Red Sox sign veteran lefty reliever Justin Wilson to 1-year deal
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BOSTON – While the Red Sox woo free agent Juan Soto and pursue a trade for White Sox ace Garrett Crochet, they were able to make a complementary move on Thursday by finalizing a one-year contract with lefty reliever Justin Wilson. The veteran will earn $2.25 million, a source told MLB.com, but the club has not confirmed the value of the deal.
Adding Wilson is the first step by chief baseball officer Craig Breslow in what is expected to be a significant revamping of the bullpen this winter.
Closer Kenley Jansen and ace setup man Chris Martin are both free agents. Jansen isn’t in the club’s plans going forward, and it’s unclear whether the club will try to retain Martin.
Boston struggled from the left side of the bullpen in ’24, but for next year, Wilson joins Brennan Bernardino as manager Alex Cora's options.
Wilson pitched for the Reds last season, notching a 5.59 ERA in 60 outings. In 46 2/3 innings, Wilson gave up 55 hits and 13 walks while striking out 51.
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It was a comeback season for Wilson, who missed most of ’22 and all of ’23 following Tommy John surgery.
Wilson fared better against righties (.754 OPS) than lefties (.919 OPS) last season. In his career, Wilson’s splits are fairly neutral, as he’s held lefties to a .251 average and .704 OPS and righties to a .220 average and .650 OPS.
In a career that has also included stops in Pittsburgh, New York (Yankees and Mets), Detroit and Chicago (Cubs), the 37-year-old Wilson is 34-29 with a 3.61 ERA and 20 saves. All 587 of his appearances have been out of the bullpen.
Per Statcast, Wilson’s best attribute in ’24 was inducing a 33.8 percent chase rate, which put him in the 95th percentile.
In other news, the Red Sox announced the hiring of Chris Holt as their new bullpen coach. The 45-year-old, a native of Portland, Maine, spent the past five seasons as director of pitching for the Orioles. He was the club’s Major League pitching coach from 2021-23.