All winter long the Red Sox have played coy on who will be taking the mound to close out games in 2019. The departure of Craig Kimbrel to the free agent market left Manager Alex Cora without a guarantee in the ninth inning. With Opening Day less than a week away, Boston no longer has the time to play wait and see with the position.
When Kimbrel went to free agency and was asking for a ridiculous contract it was clear the Red Sox weren’t going to budge on the fireballer. But the free agent market had a wealth of pitching talent available that could’ve been signed to replace Kimbrel.