The Red Sox have added what they hope will be a key piece to their bullpen as they reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with reliever Chris Martin on Friday.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the Red Sox and Martin have agreed to a two-year, $17.5 million, pending a physical.

Martin, 36, split 2022 between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was 4-1 with a 3.05 ERA and a 0.982 WHIP with 74 strikeouts in 56 innings between the two teams. He was 3-1 with a 1.46 ERA during the stretch run in 26 games for the Dodgers.

He’ll have a chance to be a high-leverage reliever in the Boston bullpen, which enters the year with uncertainty in several backend roles. Martin will join Tanner Houck, John Schreiber, Ryan Brasier and Zack Kelly as top end options in a mix that also includes left-handers Joely Rodríguez, and Josh Taylor. The Red Sox do not have a bona fide closer on their roster but Houck is the likeliest candidate, with Schreiber and Martin also potentially in the mix as well.

Martin, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound native of Arlington, Texas, has pitched for the Braves, Rangers, Yankees and Rockies in his career. He is no stranger to the Red Sox organization, as Boston originally signed him out of independent ball after a successful tryout in spring training. He spent three seasons pitching for Sox affiliates, including for the Portland Sea Dogs in 2012 and 2013, before being traded to the Rockies along with lefty Franklin Morales for infielder Jonathan Herrera in Dec. 2013. He debuted in the majors for Colorado in 2014.

The Red Sox already added one bullpen piece in Rodriguez but missed out on another pitching addition as Zack Eflin signed with Tampa Bay. The club thought it was close to signing Eflin, but the Florida native decided instead to sign with the Rays, who offered the same three-year, $40 million deal as the Red Sox but offered the opportunity to pitch close to home.

BREWERS: Milwaukee promoted Marti Wronski to chief operating officer, making her the franchise’s highest-ranking female executive since Wendy Selig-Prieb was the president and chair of the board in the early 2000s.

Brewers officials also said Wronski is the only woman to currently hold the COO title for a major-league franchise.

There are two women working as president of business operations for MLB teams: Caroline O’Connor with the Miami Marlins and Catie Griggs with the Seattle Mariners.O’Connor was promoted last week, making the Marlins the first U.S. major sports franchisee to have women as president and general manager. The Marlins hired Kim Ng as general manager in November 2020.

The upcoming season will mark Wronski’s 20th with the Brewers. She takes over a position that hadn’t been filled since Rick Schlesinger was promoted to president of business operations in 2018.

MARINERS-BREWERS TRADE: Seattle acquired second baseman Kolten Wong from Milwaukee in a trade for outfielder Jesse Winker and infielder Abraham Toro.

Seattle also receives cash as part of the deal. ESPN reported the Brewers would be sending the Mariners about $1.75 million.

Milwaukee has been shedding payroll this offseason after going 86-76 and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2017. The Brewers picked up the $10 million team option on Wong’s contract for 2023 last month, then traded him away.

Wong, 32, batted .251 this season and had a career-best 15 homers to go with 47 RBIs and 17 steals in 134 games. He had a .339 on-base percentage and .430 slugging percentage.

DODGERS: Los Angeles agreed to a $1.5 million, one-year deal with pitcher Shelby Miller for 2023.

The 32-year-old right-hander was 0-1 with a 6.43 ERA in four games as a reliever with the San Francisco Giants last season. Miller spent most of the season with Triple-A Sacramento and Scranton-Wilkes Barre, where he was a combined 2-4 with a 2.87 ERA and 69 strikeouts.

DIAMONDBACKS: Arizona signed hard-throwing reliever Miguel Castro to a one-year contract. Castro, who turns 28 this month, has already spent eight years in the big leagues, most recently with the New York Yankees. He was 5-0 with a 4.03 ERA in 34 appearances last season.

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