It's no secret that the Boston Red Sox's bullpen struggled in 2022.
The Boston bullpen was in flux for most of the season with two of the team's strongest relievers in Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck having their roles changed throughout the season due to injuries. Matt Barnes also mightily struggled to open the season before finishing out the campaign strong. In general, the Red Sox's bullpen wasn't what they hoped it would be last season, and that culminated in finishing the year with the fifth-worst bullpen ERA in the entire league at 4.59.
Boston already has made an intriguing move this offseason by signing Joely Rodriguez to a deal in free agency. The 31-year-old's numbers on paper aren't extremely impressive, but he ended the year on fire for the New York Mets and if he can carry over the level of play into 2023, he will undoubtedly be one of the team's most consistent arms.
The Red Sox are sure to make a few more moves in the bullpen before the 2023 campaign rolls around, and one that the team should consider that could pay off mightily would be checking in with former Boston hurler David Price.
Price spent four seasons in Boston and over that span was one of the team's strongest arms and was one of the biggest reasons why the squad was able to take home the 2018 World Series title. There's even an argument to be made that he should have been the Most Valuable Player of the World Series over Steve Pearce.
The 2012 American League Cy Young winner has spent the last two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers and has seen his role change from a starting pitcher, to moving to the bullpen. Price was a strong arm out of the Dodgers bullpen and put together a 2.45 ERA in 40 appearances while striking 37 batters in 40 1/3 innings pitched.
When Boston last signed Price he was the biggest pitcher on the market and because of that inked a seven-year deal worth over $217 million. Price is now 37 years old and is at a different point in his career and definitely wouldn't command a deal anywhere near that. He's likely to get a short-term deal unlikely to top an annual value of over $10 million and could easily be afforded by the Red Sox if they are interested.
If Price was interested in a reunion, he would add an intriguing left-handed option to the Boston bullpen and immediately would make it better. As solid as Price was last season, he may not pitch for too much longer so a reunion would be a nice way to wrap up a Hall of Fame career, especially if Boston is able to re-sign Xander Bogaerts and put together a contender in 2023.
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