Red Sox insist they didn’t want Osuna
BOSTON The Red Sox didn’t want Roberto Osuna to join them. Now they will have to find a way to beat him.
While Osuna is the Houston Astros’ “problem” now, he’s also one of the big reasons the reigning World Series champions are favoured over the Sox in this year’s ALCS.
Never mind that the acquisition of the former Toronto Blue Jays closer was controversial at the trade deadline because of the assault charges Osuna was facing. The Astros made it clear that such a solid addition to the bullpen trumped whatever publicrelations hit would follow.
The Astros certainly weren’t the only suitors, as Jays general manager Ross Atkins fielded calls from GMs around the league before the July 31 deadline.
Despite a need to bump up their own bullpen, the Red Sox weren’t one of them, however, a point reiterated by first-year Boston manager Alex Cora on Thursday.
“As (team president Dave Dombrowski) said, we were not going that route,” Cora said before a Red Sox workout at Fenway that was quickly rained out.
“That route” was dealing with the fallout from the Osuna mess, which included a 75-game suspension by MLB and the players association after he was charged with assaulting a Toronto woman in early May.
While the legal woes are mostly behind Osuna, there could still be public fallout, especially with the high-profile spotlight put on the best-of-seven ALCS, which begins Saturday at Fenway Park.
Osuna is in form and thriving in the closer’s role like he did while with the Jays. Osuna appeared in 23 regular-season games with the Astros, earning a dozen saves with an ERA of 1.99. He has pitched 21/3 clean innings in the playoffs, including a four-out save in Game 2 of the ALDS.
That the Astros went out and landed the 23-year-old — and were prepared to live with the consequences — may give them a decided edge in the series.
The fact that Dombrowski was criticized at the time for not bolstering the bullpen certainly could be a talking point this week.
“I would not talk about another organization’s player,” Dombrowski said in July. “But I will say we did not pursue that situation.”
Osuna hasn’t said much since his he accepted a peace bond in a Toronto courtroom last month and the assault charges were dropped.
When we spoke with him in Cleveland following the Astros’ series sweep of the Indians, he declined to comment about his time in Toronto, saying he was happy to have moved on with his career in Houston.
The Astros are well aware of the potential public fallout. It can’t be coincidence that the team is making a presentation Monday (the day before Game 3 in Houston) at the Texas Council on Family Violence.
MANAGE THIS
Before Cora was manager of the Boston Red Sox, he was Houston’s bench coach last season.
Cora apparently learned rather well under Astros manager A.J. Hinch, leading the Sox to a 108win season, a 3-1 ALDS series win over the hated New York Yankees and a second-round date with his mentor.
“I am trying to remember some of the things I told him that I wish I wouldn’t have,” Hinch said this week. “The bench coach and the manager, they’re really tight. He was with me every step of the way.”