Red Sox Acquire Deer in Trade With Tigers

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox finally did something Saturday to shore up their struggling offense, acquiring outfielder Rob Deer from the Detroit Tigers for a minor league player to be named.

The Red Sox announced the deal before their 10-5 loss to the Cleveland Indians. General Manager Lou Gorman said Deer should be available to play Sunday.

“He might give us a shot in the arm,” Gorman said. “He’s a fine defensive player and, in this ballpark, he might hit us some home runs.”

To make room for Deer, the Red Sox placed infielder Luis Rivera on the disabled list with a strained right hamstring. Rivera said he hurt the hamstring Friday night as a pinch runner.

Deer, 32, is hitting .217, with 14 homers, 39 RBI and 120 strikeouts. He has averaged 27.7 homers and 161.2 strikeouts in seven previous seasons. That works out to a strikeout every 2.82 at-bats and a homer every 16.39. Also, in that period, Deer’s 194 homers represented 27.25 percent of his 712 hits. This season, it’s 20 percent.

The Red Sox nearly traded Marty Barrett for Deer a few years ago when he played for the Milwaukee Brewers.

“My style of hitting, doing what I’ve done in the past, should be to my advantage, to play in (Fenway) because I’m a dead-pull hitter,” Deer said. “I’m eager to get a fresh start. When I played in Milwaukee, Boston always wanted me. It seemed in the back of my mind that that organization has always wanted me. It’s like they want me, not like I’ve been dumped off on somebody.”

Deer has about $280,000 remaining on his $1.9 million contract. He is eligible for free agency at the end of the year and Gorman said he is unsure if the Red Sox will attempt to re-sign him. “We’ll play that by ear,” he said.

Hobson said Deer will play right, which means Andre Dawson will become a full-time DH. Hobson said he expects to bat Deer sixth.

The Red Sox and Tigers had discussed the deal the past month, but could not agree on the player Boston would send to Detroit. The Tigers agreed to take what Hobson described as a “fringe prospect.”

Gorman said the Tigers will settle for a “small cash settlement” if the teams cannot agree on the player to go to the Tigers.