Red Sox Option #3: Dellin Betances
Ok, this one is a wild card, but hear me out.
Yes, Dellin Betances is coming off season-ending shoulder surgery that halted his 2020 season, and truth be told, he has been injury-prone and ineffective for three years now.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean he isn’t worth rolling the dice for.
Betances is a four-time All-Star and was one of the most effective relievers in baseball for the New York Yankees before injuries derailed a highly successful career. The Mets, in a tremendously Mets move, massively overpaid for him given his injury history, and over the course of two injury-riddled seasons in Queens, he posted an ugly 7.82 ERA in only 12.2 IP.
He’ll be 34 for the 2022 season and is aggressively rehabbing in hopes of one more, hopefully, effective turn in the majors. He’s pitched well over the course of his career at Fenway, putting up a 3.52 ERA over 23 innings. The Red Sox have taken chances on reclamation projects before and absolutely should keep tabs on his recovery.
If he seems to have something left in the tank, he could prove to be a low-cost-low risk lottery ticket out of the bullpen, one who likely would be motivated to elevate his game even more so if and when the opportunity to face the Yankees arises.