The bullpen was the only part of the 2013 Red Sox where deep depth wasn't quite as deep as hoped. If it hadn't been for Uehara's season for the ages and Breslow's remarkable luck on BABIP and HR/FB, the Red Sox could have been in some trouble. Tazawa and Workman both had excellent playoffs, throw hard, warm up quickly, and don't walk many batters.
Welcome back from injury:
Welcome back from injury:
- Miller (excellent strikeout stuff, if a little wild, before his foot injury. How dependable is recovery from Lisfranc injuries?)
- Bailey (arb-eligible, after making $4m in 2013, and coming off TJ surgery) -- expensive, injury-prone and unavailable until the second half of the 2014 season, but the Red Sox may decide they need some insurance for the 37-year-old Uehara.
- Morales (arb eligible, after making $1.49m in 2013) -- lefties who can throw 94 mph and make the occasional start don't grow on trees, and Morales is only 27.
- Brayan Villareal fits the de la Rosa model: can he regain the command he showed several years ago with the Tigers? He appears to be out of options, which means he's a goner if he doesn't take a few steps forward in spring training.
- Drake Britton looks like a good future LOOGY, with good velocity and a hard-breaking slider. He needs to improve his command and mistake avoidance, but by the end of the 2014 he should be on the major-league roster to stay.
- Alex Wilson was not as impressive as Britton, is older at 26, right-handed, with a lower ceiling. His slider didn't look as impressive as early scouting reports advertised, and he got WHIPped pretty hard in his 2013 cameo -- but he's cheap and fungible.
- Rubby de la Rosa has wicked stuff, but needs to improve his command before his coaches can trust him in high-leverage situations. He might be slated to start, but I think his build, stuff and his two-pitch repertoire (fastball + change; slider unreliable) play up better in the bullpen.
- Allen Webster looks like a starter, but could be used in the bullpen as needed.
- Thornton (there's a team option for $6m, so the $1m buyout is inevitable)
- Hanrahan (free agent, coming off TJ surgery)
- Aceves (arb-eligible after making $2.65m in 2013: expensive, intermittently unreliable, and clinically certifiable)
- Uehara, closer
- Breslow (L, setup)
- Tazawa (R, setup)
- Workman (R)
- Miller (L)
- Morales (L, spot starter)
- Villareal (R, human white flag)