The next time Mike Piazza asks “Where’s Mota?”, you can tell him to get off at Kenmore Square. From the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman.
The list of names involved in the blockbuster deal between the Red Sox and Marlins grew longer before all was said and done, but the biggest and most important name of them all, Josh Beckett, officially switched sides and became a Red Sox last night.
The deal was complicated from the Red Sox™ point of view by Beckett™s right shoulder. But any issues were finally resolved a couple of hours before midnight, with the deal expanding from five to seven players.
In addition to Beckett and third baseman Mike Lowell, the Red Sox received 32-year-old right-hander Guillermo Mota (above, left), an effective reliever with a career batting average against of .231, along with a 3.61 ERA and 375 strikeouts in 464 innings since 1999.
The Red Sox still are sending along the original three prospects “ shortstop Hanley Ramirez, right-handers Anibal Sanchez and Jesus Delgado “ and added minor league pitcher Harvey Garcia, a righty.
On Wednesday, it was clear that the Red Sox had enough concerns that they were asking the Marlins to make the deal more palatable on their own end. One way to accomplish that was to have the Red Sox not accept all of Lowell™s $18 million remaining salary for the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The other way was to rework the names in the deal.
The Marlins, in serious cost-slashing mode, apparently wanted no part of paying any portion of salaries of players not on their roster. So, in order to sweeten the deal to the Red Sox™ liking, they added Mota.