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Red Sox acquire Thornburg from Brewers

Tim Heitman / USA TODAY Sports

The Boston Red Sox broke the ice on Day 2 of the winter meetings, acquiring an off-the-board reliever in an already-slim closer market.

The Milwaukee Brewers announced the trade of closer Tyler Thornburg to the Red Sox.

In return, the Brewers get corner infielder Travis Shaw, minor-league shortstop Mauricio Dubon, a minor-league right-hander Josh Pennington, and a player to be named later, or cash.

With the move, it would appear the Red Sox are putting their faith in Pablo Sandoval to take over third-base duties. That being said, he's probably on a short leash, with Brock Holt and Yoan Moncada waiting in the wings.

The acquisition of Thornburg, the Brewers' best reliever, is a very subtle, but likely effective move by Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

In his fifth major-league season, Thornburg figured it out, owning a 2.15 ERA over 67 innings, striking out 90 in the process. If Boston was to go into the season today, it would have a bullpen back end comprised of Thornburg and Craig Kimbrel.

On the flip side, the Brewers are getting a major-league ready third baseman in Shaw, whom the Red Sox gave up on after just one full season. Last year, he slashed .242/.306/.421 with 16 homers in 145 games.

He's expected to be the everyday guy at third base, meaning Jonathan Villar will move exclusively to second base. That leaves Scooter Gennett as the odd man out, so it wouldn't come as a shock to see the Brewers deal him this offseason.

Dubon, a former 26th-round pick in the 2013 draft, slashed .323/.379/.461 with 30 stolen bases in time split between High-A and Double-A last year.

Pennington has only made it to Low-A in his second professional season, but he lit it up in 2016, owning a 2.86 ERA over 56 2/3 innings.

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