The Boston Red Sox have signed left-handed starting pitcher David Price to a seven-year, $217 million deal, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe first reported Tuesday evening.
Price's deal includes an opt-out after three-seasons, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. No money is deferred, per Rosenthal. The $217 million guarantee Price earned is the highest single guarantee signed by a pitcher ever. The previous record was Clayton Kershaw's seven-year, $215 million deal. Price was rumored to be on many teams' radars through the start of the offseason, with the Cubs, Cardinals, Giants, Dodgers, and Blue Jays all being at least linked to him. According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Cardinals were the runners-up in the Price sweepstakes. In his new deal with Boston, Price's salary breakdown is as follows, according to Jerry Crasnick of ESPN: $30 million from 2016-2018, $31 million in 2019, and $32 million from 2020-2022. Price was the best free agent on the market on many rankings lists and his signing will have quite an impact around the league. After seeing what he got, other top starters like Johnny Cueto and Zack Greinke will be able to gauge their markets and values better. The most interesting part of this deal is the opt-out clause. If Price pitches like he has, it appears a strong possibility that he could opt-out after three-years of his deal, making $90 million. If he does, the Red Sox would be off the hook for $127 million of his deal and could also be off the hook for the years Price begins to decline. If Price pitches poorly, he will not opt-out, and the Red Sox will be on the hook for all $217 million of his deal. The opt-out clause could really make-or-break this signing for Boston. Price deserved a large contract, but is he worth $217 million? By negotiating with 30 teams, Price was able to drive up the price of his contract (no pun intended), whereas Kershaw, in the now-second largest pitching contract ever, only negotiated with the Dodgers for his extension. If Kershaw was on the open market, he would probably easily surpass the $217 million Price will earn. Price is also going to make a $31 million annual average value over the life of this deal, which will tie him with Tigers' first baseman Miguel Cabrera as the highest paid players in baseball per season. The left-hander will be reunited with Dave Dombrowski, his GM while he was pitching with Detroit in the first half of last season. Dombrowski was the man who acquired Price from the Tampa Bay Rays (his first team) and then sent him to the Toronto Blue Jays (his team for the second half of last year). Dombrowski now doles out $217 million to sign him for his new team, the Boston Red Sox, where he is now the president of baseball operations. Overall, it has been a busy offseason for the Red Sox, acquiring top closer Craig Kimbrel from the Padres, signing Chris Young, and now this. Those three players have one thing in common, however: they are praised for having a good makeup. If there is one thing that is truly valued in baseball, it is having good clubhouse chemistry. All three players the Red Sox' brass brought in should help with that, let alone the fact that they are talented assets to begin with. The 30-year-old Price joins a Red Sox rotation that includes the likes of Clay Buchholz, Rick Porcello, Wade Miley, and Eduardo Rodriguez. One thing Boston lacked last season was an ace. Price certainly fits that bill for 2016 and beyond. Last season, Price went 18-5 with a 2.45 ERA (2.78 FIP, 3.24 xFIP) in 220 1/3 innings pitched with the Tigers and Blue Jays. He registered a 225 to 47 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The price appears to be right in Boston, as they get one of the best pitchers in baseball for a cool $217 million. --Devan Fink
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The Boston Red Sox acquired right-hander Craig Kimbrel from the San Diego Padres, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The deal has since been announced.
