The reason that
Joe Kelly (AKA
Jim Buchanan) will be pitching at
Chavez Ravine instead of
Fenway Park next year comes down to:
one year. According to multiple reports,
the Red Sox were unwilling to go to a third year on their 2-year offer to Kelly—and, of course, the Dodgers
did go there. Kelly will get $25 million over the course of the deal—a significant raise over the $2.6 million he earned from Boston in 2018. Despite his brilliant performance in the 2018 post-season, Kelly's regular-season numbers last year were pedestrian at best. While he achieved "folk hero" status after the
"Joe Kelly Fight Club" brawl against
The Evil Ones, it probably did not make sense to extend him to that third year. Hopefully, the money saved on Kelly will be spent on either
Adam Ottavino or
David Robertson—
or both. Stay tuned!
