Red Sox make yet another bullpen-centered trade

Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom’s obvious reconfiguration of the Boston bullpen has officially gone beyond the surface, as the Red Sox swung yet another trade with an eye on improving their bullpen Friday.

For the Red Sox, the latest dive came just below the MLB level, as the team sent relief pitcher Franklin German to the White Sox in exchange for reliever Theo Denlinger.

• The #RedSox today acquired minor league RHP Theo Denlinger from the Chicago White Sox, in exchange for RHP Franklin German.

  — Red Sox (@RedSox) February 3, 2023

• A 6-foot-2 righty, German spent the majority of his 2022 season with Triple-A Worcester, where he compiled a 2-1 record with two holds and seven saves along with a 2.56 ERA in 38.1 innings of work.

  Summoned out of the pen for 32 outings for the WooSox, German also racked up 46 strikeouts and surrendered 11 earned runs on 20 hits during his Triple-A run in 2022.

  German also made 11 appearances for Double-A Portland in 2022, with a 3-1 record and 3.18 ERA to go with 18 strikeouts over 11.1 innings pitched.

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  CINCINNATI, OHIO – SEPTEMBER 21: Franklin German #71 of the Boston Red Sox pitches in the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on September 21, 2022 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

• And if the name sounds somewhat familiar, it’s because the Red Sox gave the 25-year-old German a limited MLB run to close out the 2022 season.

  Called into action for five appearances over the final month of the season, German surrendered seven hits and eight earned runs over four innings of work with Boston, with batters hitting .368 off him over that span.

  Originally a fourth-round pick of the Yankees back in 2018, the Red Sox first acquired German in the Adam Ottovino trade of Jan, 2021, and designated the New York native for assignment earlier in the week.

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  BOSTON, MA – JULY 24: BLM along with the MLB logo is painted onto the pitcher’s mound on Opening Day at Fenway Park on July 24, 2020 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Kathryn Riley/Getty Images)

• Denlinger, meanwhile, will report to the Red Sox organization after a 2022 campaign split between High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham.

  In Birmingham, the 6-foot-3 Denlinger posted a 1-2 record with five saves and a 4.70 ERA. The 26-year-old also surrendered six home runs and 20 earned runs, along with 18 walks, over 38.1 innings of action.

  According to a late 2022 scouting report highlighting the top prospects in the White Sox organization, Denlinger has a ‘plus fastball with movement’ but has a slider that has been dubbed “vulnerable.”

  The White Sox selected Denlinger with a seventh-round pick back in 2021.