Marlins trade Richard Bleier to Red Sox for Matt Barnes

There was an intriguing Major League Baseball transaction on Monday as the Miami Marlins traded left-handed relief pitcher Richard Bleier of Miami Beach, Florida to the Boston Red Sox for right-handed relief pitcher Matt Barnes of Danbury, Connecticut according to spotrac.com. The Red Sox will be Bleier’s fourth Major League team following one season with the New York Yankees (2016), four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles (2017 to 2020), and three seasons with the Marlins (2020 to 2022). The Marlins will be Barnes’s second team following nine seasons with the Red Sox (2014 to 2022).

Bleier’s 2022 MLB Season

In 55 games, Bleier had a record of two wins and two losses with an earned run average of 3.55 with the Marlins. In 50 2/3 innings pitched, he had one save, seven holds, and 32 strikeouts, and gave up 63 hits, 20 earned runs, 10 walks, and three home runs, to go along with one hit batsman, three balks, three wild pitches, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.44. Bleier’s save came in a 4-3 Marlins win over the Milwaukee Brewers on October 1. Bleier’s wins came in a 2-0 Marlins win over the New York Yankees on July 10 and in a 3-2 Marlins win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 14.

Barnes’s 2022 MLB Season

In 44 games, Barnes had a record of zero wins and four losses with an earned run average of 4.31 with the Red Sox. In 39 2/3 innings pitched, he had eight saves, four holds, and 34 strikeouts, and gave up 36 hits, 19 earned runs, 21 walks, and two home runs, to go along with three hit batsmen, and four wild pitches, with a WHIP of 1.44. It is interesting that Bleier and Barnes had the exact same WHIP in 2022, yet Bleier had an earned run average 76 percentage points lower than Barnes.

World Series Champion and All-Star

In 2018, Barnes was a World Series champion with the Red Sox. Boston beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games. In the 2018 postseason, Barnes had a record of two wins and zero losses with an earned run average of 1.04. In 2021, Barnes was an All-Star. He pitched 60 games, had a record of six wins and five losses, with an earned run average of 3.79.