5 External closer candidates for the 2023 Red Sox

No. 2 – Scott Barlow, KC

Pivoting to the trade market, the Red Sox can find perhaps the two best options to close next season. These two options will, of course, come with the added cost of prospects, but neither should require top prospects to acquire.

The cheaper of the two trade targets is Royals’ closer, Scott Barlow. Over the past two seasons, Barlow has tossed 148.2 IP with 40 saves, a 2.30 ERA, 3.13 FIP, 1.096 WHIP, 10.2 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, and 0.8 HR/9. Barlow is a legitimate threat out of the pen, and one of the few relievers to see sustained success across multiple seasons.

Barlow’s swing-and-miss stuff is some of the best of these options (89th percentile whiff%, 97th percentile chase rate). His 96th-percentile hard-hit% is the best of anyone on this list.

Barlow is not quite an elite reliever, but he is one of the more underrated closers in baseball, so if the Royals make him available, he should be one of Boston’s top targets. He’s under team control through 2024, but I still don’t expect his price to be too high – maybe a few lower-level prospects ranked between #15-30.