It won’t be cheap, but for the Red Sox, as they decide how to spend their MLB free-agent money this offseason, it might be the most effective way to make an impact on a bullpen that truly needs help. It’s a longshot, of course, to guess that the Red Sox will attempt to sign an ace starting pitcher on the free-agent market, but an ace reliever might be a different story.
The Red Sox will be losing closer Kenley Jansen and are likely to lose set-up man Chris Martin, too. But veteran beat reporters Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam, who write for MassLive and do a Red Sox podcast, “The Fenway Rundown,” are predicting the top Boston addition this winter will be a guy who can ease the sting of their departures: Padres lefty Tanner Scott.
Scott is a 30-year-old who has been both a closer and a set-up man, and made the All-Star team with the Marlins this season, going 6-5 with a 1.18 ERA in Miami before he was traded to San Diego at the deadline. He was less effective with the Padres, but still posted a 2.73 ERA in 28 games.
Red Sox Bullpen Figures to Get an Overhaul
Cotillo suggested that adding Scott, and moving some combination of Justin Slayton and injured reliever Liam Hendriks (Tommy John surgery) to the back end of the bullpen will give the Red Sox enough to replace the Martin-Jansen combo. He also suggested that Garrett Whitlock, who had four good starts in the rotation this year before he needed Tommy John surgery, would return to the bullpen to further bolster that unit.
“I think you can find a closer and an eighth-inning guy out of that mix. That’s probably Slayton and Hendriks, and Whitlock in some form or fashion,” Cotillo said.
“I actually think their biggest free-agent expenditure is going to be a high-octane lefty reliever like Tanner Scott. Just pay the guy to be elite, stop mixing and matching and going through the Bailey Horns and the Cam Boosers of the world from the left-handed side and just get a really established lefty. There’s been some talk they want to do that.”
Again, Scott won’t come cheap. He is projected, at Spotrac, to warrant a market value of four years and $66 million this offseason. The Red Sox, famously, don’t pay long-term deals for pitchers, but four years is likely doable, and the overall impact Scott could have on the bullpen would make him a good value.
Starting Pitching Likely to Come Via Trade
That would leave the Red Sox to address the need for a starting pitcher, something that will likely be done via trade. That’s tricky, but the good news for Boston is that the Red Sox have a surplus of position players, and have four prospects—outfielder Roman Anthony, shortstop Marcelo Mayer, second baseman Kristian Winfield and catcher Kyle Teel—who rank among the Top 25 in all of baseball.
With young talent already on the roster (Triston Casas, Wilyer Abrea, Ceddanne Rafaela) and two stars in place (Rafael Devers, Jaren Duren), the Red Sox are armed with assets in seeking a top-tier starter.
Those are not easy to find, and even the crop that probably would be available—Garrett Crochet, Jesus Luzardo, Sonny Gray, Sandy Alcantara—comprises pitchers who have some concern or other, whether it’s injury, age or recent struggles in general.
At the very least, though, the Red Sox could spend to get the bullpen in order.
