The Red Sox have signed reliever Brandon Workman to a minor league contract, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com was among those to report. The right-hander will head to Triple-A Worcester.
There is plenty of familiarity between the Red Sox and the 32-year-old Workman, whom the team chose in the second round of the 2010 draft. Workman made his major league debut in 2013, the beginning of a productive run out of Boston’s bullpen that lasted through 2020. But Workman’s production nosedived when the Red Sox traded him to the Phillies last summer, and he continued to struggle at the beginning of this year with the Cubs. Consequently, Chicago – which signed Workman to a $1MM guarantee in free agency – designated him for assignment a week ago.
For first-place Boston, there’s no harm in taking a minor league chance on Workman, who has enjoyed a solid career despite his recent problems. Workman owns a useful 3.96 ERA/3.87 SIERA with a 25 percent strikeout rate and a 10.9 percent walk rate across 309 major league innings, including 70-plus frames in two different seasons.
Casual All-Star move. I guess he can only be good with the Red Sox. Sort of like Jed Lowrie with the A’s.
I thought Lowrie was fine in Boston
He was. Issue with Lowrie in Boston was all the major illness/injures. Like he missed nearly a full season after contracting mono one year, torn ACL believe was another.. He was always out for months at a time.
Cafardo made a comment back in 2011 at the end of the season snd said Jed Lowrie is a player who will not play if he has a hangnail. He was hurt more than he played
The issue was a lack of position. He had no chance of beating out Pedrioa, and he wasn’t a good SS or 3B. And we’ve always had 3Bs as well.
It was strange how Workman pitched well for the Sox last year and then pitched horribly in Philly.
It’s happened to Red Sox too. See Eric Gagne.
And Joel Hanrahan, Mark Melancon
That was also a result of roiding. GAGne also pitched less than half a season with us in a year we won the WS. Not a spectacular example.
Workman also put up 0’s in the 2013 postseason. I think a lot of people forget that.
No surprise.
Updated NL east prediction
Mets
Braves
Phillies (nothing against them good team just not at the other two level.
Marlins
Nats
….ok
Was just thinking the same haha
Any team in this division can come in first or last. Each team has obvious weaknesses. Injuries are likely what decides it.
My Nats are starting to be like the Mets not being able to hit in RISP lol
I think Nats could finish anywhere from playoffs to last lol. So my prediction could be so wrong. I just thought one team will have injuries longer than and more bad luck others and just choose the Nats to be that team out of a flip of a coin lol.
Agreed. This is a hit or miss team. Won’t be super surprised if we miss it
Lol. What does this have to do with Workman?
Marlins win NL East. Everyone is overlooking them and that rotation.
And welcome home, two time World Champion.
Phillies got fleeced
If the Red Sox had received only a bag of broken bats, the Phillies would’ve still been fleeced.
Desperate team last year going for it. I’d prefercti acknowledge the great trade by Bloom who saw a long term opportunity the same way he moved Moreland, etc. Not every move will bring back studs but overall his trades last year worked out fine so far and that includes the Betts/Price deal.
100% agree
Definitely. Honestly, even if none of the haul ends up in Boston’s long term plans, it was still a good deal because it got the Sox out from under Price’s contract. But I’m operating under the assumption that no matter what is said, Mookie wasn’t coming back.
Agreed. Mookie decided years ago to go year to year and test free agency. Doing so was within his rights so in his case it worked out. The Sox found a desperate partner and then once COVID began the world changed. Given the Dodgers’ offer, any sane person would have signed.
To looie: Except Mookie never tested Free Agency. He wanted out of Boston, and saying “I want to test FA” was his way of explaining not signing long-term. Once in LA that rule went out the window.
It didn’t necessarily go out the window. Despite COVID, the Dodgers offered more than was expected or at least around what he was anticipating. At the time, a vaccine was early in research with truly no idea if or when it would provide what we hope is the beginning of the end so he grabbed that offer. Had he stayed in Boston and the Red Sox made the same proposal, I think he would have signed it. Money usually talks and there was no way to confirm any other team would have matched it. Moreover depending on the future, who says the Dodgers wouldn’t have offered less in free agency?
As a RS fan, I loved the trade. But if I were the Phillies, I’d have made that trade every time. There comes a time where you stop giving guys additional chances, so Pivetta was finished with them. And Seabold is not the type of prospect to hold up a trade for RPs.
It wasn’t a bad exchange, but pretty difficult to imagine Workman imploding as he did.
Dewey – So far from the truth. Mookie deal hasn’t worked out good. He won a ring in LA not Boston. Was that good for Boston? The Red Sox got a decent player with a bad back and two minor league lifers.
Pivetta was a good deal because Philly was stupid for rushing Pivetta then giving up on him too soon like Boston did with Benny. The Benny deal was horrendous.
When you said not every deal brings back a stud you weren’t kidding. That should have been phrased Bloom HAS YET TO MAKE A DEAL that brings back a stud to Boston. Taking small wins like Pivetta is what Tampa Bay is all about but in Boston, the fans want results that impact the standings. NOT ONE IMPACT PLAYER added since Bloom arrived. That’s his legacy. Plenty of rhetoric from him and his fans but it’s all bull crap.
Mookie won a ring in Boston was in 2018. And Verdugo is definitely an impact player imo. That trade wasn’t a bad trade. And besides why lose him in Free Agency and not get anything when you can trade him and get Dugie, Downs and out from under the part of Prices Contract
Welcome back Brandon
So… Workman and Hembree
for
Pivetta, Seabold, and Workman on a protated ML min if he makes it up.
