According to multiple reports, 30-year-old right-hander Mitchell Boggs has signed with the Boston Red Sox on a Minor League deal for the 2015 season. The deal itself includes an invitation to Spring Training where Boggs will get a chance to show the Red Sox whether he still has it or not before Opening Day. If Boggs does make the Sox, he will earn a salary $750,000 for the season according to WEEI.com.

Boggs's last productive season came back in 2012 when he was one of the best set-up men in the game for the St. Louis Cardinals. During that season, Boggs posted a cool 2.21 ERA in 78 apperances (73.1 innings) while striking out 58 batters and walking 21. He would also finish 12 games throughout 2012 for the Cards, leading to the opportunity he received early on in the 2013 season.

After former Cardinals closer Jason Motte was shut down for the season right before opening day in 2013, St. Louis named Boggs their closer to start the season. The transition from set-up man to closer was a disaster for the 6'-4" righty as he would post an ugly 8.10 ERA between the Cardinals and Rockies. Both Boggs's control and stuff had seemed to significantly decrease as he continuously struggled on the mound throughout the entire season. It had seemed as if Boggs was a completely different pitcher than he had been back in his dominant 2012 campaign.

This past season, Boggs spent the entire year in the Minors with the San Francisco Giants and Chicago White Sox. Besides two apperances down in Rookie Ball with the Giants in which he did not give up a run, he was hammered in AAA for both organizations, continuing to look lost on the mound. For the season, he compiled another disasterous ERA of 8.29 while walking 26 batters and striking out only 23. There was hope when he originally signed with the White Sox last off-season that he could quickly get his career back on track, but 2014 seemed to throw it off even more. This will likely be Boggs's last chance to try and ressurrect his career before teams begin to start thinking he is another pitcher who just does not have the stuff to get Major League hitters out anymore.

At the moment, the Red Sox are trying to put the finishing pieces together for their bullpen in 2015. If Mitchell can be anything close to what he was back in 2012, he will definitely have a spot on the 25-man roster at some point during the season. There is always a chance if he dominates in Spring Training that he could make the Opening Day roster out of the gate. But with how bad he has been the past two seasons, it is likely the Sox want to see him consistently get batters out in AAA before giving him any kind of role on the Major League team. Of course, if Boggs does not work out in the spring, it will not hurt the Sox since he is on just a small Minor League deal.

As the season edges closer, it is likely the Sox and other teams will continue take a flier on pitchers like Boggs with the hope of finding a guy for cheap who can help contribute to the team.

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About the author
Tyler Milliken
Hi my names Tyler, I'm just a guy who fell in love with the sport of baseball and the Boston Red Sox. I am a 18 year old at Curry College who has the hopes to one day be a well respected baseball journalist within this industry. Check me out on twitter @tyler_milliken for constant baseball debates and news. On this page my articles will range all the way from news across the league to my opinion on what teams should do involving prospects and potential moves. I Hope you all enjoy my work and thanks for checking it out! Have a nice day!