Red Sox weighing closer options with Kimbrel likely gone

The Boston Red Sox haven't penciled in a closer yet for the 2019 season.

Erstwhile closer Craig Kimbrel is still a free agent, and the Red Sox aren't pursuing him anymore. Boston also lost set-up reliever Joe Kelly to the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason.

That leaves Ryan Brasier, Matt Barnes, Heath Hembree, Tyler Thornburg, and Brandon Workman among those vying for the ninth-inning role. Manager Alex Cora seems open to using a committee approach and utilizing his relievers situationally.

With spring training entering its second week of games, Cora is non-committal about how Boston will approach the ninth inning. He doesn't want to put too much emphasis on spring results while making a decision, either, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.

"I don't think spring training, you get people out in the third inning, the fourth inning, does it tell you that much?" Cora said. "We know who they are. We know the stuff. It's just a matter of, see what we're going to do as an organization, what plan we're going to do, how comfortable are we with a closer or mixing it up, or getting people out in certain situations?

"We still have a lot of days to see how we feel about it ... We just need them to be ready for March 28."

Nothing is set in stone, and until Kimbrel signs elsewhere, he remains an option.

For now, Cora says the Red Sox will spend the rest of spring training discussing their bullpen strategy. The sophomore manager is leaning in one direction, but he's not sharing that information yet, Speier adds.