Free agent left-hander Chris Capuano is on the verge of signing with the Red Sox, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cafardo reports that a deal could be completed as soon as today.
Boston’s need for rotation help increased following Ryan Dempster’s decision to sit out the season and Capuano represents a cheap option who presumably won’t require a multi-year commitment.
Capuano was limited to 20 starts last season by a groin injury and the Dodgers’ rotation depth, but he posted a 3.91 ERA and 52/10 K/BB ratio in 13 starts after June 1 and was a solid mid-rotation starter in 2012 with a 3.72 ERA in 198 innings. At age 35 he’s a risk to decline, but Capuano has always missed a solid number of bats, is impossible to run on, and shouldn’t be a dropoff from what Dempster gave the Red Sox last year.
