Projo Sports Blog

Brandon Moss was standing in the outfield in McCoy Stadium this afternoon, nearly an hour after the Major League trading deadline, when he found out he had been dealt to the Pirates.

Moss had been penciled in to hit third for Pawtucket tonight when the PawSox host Rochester. He had completed his batting practice and was with a group of his teammates shagging in the outfield when Ron Johnson, his manager, called him in. Johnson had been in the dugout, on the telephone. When he walked out towards the third-base line, virtually all his players stared at him.

Johnson curled his finger and waved Moss in. As Moss began jogging in his teammates began applauding. They knew it had to be about a trade.

``I had no clue. I honestly didn't think I was going to be traded,'' Moss said. ``It was weird. It was five o'clock (about 4:50 actually, 50 minutes after the trade deadline). . . I knew something was up once he was calling me in.''

``I'm excited. I don't know where I'm going (to Pittsburgh or Indianapolis, the Pirates' Triple-A team),'' he said. ``It's definitely a good opportunity. I'm just going to try to do the best I can and treat in the same way I would here.''

Moss was part of a six-player three-team trade that included Manny Ramirez being dealt to the Dodgers. Jason Bay, Pittsburgh's left field, comes to Boston, leaving an opening for Moss with the Pirates.

As he digested the news, Moss became more and more upbeat.

``It's great news,'' he said. ``Obviously, I love this organization. It's the only one I've known. I've basically grown up in it. I've been here for six years, since I was 18 years old. But at the same time I see how it is up there (in the big leagues). Maybe it's an opportunity to get a little more time than I would have here. I think it all worked out.''

Moss was hitting .282 for Pawtucket with eight home runs in 163 at-bats.

 Tags  Moss PawSox Ramirez Red Sox

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