In a recent interview with WEEI Sports, John Farrell stated the Red Sox’ interest in re-signing relief pitcher Burke Badenhop this offseason.
Despite a down year for the Red Sox, Badenhop has been a bright spot out of the Boston bullpen. His 2.33 ERA is the lowest of his career and, though his peripherals aren’t quite as excellent, his 3.10 FIP and 2.5 BB/9 suggest that he has still had a very solid season out of the ‘pen.
Going off his career numbers, however, it would be unwise to expect such an impressive follow-up season from Badenhop. While is a proven commodity as a solid middle relief option and that has some stability value, particularly on a team as young and inexperienced as the Red Sox, teams are often hesitant to hand out large contracts to relatively replaceable pitchers like Badenhop.
However, if he is willing to return to the Red Sox on a cheap, one-year deal, then they’d be hard-pressed to pass him up. At 31 years old, he could offer some value as a mentor to the younger pitchers like Anthony Ranaudo, Allen Webster, and Rubby De La Rosa— guys who could transition to the bullpen within a few seasons– while also providing solid results in middle relief. Given their current corps of relief pitchers, the Red Sox would not be forced to slot him into a high-leverage position as Junichi Tazawa, Edward Mujica, and possibly Koji Uehara (if he returns this offseason) would be able to handle that.
Whether or not the Red Sox sign Badenhop isn’t something that’s going to make or break their offseason. However, he has had a fantastic 2014 season and he would be a solid acquisition if the Red Sox choose to part with a few million dollars in exchange for a decent middle reliever.