5 free agents the Boston Red Sox will actually sign this offseason

3. RP Anthony Swarzak

Journeyman reliever Anthony Swarzak could be another right-handed arm that the Red Sox add to their bullpen. A strong bullpen can carry you in the postseason, and Boston clearly needs to improve. In 2017, Swarzak split time with the White Sox and Brewers, appearing in 70 total games with a 2.33 ERA.

That’s a career-best ERA for Swarzak, and he may finally be finding his groove. Boston could use him as a middle reliever with Joe Kelly, Tyler Thornburg, Bryan Shaw (potentially), and Craig Kimbrel at the back end to close things out. He’d be an upgrade over Blaine Boyer or Heath Hembree in the middle of the pack. The Red Sox may not have a ton of money to spend, but it’s unclear what the market will be for Swarzak. His numbers were great in 2017, but no one knows if he will repeat or not. There’s a chance he falls back to his career averages with an ERA over 4, so we will have to wait and see who is willing to take a chance here.