Regarding the Red Sox offseason, you may have heard, among other things, that they have not yet signed a Major League free agent. That is true. It is, in fact, unclear if the front office is aware that free agency began on November 6th.
Minor league free agents, though? The action is hot. The Red Sox have signed a bevy of minor league arms in recent weeks with varying experience. So, even though we may not see a single inning thrown at the major league level by anyone in this group, let’s meet the new
guys!
Devin Sweet
Sweet, 29, went undrafted in 2018 and signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners. He debuted in 2023 and threw a total of 8 2/3 innings between the Mariners and the Athletics that season, with a 10.38 ERA. Since that time, Sweet has spent a year at Triple-A with both the Tigers and Phillies systems.
In his last scouting report for Baseball America, entering the 2022 season, Sweet’s fastball sat at 92-94 MPH but his changeup was considered a plus-plus pitch, one that “dies late to get foolish swings and misses out front even when batters are looking for it.” In fact, it was featured by BA as one of the best changeups in the minor leagues for prospects beyond the Top-100. If the nWo were still relevant, they’d call his changeup “Just too Sweet!”
Show me a cool highlight:
Sure, here are some nice changeups at the 2021 Arizona Fall League “Fall Stars” Game:
Alec Gamboa
Gamboa was drafted in the 9th round by the Dodgers in 2019, out of Fresno City College. He made his way up to Triple-A in 2023 and, after three years at the level, was granted his release by the Dodgers organization to pursue an opportunity with the Lotte Giants of the Korea Baseball Organization.
The left-handed Gamboa arrived in Korea in May and pitched so well upon arrival that he won the KBO’s Player of the Month award in June, going 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA in 31 1/3 innings pitched.
This article notes that Gamboa pocketed 3 million won for winning the award, which equates to 2,195 U.S. dollars. Not too shabby!
The second half did not go as well for Gamboa, who finished the season at 7-8 with a 3.58 ERA with a 10.3/24.6% BB:K ratio.
According to SoxProspects.com, Gamboa has a mid-90s four-seamer, a low-90’s sinker, a high-80’s slider, and an upper 70’s curveball, and keeps the ball on the ground with subpar control and little swing-and-miss stuff.
T.J. Sikkema
Sikkema was the highest draft pick of this bunch, going 39th overall to the New York Yankees in the 2018 draft, out of the University of Missouri. He was traded from the Yankees to the Royals as part of the Andrew Benintendi deal, before ending up with the Reds, where he reached Triple-A for the first time a year ago.
In his last Baseball America scouting report in 2023, Sikkema had a 50-grade fastball, 55 slider, and 50 changeup, with 55 control. The 25-year-old Sikkema throws from the left side in the low-90s, but gets deception with a unique arm angle in his delivery and a high-spin slider.
Tayron Guerrero
Guerrero is an imposing gentleman who fits the Craig Breslow mold more than any of the three relievers above, listed at 6’8”, 225 lbs. The 35-year-old last pitched for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan in 2025, his second stint in the NPB, allowing a 6.41 ERA in 19 2/3 innings.
Guerrero threw 106 innings in the Majors, mostly in 2018 and 2019 with the Miami Marlins, after throwing two innings for the San Diego Padres in 2016. Guerrero was sent to Miami as part of the return for Josh Naylor, one of the many, many Josh Naylor trades over the past decade. Guerrero had a 5.77 career ERA in MLB. The scouting report, albeit an outdated one, on Guerrero is that he throws in the upper-90s and has touched 100+ in the past, but with very little control. He’s walked about a batter per inning at every level and country since first signing out of Columbia with the Padres in 2010. But, did I mention he throws 100+? Here are some MLB pitches when Guerrero was with the Marlins that touched 103 and 104 MPH.
So, there you have it. Proof that the Red Sox have been hard at work, full-throttle even, signing free agent pitchers at every turn over the past few weeks!
