Phillies Acquire Clay Buchholz from Red Sox

The Phillies have made a move that is rather surprising.   According to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports, the Phillies have acquired starting pitcher Clay Buchholz from the Boston Red Sox.    In return, the Red Sox get minor league second baseman Josh Tobias.

Buchholz is in on the final year of his deal with the Red Sox.  The Red Sox exercised a $13.5 million option on Buchholz at the conclusion of the 2016 season. The 2016 season was a tale of two seasons for Buchholz.

In the first half of the season, Buchholz pitched to an atrocious 5.91 earned run average.  Yet, down the stretch, Buchholz seemed to get it together. Rob Bradford of WEEI pointed out that in his last eight starts, Buchholz went 4-0 with a 2.98 earned run average.  In his last eight relief outings, Buchholz pitched to a 1.98 earned run average.

Tobias was a 10th round draft pick of the Phillies in the 2015 draft.  Tobias then went on to be the short season Williamsport Crosscutters MVP in 2015.  In 2016 with the Lakewood Blue Claws and Clearwater Threshers, Tobas combined to hit .291 combined.

It is unclear what the Phillies plan to do with Buchholz.  Perhaps the Phillies see Buchholz as a potential trade chip down the line.   With plenty of money to spend, the Phillies appear to be picking up assets on one-year deals that they can trade.  The same holds true for Howie Kendrick, Jeremy Hellickson, and whoever else the Phillies may acquire down the line.

The Marlins were previously reported to be interested in Buchholz, but perhaps they could not take on Buchholz's full salary.  The Phillies can certainly eat some of it down the line if they trade Buchholz.  The Phillies are going to pay all of the $13.5 million due to Buchholz.