Red Sox make late signing for more pitching help
Craig Breslow has added some much-needed lefty help on the Red Sox pitching staff for the 2026 season.
Aug 24, 2025; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers relief pitcher Danny Coulombe (54) pitches against the Cleveland Guardians during the eighth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The Red Sox may be halfway done with their spring training slate, and with more roster cuts on the way, but the roster building process has not stopped for Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow.
The latest move on that front came late Thursday with the Red Sox signing veteran reliever Danny Coulombe to a one-year contract for the 2026 season. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal was the first to report the signing itself, while Chris Cotillo of MassLive was first on the $1 million salary for 2026.
A 36-year-old lefty, Coulombe comes to Boston after splitting last year with Minnesota and Texas. In a 55-game sample with the Twins and Rangers, Coulombe posted a 2-1 record, along with nine holds and a 2.30 ERA, while fanning 43 batters in 43 total innings of work.
The 2025 season also marked Coulombe's fourth straight season of posting an ERA under 3.00, with a 2.12 ERA in 2024, 2.81 ERA in 2023, and a career-best 1.46 ERA in 2022 (though that was on just 10 appearances).
Boston's move for the 11-year veteran comes with Red Sox manager Alex Cora having an obvious lack of lefty options out of the bullpen. Especially after an offseason that saw the club move on from options like Brennan Bernardino and Chris Murphy, and with Justin Wilson leaning towards retirement last we knew.
As far as his pitching arsenal, Coulombe is not going to blow anybody away with his fastball (it averaged just over 90 miles per hour a year ago per BaseballSavant), but he does possess a valuable cutter that had a 36.4 whiff percentage in 2025. Coulombe also mixes in a sinker, sweeper, and a rarely used knuckle curve in his bag of tricks.
