Red Sox Make First Deadline Move

The Boston Red Sox officially threw themselves into the MLB trade deadline party yesterday as they struck a deal with the AL West best Los Angeles Angels.

The Sox finally made a move to thin their ever-growing outfield depth as they shipped former All-Star Shane Victorino to the Angels for infielder Josh Rutledge.

Victorino has struggled to stay healthy the past few seasons and has not produced when he's been in the lineup as of late. Due to those facts and the log jam in the Boston outfield, it appears the former star became expendable.

The move also allowed the team to call up Cuban outfield prospect Rusney Castillo, whom the gave the richest contract to for any Cuban free agent in MLB history.

Rutledge, who had been with Triple-A Salt Lake all year, after a poor showing in spring training and the emergence of Johnny Giavotella, could most likely be used to help fill the void of secondbaseman Dustin Pedroia who was recently placed on the disabled list for the second time this year, after re-aggravating a hamstring injury .

The move might be the first of many for Boston as the deadline, which is July 31, nears. It has been an unsuccessful year so far and the Sox could choose to ship away more players to help rejuvenate the club and clear space to pick up one or more of this offseason's bevvy of starting pitching free agents as the team's starters have been dismal all season.