Thaindian News

By Madhuri Dey
Nov. 6, (THAINDIAN NEWS) Boston Red Sox have acquired outfielder Jeremy Hermida. He belonged to the team Florida Marlins. The Marlins have exchanged him for pitchers Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez of the Red Sox. Jones and Alvarez were left handers, who played mostly in the Minor League. Hermida is 25 years. He is a left-hander batsman and is a right handed pitcher.

The acquisition of Hermida has met with mixed reactions. A few years back, he was being widely touted as one of the most promising prospects of baseball. He had a smooth swing, and his strikes were strong. His performance with the Marlins has however not been particularly good in the five seasons that he was with them. This only added to the fear that he had not been able to develop on his base skills. However, he is comfortable with both corner outfield positions and this may prove to be an advantage. The Marlins have not yet disclosed what position he will be playing in, but there is a strong possibility that he will be playing as a left handed outfielder bat.

Questions arose as to why Marlins have traded a player with a not very brilliant career-graph. His performance can be erratic at times and he does have a tendency to get hurt. Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein defended their decision by saying that he is a player with promise, even though he has not been able to deliver during the last two years. He defended Hermida’s lackluster performance by blaming it on the circumstances. He admitted that it was precisely because he was under-performing that Red Sox was able to acquire him in the first place- at a comparatively low cost.