BoSox swap Middlebrooks for Hanigan

Dec 20, 2014 - 5:05 AM Boston, MA (SportsNetwork.com) - The Boston Red Sox and San Diego Padres have made a deal.

On Friday night, the BoSox formally announced the acquisition of catcher Ryan Hanigan in exchange for third baseman Will Middlebrooks.

The Padres picked up Hanigan from Tampa Bay as part of the 11-player deal consummated earlier on Friday that also landed them outfielder Wil Myers. However, San Diego had already added another catcher in Derek Norris from Oakland on Thursday to make Hanigan trade bait.

Middlebrooks became expendable in Boston after the Red Sox signed Pablo Sandoval as a free agent earlier this offseason. The Padres were reportedly also in the running for Sandoval.

Hanigan hit just .218 in 84 games last season, his first in Tampa Bay after playing the first seven years of his career in Cincinnati. The 34-year-old veteran, who has played more than 100 games in a season just once, is a career. 256 hitter with 25 homers and 172 RBI in 558 games.

Middlebrooks was projected to be Boston's future third baseman after a 2012 season in which he batted .288 with 15 homers and 54 RBI in 75 games as a rookie. He struggled in 2013, hitting .227 with 17 homers in 94 games, and last year hit just .191 in 63 games as he split time between Triple-A Pawtucket and Boston.