McAdam: Red Sox acquire Ian Kinsler from Angels for stretch run

For months, the Red Sox waited for Dustin Pedroia to return to their lineup at second base.

Late Monday night, they stopped waiting and traded for the closest thing to him, obtaining veteran second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for relievers Ty Buttrey and Williams Jerez.

The Red Sox will get some salary relief from the Angels, who will send the Red Sox $1.8 million to cover half of Kinsler's remaining $3.6 million salary obligations this year.

Kinsler is expected to become the Red Sox everyday second baseman and is due to join the Red Sox today.

"I can't tell you who will be in the lineup particular days,'' said president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, "but I think he's coming with the idea that he's going to be our regular second baseman, at least most of the time. That's the thought process here.''

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The deal is, first and foremost, an acknowledgment that Pedroia is highly unlikely to return to the field this season. He underwent major surgery on his left knee last October and after returning, briefly, for three games at the end of May, has been sidelined with inflammation in the knee, unable to make much progress. He was sent home to Arizona several weeks ago to rehab the injury, but is a long way from being cleared to return to baseball activities.

In the absence of Pedroia, the Sox had been deploying what had amounted to a platoon at second base with Brock Holt and Eduardo Nunez. But together, they hadn't provided much in the way of offense, with the Red Sox ranking near the bottom of all MLB teams for production at the position.

Nunez, in particular, was a liability defensively at the position, with one defensive metric ranking him dead last at the position among all second basemen.

By contrast, Kinsler, 36, by some defensive metrics, has been the second-best defender in MLB. He won the AL Gold Glove in 2016 and was a finalist for the award last season.

Offensively, he's hitting .239 with 13 homers in 91 games. But since May 29, he's hit .286 with an .866 OPS. In his last 13 games with the Angels, he's hit .417 (20-for-48) with a 1.137 OPS.

"We've been looking to try to upgrade our club any way we possibly can,'' said Dombrowski. "He's been playing extremely well for an extended time period. He's been hitting well. He's a winning-type player, he's a very good defensive player, still-good instincts. We think he makes us a better ballclub.''

By obtaining Kinsler, the Red Sox can shift Holt back to his usual utility role, and when Rafael Devers returns from the disabled list, Nunez will become a bench player as well.

Devers is on the 10-day DL with a hamstring strain suffered Saturday night, but Dombrowski said that wasn't the impetus for the deal.

"I know it looks that way,'' he said, ''but we just feel that every little thing can make a difference. Ian's really still a good defensive player, even though he's in his mid-30s. He moves really well at second base. We think it puts us in a solid position at second base. Basically, it's what we had hoped that earlier in the year that Dustin would be. Dustin, this year, we're just not sure he's coming back or if he does, it's going to be late and you can't really count on it once you get past July 31, so Ian's a really good player.''

This is the second time Dombrowski has traded for Kinsler. He obtained him in Detroit in exchange for Prince Fielder after the 2013 season.

"He's a good teammate,'' said Dombrowski. "I know a couple of guys here are excited (presumably J.D. Martinez, David Price and Mitch Moreland) that have known him from the past.

The Sox had had preliminary conversations with the Texas Rangers about third baseman Adrian Beltre over the last few days, but failed to make much progress in the talks. That deal is now dead with the acquisition of Kinsler.

Buttrey is considered a decent prospect, though at 25, he's older for someone who hasn't pitched in the big leagues before. He was ranked No. 19 in the Red Sox organization by MLB.com's Pipeline. Jerez, meanwhile, is thought of as a 4-A player who could bounce back and forth between Triple-A and the majors.