McAdam: Red Sox obtain Steve Pearce from Jays to provide RH bat

The Red Sox made a small deal that could end up providing them with good-sized dividends Thursday, obtaining veteran Steve Pearce and cash from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for shortstop prospect Santiago Espinal.

BSJ ANALYSIS

Pearce, 35, isn't a huge name and won't be an everyday player for the Red Sox. But he does address an obvious need for a team which has struggled most of the season against left-handed pitching. Pearce owns an .840 career OPS against lefties.

He can play corner outfield spots, some first base and DH. He's also played 33 games in his career at second, but none since 2016. He's also played a dozen games at third, but again, the Sox view him mostly as a left fielder, first baseman and DH.

Though they've been better of late, the Red Sox are just 12-9 against lefthanded pitching this season. Going into Thursday, they had a .726 OPS against lefties, compared to .811 against righties.

"We've been looking for a guy who can hit left-handed pitching,'' said Dave Dombrowski in announcing the deal, "even though we've done better in recent times. We've talked about adding one more guy we can put in the lineup against a tough lefthander. He's traditionally hit left-handed pitching very well. He's a threat to drive in runs, drive the ball out of the ballpark. We think he's a guy who can be a key cog for us against certain left-handed pitching. He can righthanders, too, but this is really the role we were looking for from him.''

Pearce could take some at-bats at first from Mitch Moreland at first, or, with J.D. Martinez in left and Andrew Benintendi replacing Jackie Bradley in center against lefties, could handle DH duties.

He also has a proven track record in the A.L. East, as this is his fifth team in the division. Before the Blue Jays, for whom he played last year and this, Pearce played briefly for the Yankees in 2012, the Rays in 2016 and three separate stints with the Orioles -- in 2012, 2013-2015 and again in 2016.

"That familiarity helps,'' said Dombrowski.

This season with the Jays, Pearce missed some time with an oblique injury, but was slashing .306/.358/.531 against lefties this year.

"He gives us an option against lefties,'' said manager Alex Cora. "He can come off the bench and pinch-hit. He's done that before. It's one more weapon that we have. We got better tonight. It's good to have him.''

Pearce is expected to join the Sox at some point this weekend. It's likely the Sox will return Tzu-Wei Lin to Pawtucket to make room for Pearce.

It's unknown how much the Sox are getting from the Jays. Pearce is due about $3.1 million for the remainder of the season, but the Sox, ever mindful of the final luxury tax threshold of $237 million -- they were at approximately $232 million before the deal -- would like to avoid going over that mark if possible.