In return, the Padres acquired four Red Sox' prospects: outfielder Manuel Margot, shortstop Javier Guerra, infielder Carlos Asuaje, and left-hander Logan Allen. Kimbrel is quite an add for the Red Sox bullpen. The group struggled last season, posting the fifth-highest ERA in the big leagues, as well as a -1.4 Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs, coming in at the bottom of baseball. Kimbrel is the elite closer and bullpen arm that the Red Sox lacked in 2015. With Koji Uehara going down to injury late in the year, Boston could never really find any back-end relief pitching to close out games. Kimbrel will probably fill in at closer, with Uehara probably becoming a set-up guy. Red Sox' president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is notorious for not being able to build good bullpens. When Dombrowski was the GM of the Detroit Tigers, their relief pitching would almost always be their downfall. It appears, through this trade, that Dombrowski is prioritizing bullpen with Boston. Kimbrel is a good asset not only because of his performance on the field, but also because of his payroll obligations. He is under contract for the next two seasons for just $24 million, with a club option for the 2018 season valued at $13 million with a $1 million buyout. A player of his caliber would definitely be worth more than $12 million per season, which makes him such a valuable addition to the Red Sox. Last season, Kimbrel was not as good as he had been in the past, but was still plenty good. The 27-year-old Kimbrel went 4-2 with a 2.58 ERA in 61 appearances out of the Padres bullpen, saving 39 games in 43 opportunities. He posted an 87 to 22 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Even with a solid season, 2015 was the first time Kimbrel had not been voted an All-Star since his rookie season in 2010. From 2010 to 2014, Kimbrel was by far the best closer in baseball. He led the National League in saves every single season, being named to the All-Star Game in each. Kimbrel was so good that he averaged 46 saves per year during that stretch. The Braves, Kimbrel's former team, dealt him to the Padres along with Melvin Upton Jr. just before the start of last season, getting four players and a competitive balance draft. With this trade, Kimbrel will be on his third team in as many seasons. The Padres received what is considered to be a great return for Kimbrel to replenish their prospect system. All four of the prospects San Diego received for the relief pitcher are amongst the Red Sox' Top 30, according to MLB Pipeline, with Margot checking in at No. 3, Guerra at No. 6, Asuaje at No. 23, and Allen at No. 25. Margot and Guerra are also included in MLB Pipeline's Top 100 overall prospects, at Nos. 25 and 76, respectively. Margot ended the 2015 season in Double-A; Guerra ended the year in Class-A. --Devan Fink Orioles' relief pitcher Darren O'Day is a free agent this offseason and is going to have many suitors. The Dodgers, Nationals, Red Sox, and Tigers are among the many teams already showing interest in O'Day, reports Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Baltimore is "trailing at present," according to Heyman. The right-handed O'Day was named to his first All-Star Game this season, after going 6-2 with a 1.52 ERA (2.49 FIP) in 65 1/3 innings pitched, striking out 82 and walking just 14. O'Day's has had continued success out of the bullpen, being a shutdown reliever for quite some time. Over his past four seasons combined, O'Day has a minuscule 1.92 ERA. The Dodgers, Nationals, Red Sox, and Tigers all make sense for the submarining O'Day, as their bullpens all had noted struggles over the 2015 season, in one form or another. --Devan Fink
The Boston Red Sox have named assistant general manager Mike Hazen their general manager, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports first reported Thursday afternoon.
Hazen steps in for Ben Cherington, who left the organization following the hiring of Dave Dombrowski to become the team's president of baseball operations. The 39-year-old Hazen has worked for the Red Sox since 2006, when he was named director of player development. He was promoted to vice president and assistant general manager in 2012. Earlier this year, he became a senior vice president. Hazen is a former professional baseball player, having been drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 31st round in the 1998 MLB Draft out of Princeton. After retiring in 1999, he joined the Indians to become a Major League Advance Scout in 2001 and has been working in a front office ever since. By choosing Hazen to become their next general manager, the Red Sox will avoid an exodus in their front office, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports opines. When a new GM comes into a team, he usually likes to have his own staff working for him, which in the case of the Red Sox, would have meant that a lot of jobs could be turned over quickly. However, Hazen, being an in house candidate, probably won't make many, if any, personnel decisions in the front office. At the time of this writing, the Red Sox have gone 72-79, despite being major players in the free agent market, signing two of the biggest position player free agents, Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez, to long term deals. Hazen and Dombrowski will have their work cut out for them to make Boston competitive again. --Devan Fink
Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz hit his 499th and 500th career home runs today against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.
Ortiz, 39, becomes the 27th member of the 500 home run club and continues to solidify his status as one of the greatest home run hitters of the 2000s, hitting all but 10 of his career home runs in the "new millennium." In the first inning, Ortiz took a Matt Moore pitch to the right-field stands for his 499th home run. He then flew out to center in the third. Then, in the fifth, Ortiz took Moore deep again, launching his milestone home run. Ortiz did not even wait a single game between hitting his 499th and 500 home runs. In fact, he only becomes the second player in Major League Baseball history to hit both Nos. 499 and 500 in the same game (Albert Pujols) and the second to do both off of the same pitcher (Pujols). Congratulations to David Ortiz and the Red Sox on his accomplishment. --Devan Fink |
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