BOSTON--No, this is headline is not from 2003. The Red Sox announced on Friday that they have signed both Jose Contreras and Brandon Lyon to minor-league deals. Both pitchers were assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket
The Red Sox were part of a well-documented chase for Jose Contreras when he originally defected from Cuba in 2003. He last pitched for the Pirates earlier this season out of the bullpen. Contreras has a 9.00 ERA in five innings over seven games in 2013. He has struggled the last two years coming out of the bullpen.
This is Lyon's second stint with the Red Sox. Lyons was traded away in before the 2004 season in the deal that netted the team Curt Schilling. Lyon has bounced around since, pitching both extremely well and poorly. He last pitched for the Mets earlier this year with a 4.98 ERA in 34.1 innings over 37 games.
Manager John Farrell told the media that the two were signed for bullpen depth, which is starting to run thin after the team placed reliever Andrew Bailey on the DL.
Both likely won't make a huge impact, but they are nice chips to have.