The Red Sox re-signed nine players who were scheduled to become minor-league free agents, a baseball source confirmed Monday. The list includes five players who spent the summer at the club’s alternate training site in Pawtucket.
Pitchers Seth Blair, Stephen Gonsalves and Caleb Simpson, catcher Jhonny Pereda and first baseman Josh Ockimey are all coming back on minor-league deals after spending the summer in Pawtucket.
Four other players – catcher Roldani Baldwin, pitcher Raynel Espinal and outfielders Joey Meneses and Johan Mieses – also re-signed.
Ockimey, 25, is a power-hitting first baseman who has been with the organization since 2014 (when he was drafted in the fifth round) and hit 25 homers at Triple-A Pawtucket in 2019. Blair, Gonsalves, Simpson and Pereda were all added from other organizations between March and July and were part of Boston’s 60-man player pool despite never being called up to the majors.
Gonsalves and Simpson impressed coaches with their work at the alternate site. Early last month, PawSox pitching coach Paul Abbott identified both pitchers as potential dark horse candidates to help the major-league bullpen in 2021.
“Gonsalves is a guy that can make an impact next year if we bring him back next year,” Abbott said. “I know he’s a minor-league free agent. His (velocity) went from 89-90 (mph) – and he already had a highly rates fastball that had some carry – the velo jumped up to 94-96 )mph). He got better as we went along.”
“Simpson was probably a dark horse,” Abbott said. “He got a lot better, too. He’s got some quality pitches. Command has always been an issue with him. He did some things that got him better, he commanded better. The clock is ticking and there’s a sense of urgency with him, and he’s aware of it.”
Earlier Monday, Baseball America released a list of Red Sox minor-leaguers who are now free agents. Boston now has 27 minor-league free agents, including eight players — pitchers Dylan Covey, Zack Godley, Robinson Leyer, Mike Kickham, and Andrew Triggs, infielders Tzu-Wei Lin and Jose Peraza and outfielder Cesar Puello — who were recently cut from the club’s 40-man roster.
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