The Red Sox have acquired outfielder Alex Castellanos from the Dodgers in exchange for minor league outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker and cash considerations, the teams announced. In order to make room on their 40-man roster, the Red Sox have designated right-hander Pedro Beato for assignment.
Castellanos, 27, was designated for assignment when the Dodgers claimed Mike Baxter off waivers from the Mets. The first big leaguer produced from North Carolina's Belmont Abbey College since Hal Haid pitched in the 1920s, Castellanos has a .171/.186/.390 batting line in just 43 big league plate appearances — all with the Dodgers. Originally a 10th-round pick of the Cardinals back in 2008, he was traded to the Dodgers in 2011 for Rafael Furcal and cash considerations. In 846 career appearances at Triple-A, Castellanos is a .291/.382/.525 hitter with 36 homers and 35 stolen bases. Baseball America ranked him among the Dodgers' Top 20 prospects prior to the 2012 (19th) and 2013 (11th) seasons.
Hazelbaker, who turned 26 in August, slashed .257/.313/.374 with 11 homers and 37 steals (in 44 attempts) at Triple-A Pawtucket this season. He hasn't ranked among BA's Top 30 Red Sox prospects since the 2010-11 offseason, though BA did name him the South Atlantic League's fastest baserunner in 2010. Indeed, the Ball State product is 194-for-245 (79.2 percent) in stolen base attempts throughout his minor league career.
Beato, who turns 27 on Sunday, pitched 10 innings for the Red Sox this season and allowed four earned runs (five total) on 12 hits and a pair of walks with five strikeouts. In 89 career innings between the Mets and Red Sox, the Dominican hurler has a 4.55 ERA with 5.7 K/9, 3.4 BB/9 and a 45.5 percent ground-ball rate. He's averaged a solid 92.4 mph on his heater in those 89 innings and was up to 93.1 mph with the Sox in 2013.
