The Red Sox bullpen was one of the worst in baseball last season. Boston relievers blew 31 saves, second only to the Chicago White Sox, who blew 37 on a team that lost a record 121 games. Upgrading the relief corps is obviously high on the priority list for Craig Breslow, Boston’s chief of baseball operations, and he’s looking for power pitchers to do it.
“Guys who can generate swings and misses, whether that’s big velocity or dominant breaking balls, those guys are successful, especially in the postseason. So I think we’re going to look to add some raw stuff,” Breslow said at the start of the current offseason.
The Red Sox have already signed veteran Aroldis Chapman, who even at age 36 was clocked at over 105 mph in 2024. Now, a new trade proposal would see Boston add another 105 mph bullpen arm: Jhoan Duran of the Minnesota Twins.
The idea came up on the WEEI-affiliated Red Sox podcast “Play Tessie” on Friday, when host Nat Gordon proposed sending homer-prone righty starter Kutter Crawford to the Twins for Duran.
Gordon also suggested the Twins throw in catcher Christian Vasquez, who was drafted by the Red Sox in 2008 and was an important player on their World Series-winning 2018 team.
For the Twins, the motive to make the deal would be mainly financial. With a payroll in baseball’s bottom tier every year — the Twins ranked 20th in 2024 —dumping the $10 million they still owe Vasquez and avoiding what will likely be sizable arbitration awards to Duran in 2025 and 2026 will help keep them in their roster in the $120 million range.
The podcast hosts also suggested the Red Sox toss $5 million into the deal along with Crawford — who surrendered an MLB-worst 34 home runs in 2024 — to help cover the 28-year-old righty’s salary, which will probably be in the $5 million range after he earned $3.85 million last season.
