While much of the early attention in the Boston Red Sox offseason has focused on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s quest for a stud starting pitcher to give the rotation a solid one-two punch with Garret Crochet remaining as the staff ace, the club has other pitching needs as well.
The most pressing area of need comes in the bullpen. With fireballer Aroldis Chapman, who saved 32 games with a 1.17 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 61 1/3 innings, locked up for another season, thanks to a $13.3 million contract extension, the closer’s role is filled.
The pitching staff’s other Garrett, five-year veteran Whitlock, is also under contract through 2026 and turned in a dominant season in the eighth-inning set-up role â especially in the stretch run of the season.
From the start of July, Whitlock allowed only two earned runs for the remainder of the season â including a scoreless September when Whitlock pitched 9 1/3 innings over eight appearances allowing only six hits and striking out 14.
Red Sox Need Veteran Middle Innings Specialist
The soft spot of the Red Sox bullpen, as with most teams, comes in innings Nos. 6-7.
“What the group needs is veteran depth that can pitch in the sixth or seventh innings of games,” wrote MassLive Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo on Tuesday. “A shrewd move or two like the addition of (Justin) Wilson last November would fit the bill. Free agent options in that realm, of course, are a dime a dozen and wouldnât break the bank, which is important considering the need for a No. 2 starter, a power bat and improved infield defense.”
The lefty Wilson turned in a solid season in his role, with a 3.35 ERA over 61 appearances after the Red Sox signed him last offseason from the Cincinnati Reds on a one-year, $2.25 million contract. But at age 38, Wilson is now a free agent again and whether the Red Sox have any interest in bringing him back is unclear at present.
But Cotillo listed another possible free agent pickup who could handle the middle innings â and this one would have the added benefit of twisting the knife in their arch-rivals, the New York Yankees â if they can tempt this pitcher into betraying the Pinstripes for the Sox.
That pitcher is 10-year veteran righty Luke Weaver, who emerged in September of 2024 to take over the Bronx Bombers’ closer role, recording four saves in that crucial month alone.
Weaver Wants to Start, But That’s Unlikely
Weaver was not quite as sharp in the 2024 season, and missed 17 days in June with a hamstring strain. He has also expressed an interest in converting from the bullpen to a starting job, but whether he can find a taker on those terms at age 32 is far from certain.
Weaver’s resumé as a starter is not highly impressive either. His most recent season in the role came in 2023 with the Reds, Seattle Mariners and finally the Yankees. Weaver started a total of 25 games for those three clubs, making just four relief appearances, and finishing with a bloated ERA of 6.40.
Coming off a two-year, $5 million contract with the Yankees, Weaver would likely be an inexpensive signing for Breslow and the Red Sox.
“The prediction here is that the Red Sox sign two arms â a righty and a lefty â but donât break the bank for either,” Cotillo wrote, concluding that Breslow will bring back Wilson as the middle-innings lefty.
Cotillo’s “wild guess” to serve in the right-hander’s slot?
Weaver.
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