Farrell praises former Sox shortstop Iglesias

BOSTON -- Shortstop Jose Iglesias is doing for Detroit what he did for the Red Sox before the three-way trade that brought pitcher Jake Peavy from the White Sox to Boston: field like a potential Gold Glove candidate and hit much better than he did in the Minor Leagues, especially at Triple-A Pawtucket.

"He's improved their infield defense with his range," Farrell said. "I don't know if any of us even in this organization have ever seen a better defender at the position. I think that's a pretty strong statement for a guy who's in the early stages of what should be a long career.

"He's going to make all the routine plays. He's going to make the well-above average play. For a time particularly this year he was a good offensive player. We didn't necessarily want to trade him. But it seemed to be a good fit for all three teams involved.

"He's an elite defender," Farrell continued. "If you isolate the player itself, you don't find that type of defender coming along very often. He's a good kid. He's confident. He played his butt off for us. You don't necessarily like to trade that away even though we got a good pitcher in return. But we wish him nothing but the best."

 In 28 games for Detroit, Iglesias has hit .292 with five RBIs. Entering Monday, he led all American League rookies with an overall .319 average and 30 multi-hit games.