With teams now making moves in free agency, fans wonder what moves the Red Sox will make. One question is whether they will bring back their 2018 heroes.
As the 2018 World Series celebrations calm down following a sensational year for the Boston Red Sox, attention turns to the offseason. With free agency a focal point right now, it begs the question as to what the defending world champions will do to bolster and sustain an exceptional squad, in order to go at it to defend their title in 2019.
One player who was a big piece of the victorious 2018 team was pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. The right-hander is now a free agent, after hitting the end of his contract which the Sox inherited from Tampa Bay. As Eovaldi won over the hearts of the Boston faithful with his contributions in 2018, whether or not he returns to Beantown will be anticipated closely.
Another is hard-throwing relief pitcher Joe Kelly, who’s brawl against the Yankees and abilities from the pen made the pitcher with fantastic personality a fan favorite.
With depth needed to compete with the moves of other big market teams, such as the Yankees and Dodgers, Boston will need to be wise with how they go about distributing their salary. To remain the greatest team in baseball, Dave Dombrowski will need to make the correct moves, as he did last year.
With 2018 World Series MVP, Steve Pearce, signing a 1-year, $6.25 million deal this last week, we’re nearing the period of time where we will see whether or not Boston brings back some of their 2018 heroes. While it remains likely that free agent pitcher Drew Pomeranz will sign elsewhere, this still leaves top closer Craig Kimbrel, beloved reliever Kelly and 2018 star Eovaldi.
It looks more likely that Kimbrel will sign elsewhere, as he turned down a Red Sox qualifying offer, and the $70 million it looks like he’ll command seems a lot of money for the Sox to give out.
However, the majority of Boston fans remain hopeful that Kelly and Eovaldi will return. Although, this will be challenging for the front office. It look as though Kelly will command around $9 million a year – and be offered a three-year deal by many suitors. With the Red Sox needing to strengthen the bullpen, Kelly leaving would be a significant loss, therefore, it makes sense to spend that sort of money on him.
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It remains likely that Eovaldi will command a significant amount more. With many analysts reporting that a 4-year deal worth a stunning $60 million likely, resulting from his solidity throughout the 2018 campaign and his postseason heroics. While Eovaldi is still only 28-years-old, a multiple year deal like this, perhaps, won’t come again in his career, so whoever wants him the most, and offers the most will be most probable suitors.
Kelly should be the most sought after player for Boston, among the potential departures. It’ll be hard to find a reliever as effective as he is and who’s already said that he wants to remain in Boston for the rest of his career. This should be the Sox’s next thing to get done, then go on from there.
Kelly had points in the regular season where he was as dominant as any reliever. He allowed only 1 earned run in the 2018 postseason, with a 0.79 ERA over 11.1 innings and was one of the postseason heroes along with Eovaldi, who’s World Series Game Three heroics in an eventual 18-inning loss left the pitcher in the hearts of Sox fans for a long time, as he pitched 6 innings, allowing just three hits and two runs – only one earned.
For the money they’re commanding and for the years it looks likely they’ll sign for, these are two players that the Sox should go after. However you see it and however it turns out these two pitchers, along with Kimbrel, were important assets to the 2018 championship and have cemented their places in Red Sox folk law.