Red Sox out on Uehara after acquiring Thornburg
The Boston Red Sox had quite a day at the winter meetings on Tuesday, acquiring left-handed ace Chris Sale from the Chicago White Sox and trading for Tyler Thornburg from the Milwaukee Brewers to help solidify their bullpen.
It appears Thornburg may have been a back-up option, though, as president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski explained to reporters, including WEEI.com's Rob Bradford, they originally made Koji Uehara an offer a few days ago.
Uehara wasn't ready to answer the Red Sox's offer, so the team decided to move on to the acquisition of Thornburg, reports the Boston Globe's Alex Speier.
The 41-year-old Uehara - who is reportedly receiving interest from the Miami Marlins - posted his highest ERA (3.45) since 2011 with the Red Sox last season, but still managed to strike out 12.1 hitters per nine innings during 50 appearances while saving seven games.
Over the course of his career in Boston, Uehara posted a 14-13 record with a 2.19 ERA to go along with 79 saves, including the last out of the 2013 World Series.