Here we are, week 2 of my Red Sox rumor round up along with some key notes on personnel decisions and contract situations. Since my last round of updates we saw: JD Martinez opt into the final year of his contract for 2022, the Red Sox tender Eduardo Rodriguez a qualifying offer ($18.4M) as well as a rumored multi-year offer (Heyman), and Chaim said the Sox will be active spender this off-season. On top of the clear cut facts, we have a new batch of rumors as well as some updates on prior rumors. Let’s dive in.
- JD Martinez opts in for 2022
JD has officially opted into the final year of his 5 year contract which was kind of a no-brainer but still wasn’t 100% sure. Though this makes re-signing Kyle Schwarber a little more difficult due to positional depth, Chaim still confirms they want him back. Though it would have given the Red Sox more spending money if JD opted out, let’s not act like JD is some bum who is way overpaid. JD bounced back strong in 2021 hitting .286 with 28 HR, 99 RBI, and led the entire MLB in doubles (42). This is a guy that is still a powerhouse, professional hitter who gets on base and drives in his teammates. I for one, am glad to have one of the best pure hitters in baseball back with the Red Sox for one more season.
2. Eduardo Rodriguez is tendered a QO AND a mutli-year deal
This was slightly shocking. For those who don’t know how a qualifying offer works let me explain. The qualifying offer is a one year offer and the salary changes year to year based on the average salary of the top 125 paid players in the MLB; this year that number is $18.4M. Once tendered a qualifying offer, that player can accept or decline the offer, or negotiate a long-term deal with that QO on the table (like E-Rod is doing right now). The biggest thing here is that if the player signs with another team, the team that offered them the QO gets draft pick compensation (a round 1 or 2 pick depending on where the team giving up the pick is picking in the 1st round). All you need to take away from this is there are 3 outcomes for the Red Sox woth E-Rod: he accepts the 1 year/$18.4M QO, he negotiates a long-term contract with the Sox, or E-Rod leaves and the Red Sox get a top tier draft pick. $18.4M is about where I would guess E-rod’s marke value is on the open market. Do I think a 3 year/$54M deal with the Sox is possible? Yes, and that is a deal I’d gladly accept if I were Chaim or E-Rod. However, there are rumors of the Mariners, Angels, and Tigers all doing their due dilligence on E-Rod. If they swoop in with a 5-6 year deal, or an AAV above $19-20M the Red Sox HAVE to let him go. Have to.
3. The Red Sox are Still Very Active in the Shortstop Market
What started off as some minor rumblings has become a full out fact. The Red Sox are doing some digging on every shortstop on the market: Correa, Seager, Story, Semien most notably. I still think a move like this takes a ton of foresight and organizational planning for down the road, but clearly Chaim knows a big bat and better defensive infield skyrockets the Sox chances of a World Series. I think Correa makes sense because he is simply the best available, and I also wouldn’t shut the door on Story. There have been a lot of concerns about Story’s arm over at short so if he is open to moving to second base I think he is a much more stomachable contract for Chaim compared to Correa/Seager.
4. Chaim is Looking at Back End Starters
According to Heyman and Rosenthal, Chaim and the Sox are one of several teams with legitimate interest in both Steven Matz and Alex Cobb. Both starters are back end starters who can eat innings and are reliable guys. Both of them should come relatively cheap (likely in the $10-15M AAV range) and would immediately be upgrades. If E-Rod leaves, I think there is a possibility we sign both of these guys, but I do like either of the two along with E-Rod. A rotation of Sale-Eovaldi-ERod-Cobb/Matz-Pivetta is a really strong rotation. There haven’t been many rumors about the Sox being linked to Manea/Gray/Bassitt/Montas/Castillo or any bullpen arms but those are the names I would expect the Red Sox to be linked to as we get deeper into the post season.
That is all for this week folks, I’ll be back next week and hopefully we have some real traction on some rumors. See ya then.
Anything But E 