Just yesterday, it was announced that the Boston Red Sox have made an agreement with reliever Chris Martin to a two-year contract. The deal comes in to be worth $17,500,000, pending a physical.
Martin had a tremendous second-half of his season, after being dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers from the Chicago Cubs. The lengthy, righty combined for a 4-1 record, along with a 3.05 ERA last season. Specifically with the Dodgers, Martin had a spectacular 0.5 WHIP and a 34 strikeout to walk ratio.
The newest member of the Boston Red Sox, can be considered as a journeymen. Martin made his MLB debut with the Colorado Rockies during the 2014 season. Since then, the reliever has bounced around to seven teams along with a stint in the Japanese league.
Martin was a member of the Braves' World Series-winning bullpen in 2021. During the, Fall Classic game against the Astros, he made two appearances, surrendering zero runs.
Does Chris Martin Solve the Red Sox Bullpen Issue?
Last season, Boston's bullpens performance can be described as horrendous. Boston' bullpen ranked 26th in the Majors with a 4.59 ERA. The team surrendered numerous of blown saves and wins, do to the lack of depth at the position. In addition, the team has yet to designated a closer within the organization. Although, it's extremely likely that role will be covered by righty's Chris Martin, John Schreiber and Tanner Houck.
Can one arm really change the perspective of an entire bullpen? To sum up, in a fan's perspective it shouldn't come as a shock if Sox's GM Chaim Bloom adds additional veteran relief pitching within the days to come.
The bullpen has been identified as the main issue surrounding the team over the course of two years. Furthermore, Bloom also signed 31-year-old, Joely Rodriguez to a one-year deal, earlier this offseason.