Red Sox : Reliever Addison Reed should still be with the team
The Red Sox let Addison Reed walk after last year. With Carson Smith out for the season, this raises the question should Reed still be with the Red Sox?
Carson Smith went down with season-ending shoulder surgery, leaving the question of if the Boston Red Sox bullpen can hold up for the rest of the season. Many consider the team’s bullpen to be the biggest question mark. One move that might come back to haunt Dave Dombrowski is not re-signing Addison Reed.
Dombrowski traded for Reed at the deadline last year to be Craig Kimbrel’s primary setup man. The Red Sox paid a steep price to acquire Reed. Expectations were high. His performance wasn’t the best in Boston but had Reed pitched a whole year instead of less than half, results would be different.
Following the 2017 season, Reed became a free agent and was never made an offer. Considering Dombrowski gave up three top-30 prospects to acquire Reed, you would think an offer would be made. Reed ended up signing with the Minnesota Twins on a two-year deal paying him over $8 million per season.
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Reed wanted to play out West, which was the main reason why the Boston never inquired about a possible return. The championship window is closing for the Red Sox. At some point, they will have to pay their young core and Chris Sale. The time to win is now. With a player of Reed’s caliber you at least kick the tires on him and try your best to re-sign him.
What Reed could’ve brought this year:
Re-signing Reed gives you flexibility in the bullpen. The Sox could’ve worked with Reed, Smith, Joe Kelly and Matt Barnes. Reed would’ve most likely taken the place of Barnes, who can’t seem to handle big situations.
A more stable option in the later innings could add a few more wins to this year’s record. With Smith out for the year, that injury does not hurt you as bad if you retain Reed. If Reed had a full year in Boston you would see different results. For some players, it takes a year to adjust just like Kimbrel in 2016.
Once postseason baseball kicks in the team with the best pitching usually wins the World Series. The Red Sox have one of the best bullpens in the league according to the numbers. At times it may not seem like it but their play recently has been outstanding. The Smith injury might not hurt them but as the season goes on arms become tired and bullpen depth is important. If you have Reed that’s another valuable arm you can use in certain situations.
Coming into this season the Red Sox were confident in their bullpen. Since joining the Red Sox, Smith has been a walking band-aid. He’s missed basically three seasons worth of playing time. Given his situation with the elbow, you’d think Boston would look to add a reliever this past offseason to bolster their bullpen with arms.
Now with Smith out again, it should leave Dombrowski thinking “I should have tried harder to keep Reed.”