Yesterday the Red Sox filled a hole left when Jonathan Papelbon signed with the Philadelphia Phillies by trading for Oakland A’s closer Andrew Bailey.
In a five player deal with the A’s, the Red Sox acquired Bailey and outfielder Ryan Sweeney and sent outfielder Josh Reddick, pitcher Raul Alcantara and third baseman Miles Head to Oakland.  The 27 year-old, right-handed closer is a two-time All Star and was selected as Rookie of the Year in 2009.  Sweeney is a 26 year-old, left-handed hitter who has been in MLB for six seasons.  Alcantara and Head are 19 and 20 year-old prospects not very close to being MLB-ready and Reddick, the best-known out of the group going to Oakland, played in 143 games with the Red Sox in three years and was thought by many to be the next in line for the permanent right fielder’s position once J.D. Drew was no longer with the team.  Instead he was used as the centerpiece of a trade that brings the Red Sox the stability they wanted in the closer position.
Bailey is also an active participant on Twitter.  While some athlete’s Twitter accounts seem obviously written by PR people (see David Ortiz), Bailey interacts on a personal level with fans, fellow players and even some members of the media.  He’s already thanked the Oakland fans and the Red Sox fans and seems to have a good grasp of how to use Twitter to his advantage.
Given his tweets, presumably over 3000 Red Sox fans began following him on Twitter when the trade was announced. A good indication that the fans already will be watching him closely.
He has tremendous shoes to fill and while Red Sox fans are most likely happy about the team finally solidifying that position, Jonathan Papelbon will not soon be forgotten around these parts and Bailey will certainly have his work cut out for him.
(Originally published on Examiner.com)