Boston Red Sox Free Agent Signing: Who Is Jesse Carlson?

Pujols. Wilson. Reyes. Buehrle. Francisco. Bedard. Carlson.

All those big-name players signed free agent deal during the Winter Meetings.

Wait a minute…who's Carlson?

Born on New Year's Eve in 1980, the 30-year-old Connecticut native is a left-handed pitcher who spent parts of three years in the big leagues with Toronto. To give you an idea of how low-profile this signing is, the contract was reported by his brother Cory to Robert Mayer of their home town online newspaper, the Berlin (CT) Patch.

Born in nearby New Britain, Carlson starred in basketball as well as baseball at Berlin High School, graduating in 1999 after winning the state baseball championship that year. He pitched three years at the University of Connecticut before being drafted by the Detroit Tigers in June, 2002.

Mayer added that Carlson signed a split major league/minor league contract, giving him a shot to make the Red Sox roster out of spring training. If not, he would go to the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox.

This signing is very much in line with GM Ben Cherington's desire to add some pitching "through some good, creative, perhaps buy-low acquisitions."

Carlson fits that description perfectly. He has shown he can pitch at the major league level when healthy; after parts of seven seasons in the minors with four different organizations, he made his major league debut with Toronto as a reliever on April 10, 2008.

No "easing in to it" for him; he came into the 12th inning of a game against Oakland with the bases loaded and struck out Daric Barton to end the inning.

Six days later, he entered another extra inning game with the bases loaded—this time with no outs. He proceeded to strike out the next three Texas batters on 12 pitches, the first time in 48 years that had been done. That was also the earliest in a pitching career in MLB history that anyone had accomplished that feat.

He earned the Blue Jays Rookie of the Year Award that season, posting a 7–2 record with a 2.25 ERA in 69 appearances.

Unfortunately, Carlson was unable to replicate that success in 2009. He lost six of his seven decisions with a 4.66 ERA. The 2010 season was even worse; he pitched only 13 major league innings with a similar ERA.

It is possible that those declining numbers were a result of arm trouble; he was shut down and underwent rotator cuff surgery that cost him the entire 2011 season. He was arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason and was one of the Toronto's top candidates to be non-tendered, especially due to his rehab situation.

Granted, he doesn't have overpowering stuff. In a 2010 interview with ESPN Radio 1100's Seat Williams in Las Vegas, he admitted that his fast ball topped out at 92 mph and that his most effective pitch is a breaking ball.

In that interview he also described one of his more memorable big league moments, which could endear him to Red Sox fans. He acknowledges starting a brawl with the Yankees, throwing at Jorge Posada and then tangling with the Yankee catcher near home plate. "He gave me a forearm shiver," said Carlson, and then it was on.

When the smoke cleared and the teams were separated, Carlson emerged "with a lump on my head the size of a softball", along with a bloody lip…and increased respect from his teammates.

"I'm from hard-hittin' New Britain, and you don't want to mess with me," he concluded.

The Red Sox have very little to lose here. If he does make the team, he will be a bargain basement steal, somewhere in the $1 million range.  He is a left-hander with big league stuff who is equally effective against right-handed and left-handed hitters, which makes him far more valuable than your average LOOGY (left-handed one-out guy).

If he can stay healthy he would be an asset in middle relief and could even spot start.