Perez Traded / Papelbon makes major league debut.

In the category of former Sea Dogs news:

Sea Dogs infielder Kenny Perez was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for major league outfielder Jose Cruz Jr. Cruz fills a need on the major league roster now that Trot Nixon is out with an injured back. He's a former gold glove winner with some power. Cruz is a low-batting average guy - he's hitting .213 this season and .248 for his career - but he draws a fair amount of walks, thus achieving a decent on base percentage. With 12 homers for Arizona this season, Cruz now has 187 on his career. Perez is a good middle infielder in an organization with a bunch of outstanding middle infielders in the minors. I think he'll make it to the big leagues, but he'll probably have a better chance to play in Arizona than he would have in Boston. This is a good move for the Red Sox, dealing from an area where they have some strength, and not really weakening their minor league system in filling a need.

Meanwhile, Jon Papelbon made his major league debut today, starting in Fenway against the Minnesota Twins. It was a quick ride for Papelbon, who was filling in for Matt Clement. While Papelbon didn't have the pinpoint control that we've come to expect from him, issuing five walks in 5.1 innings, he did show signs of dominance in allowing just four hits and striking out seven. Two of the hits were solo home runs, which was reminiscent of his time in Portland. The radio announcers said that Papelbon hit 95 on the radar. I never saw him above 92 in Portland, so maybe he had some extra adrenaline today. Or maybe the Portland radar isn't calibrated the same as the Boston radar. It was an impressive debut for Paps, though he'll probably be returned to Pawtucket roster when Clement is ready to start again.

In other news - apparently there is no other news on the trade front, after all of the Manny Ramirez and A.J. Burnett rumors. I'm glad that the Sox didn't make a move for the sake of making a move, and I'm glad that none of the premier prospects were traded today.