{"id":1163366,"date":"2026-02-22T20:34:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T01:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/?p=1163366"},"modified":"2026-02-22T20:34:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T01:34:04","slug":"red-sox-roster-boston-searching-free-agent-trade-markets-for-left-handed-relief-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/red-sox-roster-boston-searching-free-agent-trade-markets-for-left-handed-relief-help\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Sox roster: Boston searching free agent, trade markets for left-handed relief help"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 As exhibition games get underway in both Arizona and Florida this weekend, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/redsox\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/redsox\/\">the Red Sox <\/a>remain interested in improving their bullpen depth from the left side, several sources confirmed Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">At present, the Red Sox have just three lefty relievers \u2014 Aroldis Chapman, Jovani Moran and Tyler Samaniego \u2014 on their 40-man roster. Chapman, of course, is locked in as the team\u2019s closer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ampexcoVideoPlayer\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">The team has said it does not intend to pitch any of their lefty depth starters like Payton Tolle or Connelly Early in relief.<\/p>\n<div class=\"amp-ad-container hide-on-desktop\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">Both Moran and Samaniego are battling for the role of lefty reliever.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/red-sox-opening-day-roster-151955569.html\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/redsox\/2026\/02\/with-red-sox-opening-day-roster-spot-on-line-lefty-admits-yeah-i-think-about-it.html\">Moran has some rather limited big league experience with the Minnesota Twins<\/a>, having appeared in 79 games between 2021-2023 and two games with the Red Sox in the second half of last season. Samaniego, obtained in the deal that saw the Red Sox acquire Johan Oviedo from Pittsburgh, has yet to make his major league debut and, in fact, hasn\u2019t pitched above Double A.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">Over the winter, the team dealt away a handful of lefty relievers, <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/article\/red-sox-trade-brennan-bernardino-005758474.html\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/redsox\/2025\/11\/red-sox-trade-brennan-bernardino-to-rockies-for-speedy-outfielderinfielder.html\">including Brennan Bernardino <\/a>and Chris Murphy while electing not to re-sign Justin Wilson and Steven Matz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">That\u2019s left the Red Sox without a lot of lefty options to pair with mainstays Chapman, Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten and Greg Weissert.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">The Sox intend to have scouts looking at some lefty relievers in rival camps, both in games and in back-field workouts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">There remains a handful of veteran lefty relievers still available on the free agent market, including Jalen Beeks, Danny Coulombe, Colin Poche and Joey Lucchesi. Wilson, meanwhile, is said to be leaning toward retirement.<\/p>\n<div class=\"amp-ad-container hide-on-desktop\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">Many of those free agents have been seeking major league deals, while teams, this late in spring, have been more focused on minor league deals with invitations to big league camp.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">The fact that camps are underway and exhibition games are being played could exert some pressure on the free agents to accept NRI (non-roster invitation) deals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\">The Red Sox are currently at full capacity with their 40-man roster, with the potential of having to add players when they set the Opening Day roster. Retaining some roster flexibility as the spring progresses remains a priority.<\/p>\n<h2>More Red Sox coverage<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/redsox\/2026\/02\/how-red-sox-starter-can-be-a-lot-different-by-getting-feel-back-for-bread-and-butter-pitch.html\">How Red Sox starter can be \u2018a lot different\u2019 by getting feel back for \u2018bread-and-butter\u2019 pitch<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/redsox\/2026\/02\/red-sox-hopes-for-better-infield-defense-will-require-improvement-from-trevor-story.html\">Red Sox\u2019 hopes for better infield defense will require improvement from Trevor Story <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/why-red-sox-alex-cora-152331097.html\">Why Red Sox\u2019 Alex Cora likes about Trevor Story batting second in lineup<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/redsox\/2026\/02\/red-sox-lineup-trade-addition-starting-at-third-base-trevor-story-batting-second.html\">Red Sox lineup: Trade addition starting at third base, Trevor Story batting second<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/red-sox-pitcher-reached-104-110053984.html\">Red Sox pitcher who\u2019s reached 104 mph discovered baseball at 16 thanks to the Red Sox<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Read the original article on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/redsox\/2026\/02\/red-sox-in-search-of-additional-lh-bullpen-depth.html\">MassLive<\/a>. Add <a href=\"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/\">MassLive<\/a> as a Preferred Source by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=masslive.com\">clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/red-sox-search-additional-lh-184149907.html\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"\">https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/red-sox-search-additional-lh-184149907.html<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>FORT MYERS, Fla. \u2014 As exhibition games get underway in both Arizona and Florida this weekend, the Red Sox remain interested in improving their bullpen&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1163367,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1163366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1163366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1163367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1163366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1163366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1163366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}