Joe Kelly will be heading back to the National League, agreeing to a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for three years and $25M. Kelly finishes his Red Sox career with a 21-11 Won/Loss record, a 4.33 ERA, 319 strikeouts, and a World Series Championship. Although uneven during his regular season performances (he posted a 5.18 ERA in 2016, and a 2.79 ERA in 2017 for example), Kelly was an integral part of the Sox' post-season success in 2018, allowing just one earned run in three playoff series. In the World Series against his new squad, Kelly struck out 10 in 6 IP, and had some of the most electric stuff Red Sox fans had ever seen. 

The Baseball Winter Meetings will wrap up tomorrow at Mandalay Bay in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada. The only real impactful move at the talks came yesterday when the Phillies announced a deal in principle with free agent outfielder Andrew McCutchen for three years and $50M dollars. Otherwise, conversations on Bryce Harper and Manny Machado have been either quiet or contradictory. Usually in baseball offseasons, teams wait for the big shoes to drop to see how the market will shake out even if they’re not in on any of the star players. The Red Sox are a team that doesn’t really need to do to much to their roster to #continuetodamage. They re-signed World Series MVP Steve Pearce shortly after their World Series victory, and officially announced a new deal with versatile flame thrower Nathan Eovaldi earlier in the week at a formal presser. It was also reported yesterday by several sources that Rick Porcello, Jackie Bradley, Jr. and Xander Bogaerts had all drawn interest from other clubs and that the Red Sox were listening to offers on these cornerstone players. Dave Dombrowski downplayed some of the gossip, clarifying that the Sox “listen to all offers,” so without delving too much into Fake News, let’s consider some areas that the Sox should upgrade to improve an already talented and electric team.

​The Red Sox solidified their starting rotation for 2019 and beyond by signing postseason hero Nathan Eovaldi to a four year, $67.5M contract. The hard throwing righty was an integral piece of Boston’s playoff run, and became a fan favorite with strong performances against the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers. With the signing, Boston’s starting five projects to be Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Eovaldi, and some combination of Eduardo Rodriguez and/or Steven Wright, unless the Sox view Eovaldi as a possible closer if Craig Kimbrel does not resign (likely) or if Matt Barnes or another closing option is not explored during this Hot Stove season. It will be interesting to see if Eovaldi’s post-season versatility will sway the Sox into considering this move. Either way, the Sox retain a pitcher who seemed to thrive under the bright lights of Boston’s scrutinizing eye.

In what has already been an exciting MLB off-season, another domino is apparently about to fall. It has been reported that Patrick Corbin has decided to join the Washington Nationals, shocking many around baseball. Especially after the Phillies said they will not be outbid.

With the annual Winter Meetings less than two weeks away, MLB free agency is set to start heating up very soon. The Red Sox don't have much money to spend, but they've still been linked to a number of the most popular players available this offseason. One of the most polarizing players that the Red Sox could target is star reliever Andrew Miller.

Just two days after scoring a franchise-record 60 points in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, Kemba Walker continued his dominance against a struggling Celtics team.

Walker poured in 43 points in the Hornets’ 119-114 victory over the Celtics on Monday night. His all-around scoring prowess proved to be too much for a Celtics’ team that is left with a debilitating feeling following two straight losses.

To the surprise of pretty much no one, Mookie Betts has won the American League Most Valuable Player Award. Mookie finished with a 10.9 Wins Above Replacement (the most since Barry Bonds roamed right field for the Giants), a .346 batting average, 32 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 80 RBI from the leadoff spot. In the field, he had a grand total of one error in 278 chances patrolling the cavernous right field at Fenway Park. In the past 30 days, Mookie has won a World Series Ring, had his first child, and won MLB’s most coveted individual award. In the past 30 days I made it to the gym twice, raked a bunch of leaves on Saturday, and posted something on Facebook that had 100 likes.

First and foremost, I want to give a huge shoutout to Steve Pearce. Pearce connected for a few extremely clutch hits during the 2018 postseason, including RBI singles in games one and three of the ALDS vs. the Yankees, a solo homerun in game 3 of the ALCS vs. Houston, and of course his MVP performance in the Fall Classic against the Trolley Dodgers, going 4 for 8 with three homers and 7 RBI in the final two games to write the Hollywood ending the Sox were striving for since February. Pearce was undoubtedly the most productive offensive player for the Sox in the five game series, and I had no problem with him snatching the award from under David Price’s nose (although come on...co-MVPs please?). So much praise for Pearce. He helped bring home the hardware, and will never have to buy another drink in the 617 or 508 area codes for the rest of his life (does the 413 watch sports? I mean besides at UMass?). Although he has cemented his legacy with the Sox, the team should NOT give Pearce a lucrative nor long-term deal in free-agency. Re-signing a World Series MVP has bitten the Sox in the butt before, and there is no reason why they should fall into the same sentimental trap again.

The Red Sox have a good number of tough decisions to make this offseason, but none of them begin to compare to what they will be facing one year from now.

I took my kids to the Wold Series Parade today, and besides getting trapped in a gas station parking lot because of a fence, things went pretty smooth (PS...Fence lasted about 15 minutes before late teen/early 20's heroes tore the thing down, freeing all of us). I was stationed right outside of Fenway Park, after having attended the season ticket holder rally, which was awesome. Mayor Marty Walsh, Governor Baker, Dr. Creepy (John Henry), Chanty McChantenstein (Tom Werner)....