Red Sox Free-Agent Rumors: Gonzalez & Oswalt Resurface
They are two names that just won’t go away. Like a bad rash that you think you have finally conquered with layers upon layers of medical ointment, only to have it break out again, we are once again hearing the names of two prolific free-agents, Roy Oswalt and Mike Gonzalez.
All winter long we heard that the Red Sox were trying to court Oswalt into signing with the team, only to have geographic barriers present a roadblock. Then later we hear that someone in the Sox head office was responsible for convincing the team not to sign him. Regardless of what has happened during the winter, one thing is painfully obvious by what’s happened in the first 15 games of the season; the Sox pitching needs help.
Oswalt has been throwing bullpen sessions every other day according to a major league source and multiple clubs, including the Red Sox have once again reached out to the 34-year old reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The front runners appear to be Boston and St. Louis, although given the Cardinals good start and the versatile Lance Lynn, they may not be as desperate to give Oswalt his asking price. Clearly the Red Sox are desperate for any type of starting pitching upgrade given their starter’s combined ERA is the highest in the AL. It has been stated that Oswalt would need 60 days of preparation before he’s ready to take the mound in a major league game, making his availability unlikely until the end of June. I’m not sure the Red Sox can afford to wait that long.
The other name floating around in free-agent land is that of reliever Mike Gonzalez. The only thing more disturbing than the Red Sox starting pitching is their bullpen and signing Gonzalez would certainly help fill part of the void that is currently allowing more runs to score than a women’s softball team.
According to MLB.com’s T.R Sullivan, he was informed by Scott Boras, the agent for Gonzalez, that he expects his client to sign in the next ten days. Multiple clubs are said to be interested in the former Texas Ranger, including the Yankees, Cardinals, Reds, White Sox and Indians. We learnt today from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe that the Red Sox are no longer interested in Gonzalez.
Some people are quick to write off Gonzalez saying his best days are behind him. But given the lack of depth and ability to record outs from some of the Sox relievers isn’t a gamble with Gonzalez better than throwing Matt Albers or Justin Thomas back out there. I mean, can it get much worse with Gonzalez? I don’t think so, making both signings of Oswalt and Gonzalez almost necessities at this point. Unless of course Dice-k and Aaron Cook can return to fine form which would hopefully bump Daniel Bard and possibly Felix Doubront back to the bullpen. But the way it sounds right now, Bard isn’t leaving the rotation anytime soon, making the plea to sign Gonzalez a little more necessary than Oswalt.
What are your thoughts? Who should the Red Sox sign? We welcome your comments and let’s discuss.
As always, we’ll keep you posted if anything further unfolds with these two free-agents.
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