I remember when they thought Workman would be a starter. I was excited for that because, as we all know, Boston has not been good at developing its own pitching by and large.
Outside of Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz the Sox have struggled developing starters but they’ve done ok with Relievers. Hopefully Tanner Houck, Jay Groome, Bryan Mata, Noah Song and maybe Thaddeus Ward start to change that
Unicom – Pivetta has started 8 games as a Red Sox player and is 6-0 with a sparkling ERA of a little under 3.00. He will be better than in Philly.
Philly could not fix his delivery, so if the Red Sox do what’s it to you.
The Red Sox picked the Phillies pocket based solely on how horrendous Workman and Hembree pitched after the trade. But let’s circle back to Pivetta after 70 starts, which he had with the Phillies, instead of just the 8 he’s had with the Red Sox.
It was painful to watch his inconsistent pitching, as well as his lack of composure on the mound in Philadelphia. The Phillies knew they were giving up a talent, but they just had enough of his act.
Maybe he’s grown up and has turned the corner, but time will be the great determiner.
Regardless how Pivetta pitches down the road, Boston cannot lose this trade. They got two young players with upside/potential, both pitchers for two players who did not fit in the team’s then 2021 plans.
Why wait. After 8 starts with Phillies Pivetta had 6.73 era compared to 2.88.
Just beginning, but certainly better out of the gate.
@dennyd,
No one is questioning that Boston obviously got the better of the deal, but comparing Pivetta’s first 8 rookie starts with his last 8 starts is a lazy apples to oranges comparison. See you in 62 starts…
Waiting for 62 starts is an excuse to avoid admitting he’s a much better pitcher now. Waiting 4 more seasons, when he’ll be 32, to decide whether he’s a big league pitcher is ludicrous. Also, I did say “just beginning” meaning I wasn’t putting full stock into it.
Let’s measure ‘total average ludicrousness’ (TAL) after 62 starts.
I’ve watched him and his ERA is definitely better than he pitches. I’m not saying he’s terrible but he has some control issues he’s managed to easily get out of. Won’t always be like that moving forward.
To be fair – Pivetta got traded to the Phillies when Washington prematurely promoted him to make the deal attractive. Philly, like idiots, chose to keep him at the level he shouldn’t have been at then moved him along as if he was a top rated prospect. It’s the same crap Friedman pulled with Downs. The guy isn’t ready to be promoted but they promote him to make a deal. Then the unsuspecting team leaves the player at the wrong level and complains he isn’t as good as suggested. Pivetta should have stayed in AAA longer to develop his pitches before he got to the majors and Downs needs to learn how to hit AA pitching not just walk.
Phillies gave Pivetta a lot of time and opportunity. He just flat out couldn’t handle Philadelphia. Whatever he does in Boston is irrelevant. He could never perform for the Phillies and had a terrible attitude, and was a clubhouse poison. That being said Boston wins the trade because Hembree and Workman also provided negative numbers in Philly. In fact, the Phillies likely make the playoffs had that not made the trade. Remember, they missed it by 1 game and Workman and Hembree blew quite a few.
Phillies were a .500 team with or without that trade. Only reason they would have made it was playoff expansion.
VonPurpleHayes – Yes, Boston won the trade but you have the Pivetta story all wrong. He was mishandled by Philly and that led to his bad seasons. All the Red Sox had to do was fix the issue before putting him in the majors and they got what Philly should have had but were too impatient to allow.
Getting Workman back isn’t a positive!!! If anyone thinks it is then lets get Hembree back too and use them rather than the current crew. You’ll understand why they shouldn’t be here if you compare them to just average relievers like the Red Sox have now.
Here comes the Yak Man. A welcome addition to one of the deepest bullpens in baseball. He was outpitching Barnes last time he was here.
If he replaces Austin Bryce on the active roster then every single bullpen arm will be a quality reliever, assuming he rights himself of course.
I’m a HUGE Sox fan and often times considered a homer… and even I wouldn’t dare say the Sox have one of the “deepest bullpens on baseball” hahaha… if anything they’ll be lucky if it’s a slightly above average bullpen… but as it stands right now… that might even be pushing it. Sure Barnes has been terrific and Whitlock, prior to his last appearance, looked lights out. But beyond them and maybe Ottavino and Andreise (Hernandez if he stays on track) they could REALLY use another solid bullpen arm or two (or 3)… I like your optimism… but there’s NO WAY the Sox have one of the deepest bullpens in baseball.
Brasier should be back soon.
Bullpens need to be viewed short term, maybe five 32/33 sections because injuries and performance can change instantly. Same thing with the starters. That’s why “you can never have enough pitching”.
Brazier was just transferred to the 60-day DL, so I guess it depends on your definition of soon. It was retroactive, so I think he can come off in about three weeks…..maybe
Yeah. Googling it, looks like early June is a possibility for Brasier.
But you literally named 5 reliable bullpen options and didn’t even mention Sawamura. Any of those six pitchers would be at the back end of just about any bullpen besides perhaps the Mets or Padres. Most teams don’t have the kind of depth, let alone notating how Barnes and Whitlock have been nigh untouchable.
Yeah and you didn’t mention that the reliable bullpen options have only done it for six weeks or so. That’s 6 out of 26 weeks. Maybe extrapolating their past performance for the rest of the year might be a huge over statement of their actual talents.