The Red Sox largely failed in their pursuit of starting pitching this winter, swapping lefty out for only for the latter to mi s the entire 2024 season due to a UCL injury, making right-handed depth options and the clubs only starters added this winter with a chance to impact the 2024 club. The club coming up empty is not an indication they werent involved in the pitching market at all, however, with reporting that the club was a finalist for southpaw , per the lefty himself. Paxton, 35, spent the past two seasons in the Red Sox organization but only pitched in 2023. He made 19 starts for the club last year, pitching to a 4.50 ERA (101 ERA+) and 4.68 FIP overall. While he posted a strong 2.73 ERA and Kevin Mitchell Jersey 3.63 FIP in ten starts prior to the All Star break, Paxtons brutal final three starts in August and September caused his numbers to balloon as he allowed a whopping 17 runs in 9 2/3 innings of work before being shut down for the season due to knee inflammation. Abraham relays that, according to the left-hander, there was mutual interest in a reunion between his camp and the Red Sox before he ultimately settled on pitching closer to his West Coast home in Seattle. Adding the veteran southpaw to Bostons heavily young and right-handed rotation mix would have made plenty of sense for the club, but instead the team is set to rely on internal youngsters like , , and to round out the rotation alongside and . More from around the AL East Yankees infielder spoke to reporters (including ) yesterday regarding his rehab from a non-displaced fracture in his right foot and provided a positive update, suggesting that he could be nearing a return to action. LeMahieu indicated that hes making progre s after running at roughly 90 percent effort and taking batting practice on the field at Yankee Stadium over the weekend. Per manager , the next step for LeMahieu is further imaging later in the week before a potential minor league rehab a signment. If the veteran can avoid further setbacks, its po sible he could return before the end of the month. In the meantime, the club figures to continue relying on and at the hot corner. Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke to reporters (including ) yesterday to provide an update on right-hander , who started the season on the injured list due to a bout of forearm tightne s last month. Per Schneider, Swanson is scheduled to be evaluated today after throwing a rehab inning at the Double-A level last night to decide if hes ready to be activated when first eligible on Tuesday, though Davidi adds that Schneider indicated an additional rehab appearance is po sible. If Swanson is to make another appearance in the minors before returning to the big league roster, it likely wont come for a few days, as the right-hander is scheduled to be in Toronto for the clubs home opener tomorrow evening. Swanson joined the club during the 2022-23 offseason as part of the return in the trade and quickly established himself as the top set-up option for closer , pitching to a 2.97 ERA with a 3.51 FIP in 69 appearances last year. Gary Matthews Jersey