Jake, Keaton, and Bob discuss the Alex Verdugo and Tyler O’Neill Trades, review the Rule 5 Draft, and try to make sense of the slow pitching free agent market.

Welcome back to The Red Seat Podcast, episode number 301. This week, Jake Devereaux, Keaton DeRocher, and Bob Osgood reflect on the Alex Verdugo era, discuss the Tyler O’Neill trade, look at the relief pitchers that have been brought in, and answer listener questions about the remaining free-agent pitcher pool.

We opened the show discussing the Alex Verdugo trade. What led to moving Verdugo now, how he will be remembered, and how dowe feel about the return of RHPs Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert, and Nicholas Judice? With the Tyler O’Neill coming to Boston in a separate trade, we discuss if he’s a better fit for this team as a right-handed hitter who has multiple gold gloves, and a higher upside which we saw in his 2021 season.

The Red Sox not only brought in the right-handed reliever Weissert, but also Justin Slaten in the Rule 5 draft, and Cooper Criswell in free agency. We see some trends with the types of relievers that Craig Breslow is bringing in, as well as a clear focus on adding pitching depth with minor-league options remaining. While Slaten was brought in as part of a trade with the Mets in Rule 5, the Red Sox lost two pitchers, Shane Drohan and Ryan Fernandez, in the process.

The Red Sox are meeting with Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Are we any more or less optimistic than we were a month ago about the team’s chances to sign the right-hander? This leads into some listener questions about Jordan Montgomery, Rick Porcello, Corbin Burnes, Rafael Devers’ defense, The Simpsons, and what exactly full-throttle means.

If you have a question for an upcoming Red Seat pod, you can email us at redseatpodcast@gmail.com or tweet us. On Twitter, Jake is @DevJake, Keaton is @TheSpokenKeats and Bob is @BobOsgood15. Thanks for listening!