The Red Sox are casting a wide net in their pursuit of relief help

The Red Sox could potentially go a in a few different directions over the next few weeks prior to the trade deadline. With Dustin Pedroia looking more and more like he could miss the rest of the season, Boston could look for second base help. Christian Vazquez could be out until September, and the team could decide they want more stable catching help than what they currently have. Those two spots aside, though, it continues to look like relief help is the team’s number one focus. In his latest notes column for ESPN, Jerry Crasnick writes that the team is casting a wide net in their search for bullpen help.

Nothing included here is too surprising, including the fact that the team sent out an evaluator to scout Kyle Barraclough. The Marlins are obvious sellers, and Barraclough is their top reliever to sell. It only makes sense that Boston would check in. Crasnick has also previously linked Boston to Fernando Rodney of the Twins and here he also mentions the Padres as a possible trade partner. San Diego has a few different options including Brad Hand, Kirby Yates and Craig Stammen.

The most interesting part of this report, however, is that Dave Dombrowski apparently checked in with the Rockies to ask about Wade Davis and Adam Ottavino. Now, Crasnick points out that Colorado is still within striking distance of a playoff spot and is not looking to sell right now. However, this shows how far Boston is looking for relief help. They are leaving no stone unturned, and that’s good. Ottavino in particular is a wildly intriguing option as he has some of the nastiest stuff in baseball and pairing him and Craig Kimbrel would be borderline unfair. He’s also a rental, which would drive the price down. I’ve said before that Ottavino and D.J. LeMahieu would be a really intriguing package to me, and this gets me at least a little excited that there’s a small chance of it happening. Ultimately, I don’t expect Colorado to be a trade partner, but Dombrowski at least sees it as possible. If nothing else, the takeaway here is that Boston is very serious about upgrading the back of their bullpen.