Traded Red Sox prospect once called 'a young Pedro'

For the second time in less than a year, the Boston Red Sox traded away one of their top prospects to the San Diego Padres. Hopefully for Boston's sake, this one doesn't turn out to be a future Hall of Famer.

On Thursday, the Red Sox dealt 18-year-old pitcher Anderson Espinoza, one of the top-rated prospects in all of baseball, to the Padres in exchange for All-Star lefty Drew Pomeranz, in a deal Dave Dombrowski said could "substantially upgrade" his rotation.

As news of the trade broke, pundits applauded the Padres' acquisition of Espinoza, a slim-built right-hander out of Venezuela who possesses triple-digit speed and exceptional secondary stuff. Espinoza's impressive arsenal and undersized frame (6-foot, 160 pounds) has earned him high praise in the past, including a lofty comparison to former Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez.

"Based off his size, he's like a young Pedro (Martinez)," Espinoza's minor-league pitching coach Nick Green told WEEI.com last summer. "It may be a bit of a bold statement, but because of his size, he's the first one that comes to mind."

It might not have been such a bold statement, after all. During his Red Sox tryout a couple years ago in the Dominican, a 16-year-old Espinoza worked out in front of scouts and none other than Martinez himself.

"Oh, believe me, this is a kid that only looks peaceful when he looks at you," Martinez told the Boston Herald. "You get him on the mound, he's a different animal. He's got more than I did at that age, at 18. He's a lot more mature than I was."

Shortly after announcing the trade, Padres general manager A.J. Preller told reporters that he and his scouting department had coveted the highly touted pitcher.

"As we looked at and evaluated prospects in the minor league, he was at the top of the list," Preller said. "He's got a really easy delivery, easy arm action. He just does things with ease."