The ins and outs of baseball are fully exposed ahead of the transfer deadline

His two bags of gear were packed and ready to be dragged out of Fenway Park. Anderson’s next stop could be a new team or back home to Texas.

The Sox also added catcher Danny Jansen to the roster after acquiring him from the Blue Jays in exchange for three minor leaguers. He was lined up as the designated hitter.

Reese McGuire was designated for assignment. He spent parts of three seasons with the Sox after being acquired from the White Sox in 2022.

One player in, another out. The same two-act dramas have played out in baseball over the past few days and will continue until Tuesday’s trade deadline.

Paxton faces Seattle on Tuesday, and the Sox hope to have added a few more players by then, particularly to their bullpen.

It says a lot about the state of the rotation that the Sox saw a pitcher the Dodgers didn’t need as an upgrade. But Paxton made sense.

The left-handed pitcher was 7-5 with a 4.50 earned run average in 19 starts for the Sox last season. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow hoped to retain Paxton in free agency last winter, but Paxton preferred a team closer to his home in the Seattle suburbs for family reasons.

“My wife wanted to be on the West Coast. Happy wife, happy life,” he said.

After the Dodgers let him go, the Sox became much more attractive.

“They wanted to bring me back here and I was interested in that,” Paxton said. “It worked out well for me to be back here.”

Paxton had an 8-2 record with a 4.43 ERA in 18 starts for the Dodgers, but was pulled from the rotation after Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw returned from injuries.

Paxton’s record was also misleading. His strikeout rate had dropped, his walk rate had risen, and the velocity of his four-seam fastball had dropped. It had dropped from an average of 95.2 mph the previous season to 93.2.

In his last four starts before the Dodgers made the move, he also allowed 17 earned runs in 17 innings.

But the Sox needed a left-handed pitcher in their rotation, and Paxton was available. The hope is that pitching coach Andrew Bailey can propose some adjustments to make Paxton a viable option in the final two months of the season.

“Physically I feel great,” said Paxton, who threw a bullpen on Sunday in preparation for his start against the Mariners.

Alex Cora was happy to have Paxton back in the locker room. He also approved of adding Jansen, as the Sox could use Connor Wong at first or second base occasionally.

The Sox believe Jansen’s swing will play well in Fenway Park because he’s a right-handed pull hitter who gets the ball in the air. He was the designated hitter against Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodón on Sunday and singled in his first at-bat.

Justin Turner, who played for the Sox last season and is now with the Blue Jays, texted Cora to say that Jansen was a good addition to the Sox.

(Turner too, by the way.)

Cora also brought up Anderson during his pre-match press conference.

“What a great guy,” the manager said. “I told him today that he was there on the last day of spring training and it felt like he had been with us for years. Just very respectful, good with the young guys and his role.”

The Sox were 6-21 in games Anderson appeared in. His job was to eat up innings to save other relievers for the next day. It’s not a very glamorous position, but it’s one that’s necessary to keep a bullpen functioning.

“This man was amazing,” Cora said.

Anderson, 36, has played for eight teams in 11 seasons and thrown 1,101 innings in the Major Leagues. Cora predicted he would stay in baseball when his career was over.

“No doubt about it,” said the manager.

But on Sunday he was a player hoping someone had a job for him.

Peter Abraham can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @PeteAbe.