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By Jon Vankin
Contributing Sports Writer
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On Thursday, the Boston Red Sox moved to fix the one glaring weakness in their bullpen heading into spring training. Outside of All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman, they had no left-handed relievers. The Red Sox appeared to be willing to give a bullpen spot to Jovani Morán, who has pitched just four major league innings over the past two seasons.
But according to a report by longtime MLB insider Ken Rosenthal, the Red Sox finally filled their lefty bullpen vacancy, agreeing to terms with 11-year veteran free agent Danny Coulombe, who divided 55 appearances last season between the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.
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The 36-year-old Coulombe will ink a one-year deal for an even $1 million with the Red Sox, according to Red Sox correspondent Chris Cotillo of MassLive, following up on Rosenthal's initial report.
When the 2025 season ended, the Red Sox had four southpaw relievers in middle relief roles, plus Chapman closing out games. But they traded Brennan Bernardino to the Colorado Rockies for outfielder Braiden Ward. Trade deadline acquisition Steven Matz signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays. Veteran Justin Wilson was not re-signed at age 38, and is believed to be looking at retirement. And 27-year-old Chris Murphy, who came back from Tommy John surgery last season, was dealt to the Chicago White Sox.
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Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow — a left-handed reliever himself who pitched 12 major league seasons including five for the Red Sox — appeared to feel no urgency to replace any of the departed southpaw quartet, saying at the outset of spring training, “We continue to explore opportunities. We also feel good about the group we have,” as quoted by Cotillo.
With just two weeks to go before the Red Sox are scheduled to open the new season on the road against the Cincinnati Reds, Breslow finally made a move to fill the left-handed bullpen spot.
In 40 appearances for the Twins last season, Coulombe was dominant, with a 1.16 ERA in 31 innings, allowing an 0.968 WHIP and striking out 31. After he was traded to Texas as part of Minnesota's trade deadline fire sale, the left-hander seemed to lose his bearings, getting touched up for seven runs and 11 hits in 12 innings over 15 appearances for a 5.25 ERA.
The Red Sox will clearly hope that they will see the Twins version of Coulombe this year. To make room for the new bullpen addition on the 40-man roster, Boston moved injured infielder Romy Gonzalez to the 60-day injured list.
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