Red Sox possibilities for 2018 from the baseball landfill
By Rick McNair
The Boston Red Sox will pursue two types of players with one being the immediate impact and the other a reclamation project. Here are some reclamation possibilities.
The Boston Red Sox are the same as every other team in major league baseball when they scan to see who has been released or elected to become a free agent or an option has not been exercised. The items of note are the attention-getting impact players who can solidify a lineup, rotation or bullpen.
There is another level and that is players that can fill holes on your roster. They may not be the shining stars, but give competent support and represent a nice injection of talent. Certainly not stars, but worthy of filling out your roster.
The last is the baseball landfill. Players on the very cusp of baseball extinction. Teams sign players with the idea that an occasional nugget will surface, and it does. Last season the Red Sox signed Doug Fister out of desperation and the results were positive. Not so with the “star” of spring training pitching – Kyle Kendrick.
The right-handed Kendrick made two very forgettable appearances that resulted in a four-digit earned run average. Kendrick has now elected to become a free agent and will quite possibly surface with a minor league contract elsewhere.
The Red Sox also dabbled in the foreign market and signed Hector Velazquez from the Mexican League. Velazquez finished his Boston tenure at 3-1 and his Internal League contribution to the Pawtucket Red Sox was 8-4. The 29-year-old right-hander may be in for a bit more usage in 2018. And don’t forget Blaine Boyer who signed on late spring and provided some respectable innings.
So just who is available? The early going has players being released or choosing other options. The Red Sox have an opportunity to go shopping and sign a few who may be either Kendrick or Fister sometime during the season. What one must expect is a simple ‘not much” when contemplating their potential contributions to the organization.