Red Sox Trade Matt Barnes to Marlins

After already adding to their offense earlier in the offseason, the Miami Marlins have now addressed their bullpen. On Tuesday, the team picked up right-handed reliever Matt Barnes from the Boston Red Sox. Heading back to Fenway in the trade is lefty bullpen fixture, Richard Bleier. The Marlins also received cash considerations in the deal.

Barnes had a breakout season in 2021 when he picked up a career-best 24 saves for the Sox. The righty also put up a career-low 1.12 WHIP and 3.79 ERA that season. Barnes could not keep the good times rolling into 2022, as he pitched to a bloated 1.44 WHIP to go along with a 4.31 WHIP. The 32-year-old picked up just eight saves while blowing two close-out opportunities last season.

Bleier saw mostly seventh and eighth-inning work for the Fish last year. The 35-year-old vet went 2-2 with a decent 3.55 ERA to go along with seven holds, and one save.

While the Marlins have made a few moves to get better, they are still far from contenders. FanDuel Sportsbook has only the lowly Washington Nationals with worse odds than Miami’s +4000 to win the NL East.