Red Sox wanted to see him play a bit this year before finishing the deal. Well, he’s hit .426/.508/.537 in 13 games at Double-A, which is good enough for the Red Sox.

I’d assume Filia will report to Portland, though it’s not impossible that the Red Sox send him right to Pawtucket. Boston could certainly use some more legitimate outfield depth in the high minors, so adding Filia to a group and seeing what sticks is not a bad move at all. The right-handed bat was the 11th ranked Mariners prospect on MLB Pipeline’s list heading into the season.