Red Sox Announce First Big Addition of Offseason

After a month of speculation, the Boston Red Sox have finally made their first big addition of the offseason.

On Tuesday, the Red Sox announced that they have hired Andrew Bailey to be the team's new pitching coach.

Andrew Bailey Red Sox News

Bailey's official hiring was merely a formality at this point, as this move has been in the works for a while now. Almost immediately after Craig Breslow was hired to be Boston's new Chief Baseball Officer last month, Bailey was named as the favorite to replace Dave Bush as the team's pitching coach.

Inevitable or not, Bailey's hiring makes sense for a lot of reasons.

Similar to Breslow, Bailey is also a former relief pitcher. The two were teammates with the Oakland A's from 2009-2011 and again with the Red Sox in 2012 and 2013, so they've already spent lots of quality time together on the field. Off the field, they co-founded the Strike 3 Foundation -- a non-profit charity focused on pediatric cancer research.

Bailey enjoyed a successful eight-year playing career that included an AL Rookie of the Year award in 2009 and two All-Star appearances during his time as one of the best closers in baseball. Since retiring after the 2017 season, he served as the Los Angeles Angels' bullpen coach in 2019 and the San Francisco Giants' pitching coach from 2020-2023.

Given his previous experience in Boston and relationship with Breslow, the 39-year-old Bailey is a natural fit for the role. He also has a track record of success with the Giants, helping their pitchers post the third-best ERA (4.02) in the National League last year. Hopefully he'll have some ideas on how to upgrade the Red Sox's mediocre pitching staff, which regressed during Bush's tenure and posted the fifth-worst ERA in the American League last year (4.52).

Time will tell if Bailey's able to have more success with Boston's staff than Bush did, although it will help if Breslow gets him an ace.

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