Some noteworthy stories from around the web for Red Sox fans:
- The Red Sox back office was clearly doing its due diligence correctly on this one. Aroldis Chapman looked mighty appealing at the start of the offseason but the Red Sox went with Craig Kimbrel in exchange for four Boston prospects. The move for Kimbrel undoubtedly improves the Sox bullpen, but not everyone thought it was a good deal. Perhaps the Reds would have required less for Chapman. But then word emerged this week that the Sox backed away from Chapman following a background check that exposed that the Reds closer had allegedly been involved in a serious domestic dispute.
- Count Yankees skipper Joe Girardi among those impressed with the moves for David Price (shown right), Chris Young, and Kimbrel by new Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski. That doesn’t mean he’s conceding, though, by any means. After all, Girardi says, everything can look good on paper but, “you’ve got to play the games on the field.”
- Tim Britton of the Providence Journal asks whether the re-tooled Boston bullpen is enough to counter what, with the acquisition of Price and the departure of Wade Miley, is still a shallow rotation. Clubs have increasingly reduced the load on starting pitchers from 71% of all innings played in 1988 to just 65% in 2015.