Red Sox Lock Up Franklin Morales

Last night, the Red Sox agreed to terms on a contract with lefty reliever Franklin Morales. Morales' contract is worth $850,000 over 1 year. Morales came over to the Red Sox from the Rockies in May of last year in a move that many expected would be minor. However, Morales became the sole lefty out of the Red Sox' pen. He had a pretty good year too, as it appeared he needed a change of scenery out of the hitters' paradise of Coors Field. He went 1-2/3.69/42 in 50 games and 46.1 innings split between the two teams and with the Sox, he went 1-1/3.62/31 in 36 games and 32.1 innings. Even though it seemed I was often frustrated with Morales throughout the season for walking a bunch of guys or something, but his stats were pretty good. He put up a 4.26 FIP and 4.39 xFIP to go with an 8.16 K/9 and 3.69 BB/9 (I expected that walk rate to be a bit higher, but it turns out he was alright!). I expect that Morales will be the primary, if not sole, lefty out of the Red Sox bullpen in 2011 and good luck to him.