The Red Sox have engaged in talks with free-agent reliever Héctor Rondón in recent days, multiple sources told MassLive on Monday. Rondón hit the open market after requesting his release from the Phillies on Thursday.
Rondón, 33, signed a minor-league deal with Philadelphia in early February and had a rough spring training, allowing seven earned runs in seven innings (7.71 ERA) while striking out eight batters. The eight-year major-league veteran also struggled in 2020, posting a 7.65 ERA in 20 innings with Arizona, but had previously posted a career 3.29 ERA in 421 games with the Cubs and Astros.
The Red Sox, who received good news earlier Monday when reliever Matt Barnes and eight others (including relievers Matt Andriese and Garrett Whitlock) in contact tracing were cleared to rejoin the team, were known to be considering adding outside relief help even before Barnes’ positive COVID-19 temporarily threw the bullpen mix into flux over the weekend. Assuming Barnes, Andriese and Whitlock are good to go for Opening Day, they’ll join Austin Brice, Darwinzon Hernandez, Adam Ottavino, Hirokazu Sawamura, Josh Taylor and either Colten Brewer or Phillips Valdez in the bullpen to start the season. With Ryan Brasier (right pinkie fracture) slated to begin the year on the injured list, the Red Sox plan to choose from either Brewer or Valdez for the final spot if they don’t make an external upgrade.
Rondón isn’t the only veteran reliever who is available after opting out of a contract elsewhere. According to a source, the Red Sox have also inquired about left-hander Jesse Biddle, a former Phillies prospect who was recently released by the Reds. Boston also had interest in Massachusetts native Steve Cishek on a minor-league deal but it appears he will be signing a big-league deal elsewhere in the near future. Tommy Hunter, Tony Watson, Carl Edwards Jr., Jesse Chavez and Mike Montgomery are among the other relievers to recently hit the open market.
In the wake of Barnes’ positive test, Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom said a free-agent addition was possible. It’s unclear if Monday’s news changes things.
“It’s interesting because this is the time of year where there’s often a lot of movement as teams are setting rosters,” Bloom said Sunday. “Players might become available that haven’t been throughout the spring. So generally speaking, it’s a time of year when you’re looking around. This adds a little bit of a twist to that. At the same time, we’ve need to make sure that we’ve got our arms around the developing situation here and to the extent that this is just a short-term bump in the road. We also need to be mindful of that.”
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Boston Red Sox have had talks with Héctor Rondón; veteran reliever opted out of Phillies deal last week - MassLive.com
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