The Boston Red Sox continue to target free agent reliever Adam Ottavino but they aren’t alone in their pursuit with more teams joining the mix.
The bullpen remains the lone aspect of this roster that the Boston Red Sox need to focus on in free agency. Several enticing relievers can still be found on the market but those options are dwindling. One target mentioned recently is Adam Ottavino.
MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reports that the Red Sox have shown continued interest in Ottavino. They aren’t alone though, as the Chicago White Sox are pursuing the right-hander and the Colorado Rockies are open to bringing him back.
Sources: #RedSox, #WhiteSox showing continued interest in free agent Adam Ottavino, and #Rockies — his most recent team — are open to bringing Ottavino back, as well. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 27, 2018
Morosi goes on to say that interest in Ottavino extends beyond these three teams but his sources haven’t revealed which other clubs view the free agent reliever as a fit.
It’s unclear what Ottavino’s priorities are. The White Sox offer the clearest path to the closer seat but they aren’t a contender. His familiarity with the Rockies could be a factor but they can’t lure him back with the promise of making him their closer considering they are already paying Wade Davis a ton of money to fill that role for at least two more years. Besides, what pitcher chooses to play in Coors Field unless there are no other options or the Rockies overpay?
The Red Sox would have an opening for the closer role if fellow free agent Craig Kimbrel signs elsewhere. Boston is rumored to be waiting to see what happens with Kimbrel before making another bullpen move but if his asking price doesn’t dip soon then the team may get impatient and move on to a cheaper solution.
Ottavino has never been a full-time closer but he’s tallied 17 career saves, including seven this year. He posted a 2.63 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and a career-high 13.0 K/9 for the Rockies in 2018.
Tommy John surgery cost Ottavino nearly the entire 2015 season. He came back with 27 strong innings down the stretch the following season, proving he was fully recovered from the injury. 2017 was a disaster, as Ottavino battled shoulder inflammation and control trouble, leading a to a bloated 5.06 ERA and 6.6 BB/9 rate.
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Ottavino spent last offseason reinventing himself through the use of high-speed cameras to study spin rate and mechanics. He worked on mixing in a cutter to add another pitch to his arsenal with some movement that he could still throw for strikes. While opposing hitters would lay off his breaking ball in 2017 knowing he would walk them, the improvements he worked on led to a drastic increase in finding the strike zone.
His 4.4 BB/9 is still a bit higher than you would like from a late-inning reliever but it’s tremendous progress from where he was the previous year and the uptick in strikeouts helps offset the walks.
He has historically struggled against left-handed hitters, allowing a .274 average and .796 OPS against lefties in his career. That wasn’t the case this year when he was relatively platoon-neutral, holding lefties to a .179 average and .560 OPS.
It would be difficult to trust a pitcher with wide splits in the closer role, suggesting Ottavino may be a better fit as a situational setup man where his manager can mix-and-match him with other relievers based on the matchup. A team that signs Ottavino to be their closer is banking on last year’s improvement being the new norm rather than a one-year outlier.
The Red Sox could view Ottavino a replacement for Joe Kelly. They can probably afford to sign Ottavino and a second-tier closer for less than it would have cost to keep Kelly and Kimbrel. If his preference is to be a closer then it would be harder to pitch Ottavino on signing here in that scenario.
With more teams reportedly jumping into the mix, Boston’s chances of signing one of their top free agent targets seems to be growing thin unless they are willing to commit to him as their closer and pay him closer money.