"The Boston Red Sox's bullpen makeover continued on Wednesday, and unlike their Dec. 14 trade for 2011 closer Mark Melancon, this deal scored them their clear ninth-inning guy for 2012: Andrew Bailey.
According to ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney, the Red Sox acquired Bailey, along with outfielder Ryan Sweeney, from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for outfielder Josh Reddick and two Class A prospects: Third baseman Miles Head, 20, and right-hander Raul Alcantara, 19.
Bailey's fantasy value scarcely changes as a result of his move east, other than the obvious instinct that the Red Sox are more likely to win 90 games than the Athletics, meaning a better chance at nightly saves. But the right-hander's numbers didn't exactly suffer as a result of the Athletics winning only 47.3 percent of their games (230 of 486) during his time there; he saved 74 games, 15th-best in the majors, in his three seasons with the team. Pacing his performance per 162 team games, Bailey has averaged exactly 30 saves per season.
The problem, of course, is that Bailey has never actually reached that 30-save plateau in a single year, and it's because of what has been a checkered injury history, at least relative to your typical 27-year-old with three years' experience. Out of those 486 team games, for instance, Bailey has been on the active roster for only 404, having made a disabled-list trip for an intercostal strain in 2010, and another for a forearm strain that cost him the first two months of 2011. He's the kind of closer for whom the primary handcuff/setup man must be known, and that's why the name Melancon remains entirely relevant.
As things stand, the Red Sox's bullpen appears to line up Melancon-Daniel Bard-Bailey, though talk that Bard will be tried as a starter during spring training makes Melancon, at least as things currently stand, the smarter partner in American League-only or deep mixed leagues. One thing is for certain: The Red Sox's bullpen should be vastly improved should Bard and Melancon both reside in it; their relievers not named Jonathan Papelbon combined for a 3.77 ERA and 1.24 WHIP last season."
