From Yahoo!
The Boston Red Sox acquired the former first-round draft choice Thursday for left-handers Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez.
Hermida was the 11th overall pick in 2002 but has yet to fulfill his projected potential. He was among Florida’s best-paid players this year at $2.25 million but hit only .259 with 13 home runs and 47 RBIs in 129 games.
“When you acquire a player, sometimes you acquire them because you think there’s a chance that with a change of scenery they’ll reach their potential,” Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said. “Things never really came together for him in the big leagues. That’s not uncommon for young players. He’s about to turn 26, coming into his prime. …
“It may not happen; it may not happen with us,” Epstein added. “Certainly we liked him a lot as an amateur and throughout his minor league career, so from those factors it was a reasonable deal.”
Hermida appears destined to replace Rocco Baldelli as the back-up outfielder, but Extra Bases has a more detailed quote from Theo that shows the Red Sox think Hermida could be ready to bust out and be an everyday contributor:
“Hermida is a player who hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet. We acquired him today for a reasonable cost to see if he might be able to fulfill that potential with us. He’s somebody who has positive indicators that future performance might be better than his past performance. His minor-league track record, his age, his draft pedigree, our scouting reports over the year indicate there’s a chance that he can turn into the player he was once thought to be.”
Over the Monster pulled some quick stats and Hermida’s stats are dropping, not rising, so it will be interesting to see how thia ll plays out. Some are wondering if Hermida will be Jason Bay’s replacement in left field. Personally, I think that’s cray talk. Theo and the Sox know they need to do better than that this offseason.
What might be closer to the truth is that Hermida simply gives the Red Sox depth in the outfield and some insurance in case disaster strikes and both Bay and Holliday demand 8 years and $200 million this winter.
Bobby Abreu re-signed with the Angels and he was the best Free Agent option after Bay and Holliday, so the Red Sox are covering their butts.
Bottom Line: At 26, Hermida could blossom into a nice player and take over for Drew in right when his contract is up. Like Epstein said, his pedigree is high and he had a solid 2007 season (.296 BA, .870, 18 HR, 63 RBI). I like this move.
