The American League East is always an arms race, and the New York Yankees acquired some serious firepower on Friday.
Will the Boston Red Sox respond in kind?
The Yankees made their second huge move of the week, acquiring former Milwaukee Brewers All-Star closer Devin Williams for pitcher Nestor Cortes and infielder Caleb Durbin. After adding a new ace in Max Fried earlier in the week, the Yankees added a true lockdown reliever.
When the Yankees signed Fried, the Red Sox responded less than 24 hours later by trading for fellow lefty Garrett Crochet. Will history repeat itself, and will the Red Sox now go out and add another bullpen weapon to shore up one of their biggest roster holes?
On Friday, NESN’s Tim Crowley released a roster projection for the 2025 Red Sox, and it included the signing of lefty reliever Tanner Scott, who was an All-Star in 2024 with the Miami Marlins before being traded to the San Diego Padres.
“Boston already made a pair of additions to this group this offseason with the signings of Wilson and Chapman,” Crowley said. “Whitlock and Winckowski should respond well to work in the middle innings.”
“The final addition should absolutely be Scott.”
Scott has been positively dominant since the start of the 2023 season, posting a 2.04 ERA and 7.6 bWAR in 150 innings of work. He’s struck out 188 batters in that span, proving particularly effective at shutting down Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani in the playoffs.
With Justin Slaten and Liam Hendriks currently slated as the main two options to hold the closer role, Scott would have a very strong case as the new ninth-inning man for Alex Cora to deploy. He’s projected for a four-year, $64 million contract by Tim Britton of The Athletic.
Boston gave Kenley Jansen $32 million to be their closer two years ago, so spending double that is a big ask from Craig Breslow and the ownership group. Now is the time to prove the talk about spending big this winter wasn’t just talk, and land a new stud for the bullpen.
