Boston Red Sox: Four steps to create a dominant bullpen
By Tim Starr
Workman and Barnes were used as the closers in the 2019 season and it didn’t work out too well. The Red Sox from 2019 will pass that knowledge to Bloom and he should pursue a high-end closer for the 2020 season.
High-end relievers that have closing abilities are Dellin Betances, Sean Doolittle, Daniel Hudson, Will Harris, and others.
These players will be looking for multi-year deals with AAV’s around $8 million. If payroll is cut and can be diverted to one of these bullpen arms, the Red Sox bullpen can be elite. A traditional closer can make sure that Cora can be confident when he has a lead going into the ninth inning.
Signing a traditional closer can allow other pitchers in the bullpen to pitch in high-leverage situations as explained in the Workman slide. It will take workload off of the other parts of the bullpen which was shown very clearly by Barnes in the first half of 2019.
Look at Hudson in the quest for the Nationals World Series victory. He closed out a ton of games and was elite. That shows that gaining the right relief pitcher can be pivotal and sway your odds in favor of winning a ballgame.
This move is probably the most important as the Red Sox struggled to hold leads in 2019, costing them loads of wins. If they can hold leads and eventually win close ball games, the record should increase a lot. A better bullpen can lead to a 2020 postseason berth for the Red Sox.
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If the Red Sox front office followed these steps, they have a chance to have one of the best bullpens in baseball. Two dominant arms, plus full years from Taylor and Hernandez, along with better rest for Hembree, Barnes, and Workman can lead to an amazing Red Sox 2020 bullpen.