Red Sox fortify bullpen, but swing-and-miss on adding a bat for left field

SEATTLE -- After all the back-and-forth and proposals offered and received, the Red Sox walked away from the final day of the trade deadline with just one bullpen piece, landing lefty reliever Fernando Abad from Minnesota in exchange for Pat Light.

Adding Abad to the bullpen mix gives manager John Farrell another match-up option. Abad, 30, has been effective against hitters from both sides of the plate, but over the last three years, has established himself as one of the more reliable lefty relievers in the game.

"He gives us depth from the lefthanded side,'' said Farrell. "He's had a very strong year. He's been tough against lefthanded hitters. He's also had success against righthanders. He's pitched late in ballgames.

"We tried to fortify the back end (of the bullpen) as much as possible, to give us as many options as we can.''

Abad was scheduled to land in Seattle Monday night, and join the Red Sox Tuesday.

As often happens at the deadline, however, the day was marked as much by what the Sox were unable to do as much as what they did. The Sox had other targets at the deadline, but in those instances, the asking price proved prohibitive.

"We were looking to get better in any way we could,'' said president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. "There was a lot of active conversations. I'd say there were (talks) with about 20 (clubs), so there were a lot of active conversations. We had some very active conversations right to the very end with some people.''

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At recently as late Monday afternoon, the Red Sox were involved in serious talks for veteran outfielder/DH Carlos Beltran.

According to a source familiar with the talks, the Yankees asked for two "second-tier'' prospects -- i.e. not from among Yoan Moncada, Andrew Benintendi, Michael Kopech and Rafael Devers. The Sox were said to be willing to move one of the players, but not both.

The Sox envisioned Beltran playing some left field and serving as the DH when David Ortiz needed some time off. Ultimately, the Yankees sent Beltran to the Texas Rangers in exchange for a package of prospects, led by former first-round pick pitcher Dillon Tate.

The Sox also numerous discussions about Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale, though president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, contradicting several reports, said the two clubs last spoke on Friday.

Another source maintained that the level of discussions between the teams on Sale had been overstated - perhaps by the White Sox to gain leverage in the market.

"We were open-minded to a lot of different things,'' said Dombrowski. " 'This makes us better...this allows us to do that...' So those were the kind of conversations we had. And really, we had a lot of those type of conversations.

"But what we did over the last month...if we had walked in today and said, 'OK, we've acquired (Drew) Pomeranz, (Aaron) Hill, (Brad) Ziegler and Abad, people would have said, 'Wow - I can't believe how much they did.' But we spaced it over it a time period, so it doesn't have the same oomph. But we're very happy with where we are.''

Sean McAdam can be followed on Twitter: @Sean_McAdam

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