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Red Sox trade for Mets' Addison Reed and get the bullpen help they need

Liz Roscher
Staff writer
New York Mets relief pitcher Addison Reed (43) throws to the Texas Rangers in the ninth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, June 7, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Addison Reed will be moving up I-95 from New York to Boston. (AP Photo)

The New York Mets are definitely not competing for a playoff spot this year, and continued to prove that by reportedly trading righty reliever Addison Reed to the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox are sending three minor leaguers to New York in exchange for Reed: Jamie Callahan, Gerson Bautista, and Stephen Nogosek. It’s a rare all-relief trade, as all three of the Red Sox players are relief pitchers.

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Addison Reed was traded to the Mets in August of 2015, and since then he’s been one of the best relievers in baseball. Since joining the Mets, he has a 2.05 ERA with 156 strikeouts and just 24 walks in 142 innings. He’s been closing for the Mets lately (he has 19 saves this year) but he’ll presumably take a set-up spot behind Boston’s current closer Craig Kimbrel.

All three minor league relievers that the Red Sox gave up are in their top-30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. Stephen Nogosek is the highest at No. 18, and he’s been pitching in High-A ball. Jamie Callahan is at No. 23, and he’s been struggling since his promotion to Triple-A in May. Gerson Bautista has struck out 53 batters in 45.1 innings in High-A, but he’s walked 28. It’s not a major return, but the Mets couldn’t really expect one for Reed. He’s been excellent, but he’s also a rental: his contract is up at the end of the 2017 season. The Red Sox will also be paying the remainder of Reed’s contract, which Ken Rosenthal estimates to be about $2.6 million.

So the Red Sox are getting a fantastic arm in Reed, and it couldn’t come at a better time. Boston experienced a first-class bullpen implosion on Sunday when reliever Matt Barnes gave up four runs on three hits, and gave away the game to the Kansas City Royals in the process. The Red Sox’s bullpen isn’t terrible, but it definitely needs help. Reliever Heath Hembree isn’t having the year the Red Sox hoped he would, and Joe Kelly (their former set-up man) is on the disabled list. Addison Reed could be just what the Red Sox need.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher