Saturday was not one to remember for Boston’s bullpen, which surrendered 11 earned runs in a 17-13 video game loss to the Yankees. Red Sox relievers still rank between seventh and 11th in the majors in FIP, K/BB ratio, win probability added and ERA, though it appears president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will try to upgrade the improve before the July 31 trade deadline. The team’s Dombrowski-led front office has been “quietly surveying the market” for bullpen upgrades, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.
Fortunately for Boston, there should be no shortage of relievers available over the next month. Tigers closer Shane Greene, whom Dombrowski acquired a few years ago as Detroit’s general manager, figures to be one of them. Three Giants relievers – Will Smith, Tony Watson and Sam Dyson – as well as White Sox closer Alex Colome are a few more who could be attainable. The Pirates (Felipe Vazquez), Padres (Kirby Yates) and Indians (Brad Hand) could make their closers available, but given the weakness of Boston’s farm system, it might not have the prospect ammunition to win a bidding war for any of those coveted arms.
Having lost closer Craig Kimbrel to free agency, the Red Sox have been operating with a ninth-inning committee this season. Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes and Brandon Workman have combined for 14 saves, though their success rate has been low, evidenced by 12 failed conversions. As for their individual performances, Brasier has managed a 3.24 ERA despite worrisome peripherals. Barnes has been the opposite, someone whose secondary numbers vastly outshine his ERA. Workman has been good all around, though he has walked upward of six batters per nine. Fellow late-game option Marcus Walden – who leads Red Sox relievers in innings (44) – has also enjoyed an effective season, as has Heath Hembree.
While Hembree has been down since June 14 with a sprained elbow, indications are he isn’t too far from a comeback. Hembree’s return will be a welcome one for the Red Sox, but it doesn’t seem he’ll be the only reinforcement their bullpen lands in the coming weeks.
They cannot afford good relief pitchers lol
Quality relievers are always had for cheap at the deadline.
Not in this league man…maybe the Mexican league….Quality Relieves are ransomed these days!
Pressly and Soria come to mind as super cheap options last year that would have been improvements for Sox. One got hurt and the other was obviously better after the trade but point stands. The idea a team can’t afford a reliever in a trade market that projects to be flush with relievers is silly and overblown.
You picked two arms that have/had as many question marks as the current Red Sox bullpen does. So if you don’t want a clear improvement and love to gamble, you are right – it’s flush with arms.
Considering how volatile relievers can be, I don’t see a problem with that. A guy like Alex Colome they could easily afford and be fine. The notion that they don’t have the prospects to improve their bullpen is a trendy thing to say but just simply wrong.
Considering how many teams with better farm systems are also in the market for relievers, the Red Sox will be shopping in the bargain bin. Why would a team willingly take a weak offer from the Sox for a quality RP when there will be 10 or more teams who can offer more?
Name 10 or more more contenders that will be looking for relief help.
And Pete the Sox have no talent in the minors and no cap space. Too mad. Barnes did great in the 2nd game in London this weekend.
Braves, Phillies, Cubs, Brewers, Cardinals, Dodgers, Rockies, Rays, Twins, Astros, and A’s will almost definitely be in the market for relievers. Depending on how things play out the next couple of weeks the Nationals, Mets, Padres, Yankees, Indians, Angels, and Rangers could be looking for relievers as well. That’s 18 teams other than the Red Sox, all of which have better prospects to offer. Does that answer your question?
All you did was name a bunch of contenders!
Twins have the 2nd-best pen in MLB, why would they trade for a high end reliever when they need a starter much more?
Indians have the 3rd-best pen in MLB. Didn’t you read the article? They are falling out of contention, and are more likely to sell than buy.
And the Yankees too? Seriously? Ottavino, Chapman, Britton not good enough and also probably Betances on the way back?
Are you even aware Robertson may be back this month? He’s with the Phillies, in case you didn’t know.
Other than Rogers who would you trust in a big spot from the Twins pen? The Indians are only .5 back of a wild card spot and could definitely use another RP if they decide to buy. I said the Yankees could be in the market for a RP. That depends on the health of Betances by the end of the month. People thought their pen was set last year but they still went out and got Britton. Lastly Robertson was awful at the start of the year and has barely pitched. Have you seen the Phillies bullpen? They need a couple reliable relievers if they have any hopes of reaching the postseason. With all of that said take away those 4 teams and there’s still 14 other teams who could be in the market for relivers
They are never for the cheap. In fact is a sellers market on relievers. There are so few of them, teams would have to massively over pay for one. More than normally. I’m just waiting for the Sox to miss the playoffs.
They’re in the wild card picture. You may have to wait quite a while. They did win the World Series last year you know.
They are former world champions. Reason enough to stop singing.
They are the current champions.
And they don’t have the prospect capital to get anything that want. They already sold the farm.
As does any team lowtalker, when a team is in contention every yr. not sure if you ever counted but the Sox are blessed with great homegrown position players, not pitchers.
A huge part of them “blowing the farm” is that they’ve got like 10 guys on their active roster “from the farm” it doesn’t exactly could as “blowing the farm” when your entire OF 3/4 of your infield and catcher were all prospects that have now made it. Plus E-rod, Barnes, Hembree etc. Sure they traded a handful of decent players too – though other than Moncada not sure I’d really be dieing to have too many of the guys they did trade back (granted some are injured and still may be valuable once they return)
So what you’re saying is they bought the farm because they sold the farm.
Hey pasha-the minor league cupboard is near. Just saying.
Fits you just another frustrated Evil Empire fan, remember 2004, just saying.
Remember London, just saying. New England got the broom in Old England.
We’re talking Closers here:They are not cheap,other pitchers are.Do ya gamble and not get a Closer and rely on an inexperienced Closer in Postseason? I say No,A good Closer is worth the Money or Prospects to Close the Deal.
Sure they can afford them. Groome, Feltman, Howlett and Kutter Crawford for Kirby Yates.
4 for 1
Similar to the Kimbrel deal a few years back, that saw 4 prospects go back to SD. Yates has 2.5 years of control left so Boston essentially gets him for 3 more postseason runs. None of their top 3 prospects are touched in the deal.
Boston can still acquire more pen depth with other pieces.
Free agent in 2021 means free agent after next season. Yates has a year and a half of control. I’m not doing that deal if I’m San Diego anyway. They don’t need a million prospects anymore. They either need one more really good one or they need to keep their ML talent. They’re nearing the actual win phase of the rebuild. I don’t think they need to perpetually trade talent away.
Fair assessment.
To counter, Darren Balsley is one of the best in the game at what he does. You trade an asset because you can never have too much pitching depth. A closer can be developed here with what’s coming down the pipeline, 95% of the team is under control for at least 4-5 more seasons. He is one of the exceptions that is not.
I understand what he has done this year but it’s a business and if they can get a few more high upside arms in a Yates deal, then it won’t hurt so much to give up some when it’s time to Pony up for Stroman or Syndergaard.
I mean I hear that about Balsey but you have one guy in the pen with a FIP below 3.5 and that’s Kirby Yates. He’s not doing a fantastic job this year finding those diamonds in the rough. Which isn’t a knock on him they just aren’t that easy to find. Hand and Yates were found, I don’t think it’s a great idea to assume you can just keep that going. Because it appears he didn’t this year. Perdomo has found his niche down there but if you at look long term relief pieces I’m not sure you have too many. I’d probably try to extend Yates if I could.
For sure, Hand + Yates are exceptions. You don’t find guys on the DFA scrap pile and turn them as much as San Diego has, but you are right that won’t last forever.
If Yates is willing to accept a team friendly deal then I could definitely see the two sides coming together, however his age is something to consider.
RP’s age scares me a lot less. Yates hasn’t made a ton of money in his career and may jump at the chance to lock in more guaranteed money. Especially because of his age. If I could lock in 2 additional years at let’s say 10 a pop I’d certainly try to do it. For a guy who has only made a little over 5 mil in his entire career it might be enticing enough to take. He doesn’t have a ton of miles on his arm either.
With the padres spot in their rebuild I see little value in taking a number of prospects over an elite relief piece.
Padres have the #1 Rated Farm System in MLB now….They had players they could not protect in the Rule 5 Draft that would have been protected by every other team…
They don’t need a bagful of question marks clogging up their farm system now….5 years ago maybe, not now….
Its 1.5 years of control on yates. The Padres arent interested in a quantity style hall. Red sox dont have the prospects to get it done. Most teams dont. Also the Padres are two games over .500.
This is a horrendously bad trade proposal. If the Padres trade Yates it’s gonna cost a top 100 prospect who’s near big league ready and 2 or 3 more high upside pieces
Well according to the stat geeks, the Red Sox ALREADY HAVE good relief pitchers because of FIP, Win Probability, ERA etc. Yeah, those are muuuuuuuch more important than, ya know, actually preventing inherited runners from scoring and actually protecting leads and actually keeping the score close when tied or losing.
But sure, let’s all lump in the bullpen’s meaningless performances when they come into games with either a huge lead or a huge deficit.
Take some Tylenol fever…look at this weekends performance in London. You may need a root canal.
I’ll believe it when I see it. Yest the Blow-pen was at a new low, showing the entire world their failings.
They warned us it would be a high-scoring game. Yankees gave up 13 runs themselves. In one game.
There can be no real takeaways from the London series. This beats anything I’ve ever seen.
No real takeaways? Yanks are the better team, that was the takeaway. I guess we already knew that, it was just solidified.
luxury tax?
Don’t bring up facts. The simpletons here think all teams can spend unlimited money.
I think they have about $4mil of wiggle room before next penalty but yeah tough spot.
I didn’t realize half a season of a rental reliever is what will cripple them financially. It’s much easier to refer to others as “simpletons” without ever making an informed claim. Colome is the only reliever listed who would push them into a new tax bracket. And that would be if they took on all the rest of his salary. But that’s all good, PHD Iverbure is back dropping more knowledge! Get him in a front office!
Same people also think a luxury tax is a salary cap tax that’s gets all of the other team rich off of without knowing how it actually works. MLB needs a hard salary cap, with a ceiling but also a floor.
Should have been doing this in December.
More relievers available now, plus they wanted to see what they had in house, plus why spend big dollars for those losers in December When you don’t know how we’re going to be out of the gate? Could be 20 games under .500. Better to see where you’re at All Star break and see if you’re in the running. Of course the Red Sox are so let’s get a couple guys.
A couple of guys won’t replace a terrible bullpen.
This is the most embarrassing MLB management I’ve ever seen. A 108-win World Champion reduced to a .500 team despite no key injuries other than Evo. Their approach to rebuilding the bullpen was to throw a bunch of *stuff* against the wall and hope some of it would stick. As good as Barnes has been in the past, he’s been historically awful in the closer role. What I want to know, what I really really want to know, is WHERE THE HECK WAS BRANDON WORKMAN THIS WEEKEND? He hasn’t pitched since Tuesday, and tomorrow is a day off. If he was being “saved” for a 9th-inning lead, then Cora should be suspended for incompetence.
“the most embarrassing MLB management you’ve ever seen” Hyperbole much?
Yankees are just too good …. Sox got spanked hey it happens
have you seen the mets tho?
They need at least two solid additions and that just doesn’t seem like a reality without losing from what is an already drained farm system
They need a closer. Barnes, Hembree, Walden, and Workman have been fine-to-surprisingly-great in non-save situations. They are too mentally soft for saves, though.
Xactly baseball Pete. The Blow-Pen at it again.
The ever so valuable farm system. Still working on those AAA League championships LOL. Who cares.
Look at the Padres, they’ve got the best farm system in the history of the universe and they still suck like they always have. Those guys are two years away from being two years away.
The farm system is all about getting the major league team together. I understand the balance and all, that don’t go there. But if trading a prospect can get you a major league player I’m all for it.
Who cares? Sox don’t have it this year to make postseason.
Love the name, my favorite movie of all time. But you need to look at the standings. The Sox are knocking on the door on a wild-card so you have to go for it. This is not the time to hide and rebuild for next year.
Yes, it may very well be. They’d do much better to sell at the deadline and try next year. Even if they make the playoffs this year, they aren’t going all the way.
Okay, who do you sell?
Given the recent extensions, Betts and Martinez.
I’m not in-agreement with a sell unless the Sox backslide in July.
In fact, how much can they lose going for it again considering the farm isn’t considered “strong”? Why not?
They should start having conversations with the Giants
The issue for the Red Sox is that their system is considered very thin. Bleacher Reports had them at 30 and most have them in the 25-30 range. That will make it difficult for them to outbid teams that have better farm systems.
These are relievers. In most cases rental relievers. They do not fetch a ton and Boston can certainly go out and get one. No matter how weak a system is they have prospects for rental relievers. Snagging rentals hurts Boston’s system a lot more than it would for TB but they have the pieces. Every team does.
Depends on what “pieces” as relievers they go after….they do not have the assets in the farm system to get the top tier guys unless it’s a salary dump which hurts just as much if not more!
They can go after any rental reliever they want. No one is going to cost (or pay) what Chapman did. It’ll further empty a weak system but if DD wants to, he can. It’s absolute lunacy to think Boston doesn’t have enough for a rental reliever.
The Sox will likely take the same approach this month that they did during the offseason. They will sit back and watch the best available relievers get traded to other teams, and then go after the leftovers, because there will be more available relief pitchers than there are contenders looking to improve their pen.
The reason the farm is low, first they are in contention every yr, so you spend. Funny thing, Devers, Benni, Chablis, Mookie, JBJ Bogy all come from their bad farm system too since they say is every yr for many yrs about their farm.
You all can say what you want about the pen, but our starters have been a bust this year… big time
It’s funny but David Price has been great. The other guys were messed up by that faulty spring training plan. How do you pitch Simulator games in Spring not make a single start and hope to be Major League ready? I realize you want to save guys because they’re burning out in August but that wasn’t a good plan.
They’ve had 24 games so far in which the starter has failed to go 5 innings and another 10 in which the starter only went 5.0 innings. One problem related to this is that they haven’t had many games in which they’ve had a reliever pitch more than one inning in a game.
Somebody tell Heyman that water is wet…..does anybody think DD WON’T do anything??????
Right or wrong, they’ll be active.
Water isn’t wet, it has the ability to make other things wet. Lol
Wow. Their looking Like no kidding. This is news?
Shane Greene would be perfect if they have enough to give back to Detroit. He already has a relationship with Dombrowski and his contract is only 4mil this year and is still under arb. for next year. Plus his stats are unreal…… 0.87era 0.83whip 22/23saves
The only problem is that dombrowski can’t trade with dombrowski.
The Sox hacv nobody worthy to trade.
End of possibilities.
I said “he” has a relationship with Dombrowski referring to Shane Greene and his agent. Dombrowski traded for him and brought him to Detroit.
The Redsox are not going anywhere this yr, way too many blown saves, it’s not their yr, besides the Evil Empire is striking bk, n a force like no other, they are rolling over everyone with mediocre pitching. It is the Evil Empire’s yr.
You’re right the Yankees are kicking butt this year, but now is not the time to fold up the tents.
Play your hearts out Gary. You just did and were blown out two straightZ
Wow, two straight games. Really?
I don’t know anybody in baseball who throws in the towel after two straight losses? And we play the Blue Jays next. There’s always hope !!
Do you think the Dodgers have a chance to beat Yankees in a World Series?
Ask that question Aug 1.
I think LA can. As long as Kelly goes into WS form he did last yr. Kelly is floundering like he does all season, n for LAs sake I hope he wakes up before the playoffs, n his great performance wasn’t just cuz he was gonna be a FA. LA can beat the NYY.
Yanks will crush the Dodgers, Kelly will be roadkill.
Boston Blowpen strikes again in London series! Not the worst relievers in AL but not near the top either. No playoffs this year.
I will be curious to see how the reliever market shakes up. There are so many middle of the pack teams that could be buyers or sellers. It will drastically effect the overall supply and demand.
I’m hoping the White Sox realize they NEED Colome for when they expect to be a contender for the division in 2020
THE 2019 TEAM IS DEAD .. DEAD MEN SLEEPING.. TIME FOR TRADES .. OVER PAYED AND UNDER TALENTED … MR HENRY YOU FAILED .. U GOT SUCKED BY AVERAGE PLAYERS BEING OVER PAID … awful high school pitching. . awful catchers .. high school catchers .. 5 curves in a row = home run every time… brain dead catcher … hitters poor choice of pitches .. no aggression .. piss poor coaching of fundamentals.. and scouting .. MR HENRY YOU FAILED
That Mr Henry who was willing to break the luxury to win? The one willing to spend to keep the core that won the World Series? Whether you agree with the moves or not, Henry is certainly an owner showing he’s all in.
He’s racked up some nice hardware. I’d be happy to have him own my team.
Turn go ahead and switch.
You trying Morse Code?
Point the finger at Ben Cherington before blaming Henry or Dombrowski. Buffoon Ben signed Rusney Castillo, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. He had no clue as to what he was doing. Those moves crippled them for years.
And Bernie Madoff too, right.
Stop
2019 TEAM IS DEAD .. DEAD MEN SLEEPING.. TIME FOR TRADES .. OVER PAYED AND UNDER TALENTED … MR HENRY YOU FAILED .. U GOT SUCKED BY AVERAGE PLAYERS BEING OVER PAID … awful high school pitching. . awful catchers .. high school catchers .. 5 curves in a row = home run every time… brain dead catcher … hitters poor choice of pitches .. no aggression .. piss poor coaching of fundamentals.. and scouting .. MR HENRY YOU FAILED
And to think. Last year they could have gotten Brad Hand for Rafael Devers (sarcasm intended).
No money and no prospects = no new relief pitcher.
RPS don’t cost the moon. Boston has 1 top 100 prospect and plenty of other prospects who’d be mid range in other systems. No rental reliever on the market costs more than that. If DD (like he’s done many times before) wants to get a reliever he has enough chips to do so. It’ll further deplete a thin system but that’s not really his concern.
Dave Dombrowski never met a bullpen he couldn’t destroy.
He never met a young team that he couldnt make old and tired
Bloated payroll , destroyed farm system, where have we heard this before? DETROIT
They won the World Series. That’s not the goal?
My-oh-my, some people on here want to step over dollars to pick up dimes.
Red Sox gutted their farm system building the present team….I don’t see much on the Red Sox’s top 30 prospect list that would interest other teams…No way they can get into a bidding war….They are out of ammo…
Looks like NYY and Rays fight it out in the East.
Short of a complete collapse by either of those teams, I don’t see the Red Sox making the playoffs this year…
Both the Wild Card teams will come out of the East. The rest of the league besides the Astros, and the Twins (who wouldn’t surprise anyone to implode) are dog doo-doo.
Cleveland has a good shot at joining Tampa Bay as the Wild Card teams
They have NO OFFENSE
The Sox have NO BULLPEN
20-20 vision now. Should have kept Ty Buttrey over Ian Kinsler deal. Bad trade for Red Sox.
I do not understand how a DOMBROWSKI lead team did not realize they had a huge problem in the bullpen. His trademark over his long career has always been to build a team with nearly no bullpen. Did no one around him point this out? Remind him? I am not doing 20/20 hindsight when I tell you I thought the Red Sox had ZERO chance of winning the division, and I questioned whether they would make the wild card with the assembly they have out there. I hate to say I was right, because I wish I wasn’t. I do not see how ownership did not question the idea of having several questionable pitchers fulfill the roles they would be expected to this season. Nearly all of them are TWO roles apart from their actual ability. Barnes is a fine pitcher, but has never been a true eighth inning guy nor a closer, and everyone after him is worse. When you best possible relief options are two of your starts (Eovaldi, Wright) you are doomed to suffer blown situation after blown situation. Again, was there really any possible way anyone thought this would work out? Who is accountable if they didn’t, and who didn’t forcibly step up to stress how important it is to have at least reliable arms in the middle, and sure fire arms at the end? Couple with such a flawed approach by our relievers as an organization, and there is no chance. How can an organizations bullpen have a philosophy to not throw strikes to start at bats, go deep nearly every hitter, and throw the same pitch to the same locations nearly every hitter? I watched those last place finishes the last few years, every game. I was never more frustrated by our pitching staff then this year. Even Felix Doubront couldn’t frustrate me to this level. Starters, throw strike 1, get ahead, pitch to situations and contact, challenge hitters, keep your pitch count down to go deeper, Relievers, grow a pair and make the other team hit to get on base. STOP IT WITH THE WALKS AND DEEP COUNTS!!!
William, this was a classic case of Sox management getting over-inflated egos after last year and thinking they can “outsmart” all other teams by passing on proven guys like Britton and Ottavino.
The Sox actually thought Jenrry “Banned For Life” Mejia, Brasier and Barnes were all they needed to fill Kimbrel’s closer role.
Obviously, they were just as wrong about the bullpen as they were about treating Spring Training like Club Med and having their starters pitch just twice before the regular season. They wanted their players to be “well rested” for October? Great, the Red Sox will be the most rested team as they sit and watch the postseason from the comfort of their recliners.
Barnes has no command of the strike zone. He should Be Pitching for seattle
Red Sox looked pathetic in London. Yesterday is gone, Pedroia is gone, first place is gone. It’s just so enjoyable to watch this ship sink!
Bob nutting is a moron. The pirates are for sale. I am sure Neil Huntington will let you have any reliever for free. They might give you another prospect along with our closers. Freaking idiots.
Glad it took a Molly whomping in London for common sense to kick in
DD has sold the farm. What we see is what we get. Reboot already this winter.
He did that in Detroit. We were OK as long as Mr I kept spending. But at some point you have to pay piper. For Detroit we are on year 3 of a 6 year plan to rebuild the farm system.
Can you find a fresh pic of DD? He looks 80 in this photo.
The wild card is not something to make wholesale changes over. It could easily be one and done or squashed by the next opponent. It’s not like it used to be before the second wild card. The Red Sox aren’t going to suddenly find themselves winning like crazy so I think they might grab some scraps and see what sticks. Finding a closer is for the off-season.
Somebody from Royals?
Dave, Dave, Dave, I thought you had learned your lesson while in Detroit. You refused to spend money on the pen and it cost Detroit a World Series or two. You go to Boston and went out and got a top notch closure and you win it all. So what do you do, you go back to your old way and neglected to bullpen…and it has cost you once again.
That top notch closer walked over 7 per 9 and had ERA above 7 in the postseason. The Red Sox won the WS but Kimbrel didn’t do much in the postseason to make that happen. Joe Kelly did. So what you just said there would do nothing but make DD’s philosophy look better. Personally I believe they need a closer really bad right now but using Kimbrel as exhibit A doesn’t do much for that argument.
exactly. .. should have traded to reduce payroll and got 2 higher end relievers .. not Kimberly
need better coaches and their scouting sucks …
The Red Sox are in the enviable position of having a rich owner.
But even rich owners hate to lose and take losses financially.
So the Red Sox should acquire bargains wherever they can find them.
An example may be to take a look at Travis Shaw (an alumni) that may be had for cheap $.
Search for healthy out of favor cheap talent.
Same can be said for relievers.
If the Red Sox make the playoffs then they make it.
If they don’t then the ones that lose are the investors and upper echelon management.
Viewers can always watch a winning team by just changing the channel
Just because you live near Boston doesn’t require you to self-flagellate yourself for their failure. LOL
And just remember that spending less is always better than spending more when you lose.
“It’s a question of how much money do we want to lose,” as John Henry said.
So isn’t it logical that a team with money doesn’t want to lose more money?
This off season should be interesting in Boston.
A good house cleaning I suspect.
And hopefully a reassessment and better way of spending their money.
PS – And don’t forget the words of Sonny in the movie A Bronx Tale.
“Mickey Mantle doesn’t care about you so why should you care about him”?
So Boston fans, and I’m one, let’s put the whips of flagulation away.
LOL
It’s up to John Henry to make money by winning, not us.
And the only way John Henry gets the message is if we, the fans, stop spending money on a failing team.
Here’s an idea.
Maybe John Henry should buy the Tampa Rays and use it as a farm system.
Nobody goes to their games anyway and I’ll bet he could buy it for cheap $.
Only kidding, I wish they could do that but the Commissioner would likely shoot that down.
LOL