While the Red Sox main focus remains to be centered around the bullpen, the Yankees, Rays, Blue Jays, White Sox, Orioles and Cubs appear to have shifted their focus to adding relievers as well. Here are a few updates from the reliever market:
- The Tampa Bay Rays and free agent reliever Joel Peralta agreed to a 1-year, $900K contract according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney.
- The Rays are also targeting former White Sox closer Bobby Jenks, as they appear to be the front runner and close to signing him says Mark J. Miller of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Yankees are "close to agreeing" with former Mets left-hander Pedro Feliciano tweets Bob Klapish of the Bergen Report.
- The Blue Jays appear to have their sights set on free-agent reliever Octavio Dotel says Jon Paul Morsi of Foxsports.com.
- The Cubs and reliever Kerry Wood are expected to finalize a contract today reports David Kaplan of Chicago Now.
- Although they were unable to close a deal with him yesterday, the Orioles remain the favorite to sign Blue Jays reliever Kevin Gregg says Dan Connoly of the Baltimore Sun.
With all of these names now likely off the board, the Red Sox targets get thinner and thinner by the minute. While they are still in discussions with Dan Wheeler, they still seem likely to add another reliever, preferably a left-handed one. They also remain very interested in former Twins reliever Brian Fuentes as their prime lefty target.
The Red Sox could also be interested in Mariners reliever David Aardsma, according to Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe. Aardsma pitched for the Red Sox in 2008, and did put up an impressive 3.45 ERA for the Mariners in 2010 serving as the team's closer.
The Red Sox have already added former Oriole Matt Albers to fill a presumable mop-up role in the bullpen and Lenny DiNardo, who will likely give AAA Pawtucket some extra depth.
There is still a lot of work the Sox need to do on their bullpen and little time to do it.