A former first-round pick, American League Rookie of the Year and one-time All-Star pitcher has fallen into the Red Sox’s lap on the eve of the start of spring training.
Sadly, you won’t be seeing him on a mound in Fort Myers or Fenway Park anytime soon…
Michael Fulmer is reportedly set to join the Sox on a minor league deal, but the almost 31-year-old right-hander is sidelined indefinitely while recovering from elbow surgery that is expected to keep him out of action for all of 2024.
Fulmer began his major league career as a promising starter, putting together his best season to date as a 23-year-old rookie with the Detroit Tigers in 2016. His 11-7 record, 3.06 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 132 strikeouts in 159 innings over 26 starts earned him the AL’s top newcomer honors.
After earning his lone career All-Star selection the following season, the injuries began to set in. Fulmer has since missed significant time with right elbow and right knee injuries — including undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2019.
His ineffective 2020 pandemic season — he went 0-2 with an 8.78 ERA in 10 starts — spelled the end of his career as a full-time starter. Fulmer carved out a role as an effective reliever over the next three seasons between Detroit, the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs, pitching to a 3.55 ERA over 177 appearances — all but five coming out of the bullpen.
When Fulmer does return to the mound, there’s reason for hope that he could become a valuable member of the Red Sox's bullpen. He’ll be 32 when he returns, and a pitcher who once relied on power stuff might have to reinvent his pitch mix if his velocity tails off.
Yet we recently witnessed the James Paxton rehab arc be somewhat successful in his mid-30s, and a 36-year-old Kenley Jansen is coming off an All-Star season. In an era where quality openers and long relievers are among the most valuable arms in the game, Fulmer could very well wind up carving out a meaningful Red Sox career.
But for now, we'll have to wait...
Last call for Jordan Montgomery
Despite needlessly dragging their feet all winter, it appears the Red Sox will have one more shot to sign Jordan Montgomery.
MLB.com reports the free-agent 31-year-old left-hander will make a decision on his next team by Thursday — one day after the first spring training workout for pitchers and catchers for the Red Sox in Fort Myers.
Returning to the defending World Series champion Texas Rangers remains the “logical” destination, per the reporting of Jon Heyman at the New York Post. But Heyman adds that the Red Sox remain an option as they “are still looking for starters."
Something that once felt like a foregone conclusion earlier in the offseason with Montgomery moving to Boston for his wife’s medical residency has lost all momentum.
So what exactly has been the hold up? As has been well established (I feel like I’ve been beating you over the head with it...), the Sox are still in desperate need of at least one more starter. In particular, a left-handed starter after the Chris Sale trade.
The most realistic answer would seem to be that Craig Breslow and the Sox are unwilling to pay him (unless, of course, they can offload the extremely prohibitive (/s) $16 million salary of Jansen, who Heyman reports Boston continues to field offers for and is drawing interest from the Dodgers and Padres. If bringing in a pitcher of Montgomery’s caliber is contingent on shipping out another All-Star arm, then why even bother with the signing...?).
I would still expect to see the Red Sox make some kind of move to bring in a starter before the season begins, but teaming up with Montgomery is far from a sure thing anymore…
In or out on Jarren Duran?
Just as things were starting to get good for Jarren Duran, it’s looking more and more like his stay in Boston could be a short one.
The 27-year-old outfielder is also a target of the Padres along with Jansen according to Robert Murray at FanSided.
Duran had a disastrous first couple of seasons in Boston (after the infamous inside-the-park grand slam fiasco and his petulant response to it afterward, I thought Duran’s run with the Red Sox was all but over before it began). But give the kid credit, he put his head down and went to work — and we saw last season why he was considered a valued prospect within the organization.
His .295 average, 34 doubles and 24 steals in 102 games provided hope that Duran could blossom into the leadoff hitter the team has been missing since the Mookie Betts days. Of course, he isn’t in the same stratosphere as Betts, but he’s flashed all the traits you want to see out of an everyday leadoff hitter.
Trading Duran now — especially if you’re not making an earnest effort to contend in 2024 — makes no sense. Why give up on a player with *five* more years of team control who overcame a rough start to prove they can hack it in this market so soon?
Now, if Duran and Jansen were part of a bigger trade to bring back a major league-caliber starter, I certainly wouldn’t object. But the pitcher with Padres ties I’d have my eyes set on instead is Blake Snell, who wouldn’t cost you Duran or Jansen. But we all know the likelihood of that happening…
Cash gets paid
One of my favorite managers in the game is getting his just reward.
Former Red Sox backup catcher turned Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash has been given a multi-year extension along with president of baseball operations Erik Neander, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The deal will keep the two with Tampa Bay through at least 2028.
That’s bad news for the Red Sox on multiple fronts. What Cash and the innovative Rays have been able to do in the last six seasons has been nothing short of a thorn in Boston’s side. It’s one thing when you’re finishing behind the high-spending Yankees or Blue Jays in the AL East standings, but also to be looking up at the low-spending Rays (not to mention the Orioles, too)? Brutal.
I’ve long felt that Cash would’ve been a good fit in Boston if (or when) the team parted ways with Alex Cora. If Cash has been able to pull the right string to have success with the lot he's been given in Tampa Bay, imagine what he could do with a team that actually spends (...or used to)?
Not only does he have the whole “former World Series champion in Boston” thing going for him, but in spending a lot of time around him in pre- and postgame settings during his visits to Fenway Park, I’ve gleaned that while he’s a naturally friendly and likable guy, he doesn’t take any crap and isn’t fazed by plying from the media. All perfect traits for a manager in Boston in my book…
At any rate, kudos to Cashie. There aren’t many guys more personable — and deserving — in the game today.
Pedro the Yankee?
It feels dirty to even think about, but… can you imagine Pedro Martinez, the pinstriped Yankees legend? In a recent interview with Santiago Matias of Alofoke FM, Pedro admitted it was a possibility…
"I asked for a trade three times to play with the New York Yankees," he told Alofoke FM, as translated by MLB insider Hector Gomez.
Oof. Now, it isn’t clear when he asked for these trades. Martinez, of course, spent two MLB seasons with the Dodgers and four with the Expos before being traded to Boston. And after his storied seven-year Sox career concluded, he played five more seasons — including four with the New York Mets.
What a huge loss that would have been for Red Sox Nation. The unmatched brilliance of his Red Sox career aside, it’s fair to say Pedro wasn’t at his best during the 2004 postseason run, but he is an integral part of the story of ending the Curse.
Imagine those Sox-Yankees rivalries without the “Who’s Your Daddy?” chants? Or if he was in the other dugout in the ’03 ALCS and threw 47-year-old Sox bench coach Jerry Narron to the ground instead of his Yankees’ counterpart, a 72-year-old Don Zimmer?
Fortunately, we never had to witness that. I’m pretty sure Pedro is pretty content with how it all worked out too…
Gethin Coolbaugh is a columnist for Boston Sports Journal. Follow him @GethinCoolbaugh on X/Twitter.