AP source: Padres to obtain Middlebrooks from Red Sox
SAN DIEGO (AP) In yet another move for the retooling Padres, San Diego obtained third baseman Will Middlebrooks from the Boston Red Sox for catcher Ryan Hanigan on Friday night.
Hanigan was acquired by San Diego from Tampa Bay earlier in the day in an 11-player, three-team deal that also brought outfielder Wil Myers, the 2013 AL Rookie of the Year, to the Padres.
It's the fifth big trade Padres general manager A.J. Preller has made in just more than a week. Preller has also obtained Matt Kemp, Justin Upton and Derek Norris in an effort to bolster the worst offense in the majors.
Middlebrooks hit 15 homers as a rookie in 2012 and 17 in 2013 before injuries, a .191 average and shuttling up and down from Triple-A led to what he called ''a rough year.''
The Padres traded third baseman Chase Headley to the New York Yankees on July 23.
Yangervis Solarte, obtained from the Yankees in that deal, had been penciled in as the Padres starter for 2015.