The Red Sox made and shipped a change to their bullpen earlier this week Matt Barnes to the marlins for Richard Bleier. Boston reportedly paid around $5.5 million to facilitate that deal, a testament to Barnes’ struggles since he signed a two-year, $18.75 million extension in July 2021.
The deal came a few days after the Sox nominated Barnes for the job, a move that came as a surprise even given the right’s uneven past year and a half. The UCONN product had spent his entire career with the Red Sox since being drafted in the first round in 2011, and he said he was surprised by the DFA.
“It was a complete blind side,” Barnes told MassLive’s Chris Cotillo when he was dropped from the 40-man roster. While he indicated that he harbored no animosity about his time in Boston, Barnes also indicated that he was unenthusiastic about his use last season. In the second week of May, he was mainly used in low-leverage situations. Between May 6th and 30th he was called ten times. Seven of those contests saw the Sox either fall behind too late or lead a blowout contest with Barnes relegated to the cleanup.
“We got to a point in the season where we were either knocking people out or losing a game and unfortunately those are the games I was throwing at that point,” he told Cotillo. “My workload in the games increased along with the amount of work I put in to get back to what was normal for me. That’s when my shoulder flared up.” Barnes was listed retroactively to May 31 with a shoulder infection, an injury that kept him out of action until early August.
Of course, the lack of senior work was a reaction to Barnes’ struggles. He had been tagged for an 8.65 ERA in 10 appearances through May 5. That was on the heels of a 6.48 finish in the second half of 2021 that prompted the Sox to drop him from the playoff roster. He actually performed quite well to wrap up the 2022 campaign, posting a 1.66 ERA in 23 games to end the year. That wasn’t enough to secure a permanent 40-man spot over the winter, perhaps due to a still lower 21.7% cancellation rate at that route.
Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom discussed Barnes’ DFA and subsequent trading on Fenway Rundown Podcast with Cotillo yesterday. Bloom noted that the Barnes to Miami trade “wasn’t something we knew was going to happen at the time of the DFA,” and suggested the opportunity for the trade arose after the aide lost his roster spot . He pointed to Bleier’s penchant for weak contacts and previous success in the AL East as a member of the Yankees and Orioles as reasons he is an attractive target for the front office.
Bleier adds a second left-hander to the Boston Relief Corps and joins the signee for the offseason Joely Rodriguez. The Sox have had a decent amount of turnover in that regard, waiver Darwinzon Hernandeztrade JoshTaylor Per Adalberto Mondesiand see Matt Strahm Departure via free agency. Boston has beginning pitching prospects like Chris Murphy and BrandonWalter who could theoretically flow into that mix after securing 40-man squad spots.
James Paxton is another southpaw on the list. Due to arm injuries, he has only played six MLB games in the last three seasons. That has sparked some speculation about the possibility of the veteran seeing relief measures to gradually build up his innings. Bloom didn’t rule that out entirely, although he warned that it might not be wise for a pitcher who’s started all 137 of his career in the big league.
“At the stage of his career that he is in, and having been through as much as he has been through medically, we would have to think long and hard about asking him to do something he hasn’t actually done . ‘ Bloom said to Cotillo. “That doesn’t rule it out, but you have to take that into account.”
The head of Boston baseball operations also balked at the possibility of using young rights Brayan Bello out of the bullpen and pointed to his “limit of being a really good starting pitcher”. Bloom noted that Boston could “creatively” manage the workload early in the season, but made it clear the team still sees Bello’s future as a starter. The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey writes that a move is also not being considered Nick Pivetta to the Bulli. Between this trio Chris SaleOffseason signee Corey Kluber and the rotation conversion for Garret Whitlockit seems things are trending in the right direction Tanner Houck full of relief for the coming season.