Red Sox say goodbye to playoff hero Roberts

By Jim Callis
December 20, 2004

Two months after he stole the most important base in team history, the Red Sox gave Dave Roberts the opportunity to play more regularly by trading him to his hometown Padres. In exchange for Roberts on Monday, Boston received Jay Payton, Ramon Vazquez, minor league righthander David Pauley and $2.65 million to help pay for the remainder of Payton's contract.

Roberts, 32, was relegated to reserve duty when the Red Sox picked him up in a July trade with the Dodgers. He got just 86 at-bats in the last two months of the regular season and didn't come to the plate in the postseason, but he'll be forever remembered for his pinch-running heroics in Game Four of the American League Championship Series. With Boston down three games to none and trailing 4-3 in the ninth inning, Roberts stole second base and scored the tying run against Mariano Rivera, the first step in the Red Sox' historic comeback. After also scoring the tying run in the eighth inning of Game Five, he didn't appear again in the playoffs. Roberts batted .254/.337/.379 with four homers, 35 RBIs and 38 steals in 113 games in 2004. He's a slap hitter with very good speed and bunting ability and next to no power. He'll fill holes in center field and the leadoff spot for the Padres. Defensively, he has good range and a mediocre arm. Eligible for arbitation after making $1.5 million last season, he's a career .259/.335/.344 hitter with 11 homers, 99 RBIs and 135 steals in 422 games.

Last offseason, the 32-year-old Payton signed a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the Padres. He strained a hamstring during spring training, however, and never covered center field at Petco Park like San Diego had hoped. He also slumped offensively, hitting .260/.326/.367 with eight homers and 55 RBIs in 143 games. He had hit 44 homers in 2002-03, though he also was helped by Coors Field. Last year notwithstanding, Payton is a solid hitter with average power. He has good speed, but he isn't a basestealing threat and often takes poor routes in the outfield. He does have a strong arm. Payton figures to platoon with Trot Nixon in right field for Boston, while also backing up the other two outfield spots and serving as a defensive replacement. He'll make $3.5 million in 2005 and will collect either a $4 million option or $500,000 buyout for 2006. In 715 games, he has hit .285/.335/.443 with 77 homers and 300 RBIs.

Vazquez, 28, was San Diego's regular second baseman in 2002 and shortstop in 2003, but was supplanted by Mark Loretta and Khalil Greene. He got just 115 big league at-bats in 2004, hitting .235/.297/.322 with one homer and 13 RBIs, and spent two months at Triple-A Portland. He also missed a month with a strained right oblique muscle. Vazquez has a decent eye at the plate and likes to serve pitches to the opposite field with an inside-out swing that reduces his power. He has slightly above-average speed and even better baserunning instincts, though he doesn't steal very often. He's more dependable than flashy in the field, and he has below-average range at shortstop. Vazquez will serve as Boston's utility infielder in 2004. He has batted .262/.334/.344 with six homers and 79 RBIs in 313 games.

Pauley, 21, was an eighth-round pick out of a Colorado high school in 2001. He pitched at high Class A Lake Elsinore in 2004, going 7-12, 4.17 in 27 games (26 starts). He had a 128-60 K-BB ratio in 153 innings, while opponents batted .262 with eight homers against him. Pauley's best pitch is his curveball, which fluctuates from 50-70 on the 20-80 scouting scale, but he sometimes throws it too much. His fastball runs from 87-91 mph with decent movement, and his changeup lacks deception. He has a career 24-29, 3.97 record in 79 minor league games.