Mark Melancon sent to minors

Jeff Luhnow’s first trade as Astros G.M. is starting to look a bit lopsided. Luhnow sent Mark Melancon to Boston in exchange for Jed Lowrie and Kyle Weiland shortly after being hired by the Astros. Melancon has been nothing short of terrible for the Red Sox and was demoted to AAA Pawtucket today.

Melancon faced six Texas Rangers hitters last night and failed to record an out. Three of the six (Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre, and Nelson Cruz) hit homeruns. Hamilton’s blast traveled an impressive 469 feet. Sure, those guys are all great power hitters and it could have happened to anyone. But this was the third consecutive appearance in which Melancon had allowed a homer. That’s five homeruns on the season compared to only six swings and misses for the former Astros right-hander. Melancon looked shell-shocked on the Fenway Park mound in last night’s 18-3 loss and his ERA now stands at 49.50 for the season. The Red Sox called up RHP Junichi Tazawa to take Melancon’s spot on the roster.

On the other side of the trade we have Kyle Weiland and Jed Lowrie. Weiland won the fifth spot in the Astros rotation with an impressive performance this spring, but hasn’t won anything so far in the regular season. Weiland is 0-2 with an ERA of 8.44 in two starts for the Astros. Lowrie started the season on the disabled list with a jammed thumb but has played well since being activated. Lowrie is 5 for 19 including a pair of deep flyouts in Miami that may have been homeruns at Minute Maid Park. Lowrie has also drawn six walks in five games to boost his OBP to .440. Lowrie is the only player in the deal that has looked decent to this point. If he can continue to succeed and Weiland can get it together this trade will be a steal.