For months, it looked as if the Boston Red Sox needed one more left-handed reliever. Turns out, the Red Sox thought so too.
On Thursday, the Red Sox officially signed 36-year-old Danny Coulombe to a one-year, $1 million major league contract. It was great value on paper for a veteran with a 2.30 ERA in 43 innings last year, and it also dramatically changed the picture for Boston with opening day approaching.
The whole pitching staff could feasibly be impacted by the Coulombe signing, but for now, these are the three most important takeaways we have from the deal.
Bullpen depth chart now makes much more sense
Last season, the Red Sox arguably had too many lefties. But when they lost Brennan Bernardino, Steven Matz, Chris Murphy, and Justin Wilson in one fell swoop, they suddenly were left with Jovani Morán, who had two big-league appearances last year, as the No. 1 lefty behind closer Aroldis Chapman.
Coulombe should serve in a role that Wilson and Matz handled somewhat interchangeably last year: When there's a pocket of lefties coming up at an important point in the middle or late innings, he can be the man summoned to bail the Red Sox out of trouble.
Ryan Watson, non-roster invitees just saw opportunity wane
There are eight spots up for grabs in the bullpen to begin spring training, but the Red Sox probably had five or six locked up for most of the spring. With Coulombe in tow, that number just jumped to either six or seven.
Rule 5 pickup Ryan Watson has the most dire situation, as he has to make the major league roster to avoid being offered back to the San Francisco Giants and losing his 40-man roster spot. But the likes of Kyle Keller, Tayron Guerrero, Seth Martinez, and Tyler Samaniego are fighting for one less spot now too.
Less pressure on Jovani Morán
Morán was coming off Tommy John surgery last year and probably wasn't ready to serve in a key role yet. And we've seen him be effective in a full season before (2.21 ERA in 40 2/3 innings in 2022). But it sure seemed like the Red Sox would be asking a lot from him if he was the only other lefty outside of Chapman in the mix.
Now, Red Sox fans can start getting excited about Morán's potential resurgence without feeling like the weight of the world will be on his shoulders.