Red Sox deal starting depth, stockpile bullpen arms

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NASHVILLE -- Having already obtained a closer, an ace and a fourth outfielder, Dave Dombrowski came to his first winter meetings as president of baseball operations for the Red Sox looking to strengthen his bullpen.

Now, that's done, too.

"We've been fortunate,'' said Dombrowski. "Everything has fallen into place well for us.''

On the first full day of the meetings, Dombrowski sent Wade Miley and Jonathan Aro to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for righthander Carson Smith and lefty Roenis Elias.

Smith, 26, appeared in 70 games last season for the Mariners, striking out 70 and allowing just 48 hits while posting 2.31 ERA. He finished with the third best WAR of any reliever in the game. He had the third-highest ground ball rate (65.4 percent) among American League relievers and owns a career strikeout-to-walk ratio of just over 4-to-1.

"We like him a lot,'' said Dombrowski. "We're pleased to be able to get him. We think it gives us another power arm in the bullpen. It gives us a lot of depth from the right side -- now we're talking about (closer Craig) Kimbrel, (Koji) Uehara, (Junichi) Tazawa and now Smith, plus other guys. We think we're a lot deeper out there. It gives a lot more depth, out there. When John (Farrell) wants to rest people, he can move other people up a notch.

"We really like what he brings to our staff. He's another power arm that's young.''

Indeed, one of the attractions on Smith was that the Red Sox control him for another five seasons. Smith is not yet eligible for arbitration, making him very affordable.

Smith, who throws from a low three-quarters delivery, offers a sinker-slider mix, contrasting with Uehara's four-seam/split-finger mix and Kimbrel's fastball-curve arsenal.

His arrival gives the Sox another swing-and-miss reliever in the back end of the bullpen. Like the world champion Kansas City Royals, who stockpiled multiple power arms, the Red Sox are insisting on volume.

"I think it shows people, the more people you can trot out there, the better off you are,'' said Dombrowski. "You can hold people scoreless for a longer number of innings. It's changed.''

"What's clearly different with this group,'' said John Farrell, "is that it's deeper in talent, it's deeper in performance and it's deeper in its ability to get strikeouts in key spots.''

Miley was dealt almost exactly a year to the day after he was obtained, and attracted a lot of interest from opposing clubs. He went 11-11 with a 4.46 ERA and topped 190 innings for the fourth straight season.

"They asked about some of the other guys,'' said Dombrowski. "But I'd say more guys approached on him. We made it clear we weren't open (to moving) Rodriguez. We just listened to what other people had to say. We really weren't pushing anything. A lot of clubs had interest in Miley, but we had interest in other guys, too.''

Elias' role is less clear. He's started 45 games in the last two seasons, but could be utilized in relief, too. He's 15-20 with a .3.97 ERA over his first two seasons, covering 51 appearances -- all but two as a starter. He gave up three runs or fewer in 15 of his 20 starts last season.

"He could do either,'' said Dombrowski. "We'd consider him for the bullpen. But like his arm. We like his ability to either one. We'd give him a chance to make the club in the bullpen.''

"I don't think so. We're open-minded to making ourselves better in any way we can. But I think with the five starters that are with us --- (David) Price, (Eduardo) Rodriguez, (Clay) Buchholz, (Rick) Porcello, (Joe) Kelly, (Henry) Owens, (Brian) Johnson is more of a protection guy because he was out (with a forearm injury in the second half).''

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