The Red Sox are considering adding a high-leverage reliever to bolster their bullpen, Ken Rosenthal, Will Sammon and Katie Woo of The Athletic report. This is consistent with recent reports from Salmon that the Red Sox are Devin Williams. chief baseball official Craig Breslow Alex Spear of the Boston Globe acknowledged the possibility but insisted the rotation is the bigger priority.
“We can do a better job of stopping other teams from scoring. There are a lot of different ways to do that. We’re going to be open to all of them,” Breslow said. “The immediate one is building a better starting rotation. I’ve talked about that a lot. Another way is to continue to improve our infield defense, and another way is to make sure that when our starters get the ball to our relievers, we’re able to preserve whatever lead we have. So, I think we’re going to look at it from all angles, but I think our top priority is still the starting pitchers and the position players.”
The Red Sox have one of the best bullpens in baseball in 2025. Their ERA totaled 3.41, second only to the Padres. This is largely due to Aroldis Chapman Almost unhittable, but they also got good results out of guys like Garrett Whitlock, Greg Weissert and Brennan Bernardinoboth of whom are scheduled to return in 2025. The idea, according to The Athletic , is to add to areas of the roster that already have the strength to create a super bullpen while allowing Chapman to continue in his closer role.
That’s one approach they could take, but Breslow has been very public about his desire to target front-spinner and mid-order bat. As with any baseball executive, there may be some gamesmanship involved, but the rotation and lineup are logical goals for Boston. Their rotation has a clear trump card Garrett Crochet But other options are either lackluster or unproven. There was a lot of talent in the lineup, but they lost Raphael Devers and Alex Bregman in the past few months, so adding another boper made sense.
The baseball offseason can be unpredictable, so it’s understandable that Breslow would be willing to change positions as circumstances change, but it’s probably fair to expect that the bullpen may be a lower priority. Dylan Seth, Framber Valdez, Imai Tatsuya, rangers suarez, Michael King and Brandon Woodruff are some notable starters in free agency. Mackenzie Gore, sonny gray and Brady Singer Can be obtained on the trade market. Bregman, Pete Alonso, Kyle Schwarber, Munataka Murakami and Eugenio Suarez are some big free agent bats, Tyler Ward and Adolis Garcia Some speculative trade candidates.
If the Red Sox ultimately decide they do want to make a splash in the bullpen, they probably won’t pursue it Edwin DiazChapman has assumed the role of closer. Other notable free agent relievers include Williams; Ryan Helsley, Brad Keller, Robert Suarez, Raisel Iglesias, Kyle Finnegan, Luke Weaver, Tyler Rogers, Serantoni Dominguez and Pete Fairbanks. Some notable trade candidates include JoJo Romero, Jose A. Ferrer and Victor Wodnik.
RosterResource projects the club’s payroll next year will be $180, with a competitive balance tax of $216. Last year, their total salary was $207 and their CBT amount was $245. Assuming they plan to maintain a similar level of spending in 2026, they have a little more than $20MM in wiggle room, but the end of the playoffs in 2025 could push them to the next level.
Photos by Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
