Epstein, who added to a bullpen that has veterans Mike Timlin and Julian Tavarez, kids Manny Delcarmen and Craig Hansen, new Japanese lefty Hideki Okajima, intriguing discovery Devern Hansack, and journeymen Kyle Snyder and Bryan Corey, wasn't tipping his hand.
"With the rate of attrition with pitching in general, especially with bullpens, especially with our bullpen, I think the more quality you have, the better off you'll be," Epstein said. "We're certainly looking for another piece in the closer's role. We do like a lot of these options we have. A lot of these guys have proven track records. Hopefully, with a bit of a surplus, we can choose the best guys to break camp with us, get them in the right roles and have a successful year in the bullpen. If we maintain a surplus during the season, certainly we'd entertain the notion of a trade."
But the addition of the veterans Donnelly and Romero, both of whom appear past their best days -- Donnelly as the premier setup man on the Angels team that won the World Series in 2002 and was back in the playoffs the next season, Romero as a big-outs producer for the Twins in 2005, when the Sox explored a trade for him at the deadline -- will inevitably feed speculation the Sox might package a Hansen or Delcarmen in an attempt to land a closer.
One obvious target continues to be Chad Cordero of the Nationals. Washington GM Jim Bowden is a known fan of Wily Mo Peña, and perhaps could be enticed into dealing Cordero if the Sox throw in one of their young power arms, a list that includes Edgar Martinez. Pirates lefty Mike Gonzalez is also of prime interest to the Sox, but the Yankees are also involved and the Braves, with lefthanded hitting first baseman Adam LaRoche, may be the best match of all.
