FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington said Tuesday that the Red Sox have scouted newly acquired pitcher Chris Carpenter since his collegiate career at Kent State. The Sox also scouted him a lot last season at the minor league level and again during the Arizona Fall League.
“We’re really happy to have him,” Cherington said. “He’s a young power-arm reliever who we think has a chance to be a really good big league pitcher.”
The compensation for general manager Theo Epstein took nearly four months to complete.
“I think it took this long because it was a unique circumstance,” Cherington said. “We talk to teams all the time about trades and it’s players for players, so it’s pretty easy, or easier, to assign value and figure out what’s fair or what’s not fair. In this case it was just tougher because not only did it involve an executive, but also a friend. We’re glad it’s done and both sides handled it professionally and now the start of spring training can move forward.”
Cherington also explained why the Red Sox had to include a player to be named later (and get one back) in the deal.
“This is still a baseball trade," he said. "It’s satisfying the compensation issue, but it’s still a baseball trade and in any baseball trade there has to be something coming and something going. There is a second element that will be coming to the Red Sox at some time by the end of spring training.”