Red Sox should make Joe Kelly a free agent priority this offseason

Kelly performed extremely well for the World Series champions in the postseason, posting a stellar 0.79 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched for Boston.

The Boston Red Sox have made it very clear they want to bring together the same group of guys from their World Series squad that breezed past the Los Angeles Dodgers in October. Several players from that roster are currently free agents, such as Craig Kimbrel, Nathan Eovaldi, and Joe Kelly. Kimbrel is looking for a hefty payday and could very well end up with another organization. Eovaldi has gained a ton of interest from teams around the big leagues thanks to his outstanding performance in the postseason both out of the pen and as a starter.

Kelly is a guy who was actually very important to this ballclub this year but hasn’t really received a lot of interest on the free agent market so far from Boston.  He’s voiced himself in past weeks that he would love to be a member of the Sox for the rest of his career. There have been other teams, however, who are keen on Kelly as a closer, but he would ultimately like to stay at Fenway.

It’s time for the Sox to show Kelly that he can be a part of this pitching staff for years to come because he certainly has electric stuff and could even end up being their closer next season if he can sharpen his consistency.

Red Sox need to bring Kelly back

Kelly pitched in every single game in the Fall Classic, dominating the Dodgers lineup. His most impressive performance was in the series-clinching game five, where he struck out the side in a lights-out inning in relief. He struck out ten batters in just six innings in the World Series, giving up just four hits, no runs and didn’t walk a single hitter.

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Kelly did struggle throughout the season with his command, which has kind of been an ongoing problem for him throughout his big league career. But the 30-year old has shown no signs of slowing down when it comes to his stuff on the mound. He consistently hits triple digits, has a devastating slider, and a wipeout changeup that dives right out of the zone. When Kelly pitches the way he did in the postseason, there aren’t many guys in the majors who have more electric stuff. Thanks to his three-quarters arm slot, he gets a lot of arm-side tail on his fastball which is an absolute nightmare for right-handed hitters when he can tie them up with 99 mph on the hands.

He has the ability to be consistent in the big moments, evident by his postseason performance. If he can get ahead of hitters and control his fastball especially, Kelly is an extremely hard guy to square up. Craig Kimbrel‘s time in Boston is probably up, especially after several shaky performances in the playoffs. Eovaldi is definitely a priority but I think Kelly should be as well. His price has definitely raised after the playoffs, and so it should. He deserves good money wherever he ends up because Kelly has earned it.

The Red Sox need to make a move to re-sign him before another organization offers him a deal that Kelly can’t turn down. Even though he’s said he wants to be with Boston for the remainder of his career, if a deal isn’t on the table and he sees a better situation somewhere else, Kelly will be gone.

Eovaldi is a huge priority I totally agree, but Joe Kelly should be right behind him on their lists of players to re-sign.