Cespedes finally pays off for Red Sox with trade to Tigers

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Yoenis Cespedes was never meant to stay in Boston. His tenure lasted 51 meaningless games in a lost season. 

When the Boston Red Sox swapped left-hander Jon Lester for Cespedes in late July last season, general manager Ben Cherington had the future in mind. 

Sitting at 48-60, the Red Sox already had the wheels turning on 2015, pulling the trigger on a deal that brought the right-handed power-hitting corner outfielder to Beantown. 

Short on pitching but in possession of a wealth of talent in the outfield, Cherington played on a weak free-agent outfield class and turned it into his biggest need. On Thursday, the Red Sox traded Cespedes to the Detroit Tigers for pitcher Rick Porcello. 

The plan to deal Cespedes was one of the Red Sox's worst-kept secrets. 

Hanley Ramirez, who hadn't played a single major-league game in the outfield, was brought in to play left field, while manager John Farrell stated that rookie Mookie Betts is likely to start in right and hit lead-off. 

The Red Sox lineup will have no problem scoring runs, but preventing them will be another issue. That's where Porcello comes in. 

The right-hander brings six years of major-league experience to Boston before his 26th birthday and is coming off the best season of his career. In 32 appearances in 2014, the former first-round pick posted a 15-13 record and 3.43 ERA in a career-high 204 2/3 innings. 

Porcello has one year remaining before he hits free agency - as does Cespedes - but the Red Sox expect top pitching prospect Henry Owens to be ready to make the jump no later than the 2016 season, and he should act as insurance should Boston opt not to try to extend Porcello. 

After the acquisition of Wade Miley on Wednesday, combined with the deal for Porcello, Cherington has cleaned up the back of his rotation without dealing any of the organization's top prospects. 

He turned two months of Lester's remaining deal into a No. 3 starter.