TODAY: Boston will guarantee Young $13MM over the two years of the deal, Rosenthal tweets. That puts the contract right in line with recent paydays for strong free agent fourth outfielders. The pre-2014 David Murphy contract — two years and $12MM — represents the closest comp.
Young will earn $6.5MM in each year of the deal, Alex Speier of the Boston Globe adds on Twitter.
YESTERDAY, 5:43pm: Young will receive a two-year guarantee, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets.
12:29pm: The Red Sox and outfielder Chris Young are in agreement on a multi-year contract, pending a physical, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Young is represented by CAA Sports.
The 32-year-old Young has significantly rebuilt his stock after a dismal showing with the 2014 Mets in which he failed to live up to the club’s one-year, $7.25MM free-agent investment. Young latched on with the Yankees late that offseason and posted an impressive .282/.354/.521 batting line in 79 plate appearances. That showing led to a one-year, $2.5MM contract to return to the Bronx, and Young exceeded expectations on that deal by a fair margin.
In 2015, Young batted a healthy .252/.320/.453 in 356 trips to the plate spread across 140 contests for the Yankees. Young possesses decent pop against right-handed pitching but nearly all of his production comes against lefties at this point. Last season, he logged 175 plate appearances when holding the platoon advantage and batted an incredible .327/.397/.575 with seven home runs. As such, he figures to be held to primarily a platoon role in Boston, though he clearly can deliver a good amount of value at the plate in said capacity.
While Young was at one time to be considered a sound defender in center field, he’s more or less limited to the corners now. He can handle center in a pinch — the Yankees gave him 90 innings there in 2015 –but the Red Sox have multiple options on the roster that project as better defenders in center. In fact, all three of the Sox’ projected starters — Mookie Betts, Rusney Castillo and Jackie Bradley — are capable of handling center (with Bradley likely to see much of the center-field action next season). Bradley is the only left-handed hitter of the bunch, so Young could slot into the lineup in his place against southpaws, with Betts sliding over to center field on those days.
Young is essentially a dead-pull hitter, which should mesh just fine with the Green Monster at Fenway Park. His signing gives the Red Sox a fourth outfield option and also lessens the potential blow if the Sox are to indeed trade one of Bradley or Castillo, as some have speculated. (The notion of a Betts trade teeters on the brink of unfathomable at this point.) In the event of a trade, the Sox could then pursue free-agent (or trade) upgrades in the outfield or simply platoon Young with the left-handed-hiting Brock Holt, who has more than his fair share of outfield experience.
Boston’s 40-man roster is full at this juncture, so the Sox will have to make a move in order to accommodate Young if and when he passes his physical exam to make the deal official.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
A multi year deal to a 5th outfielder? Come on, Dave…
May mean they’re thinking of trading JBJ. Or maybe platooning.
Or it could be Castillo. DD was trying hard to JBJ, doubt he would be trying to trade him.
The Red Sox would have to eat a huge chunk of that contract to move Castillo.
well I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens
Undoubtedly true; I don’t know why this is being downvoted. JBJ is more likely to be traded because he has actual trade value. No one wants Castillo.
Am thinking a trade myself and would rather have JBJ than Young, who is likely to go back to being a 5th OF, like the initial poster wrote, plus being over paid, while Boston trades away a guy who even if his bat recedes plays GG OF for chump change right now. Looks like a poor move on the face of it, unless some team thinks JBJ is worth an awful lot more than has been rumored on the market.
craig gentry plays elite CF and just got outrighted by Oakland.
No, it doesn’t mean that at all. It means they have depth with a part-time veteran now. They did not have that before. DD had Raj Davis for this same role in Detroit.
He was worth 1.5 WAR last season, and mashes LHP. He’s a good 4th OFer and pretty much the ideal hitter at Fenway (tons of FB’s to the pull side)
He’s not bad to have when Castillo and JBJ are unproven.
When you have two unproven outfielders, you dont sign a bench guy. You sign someone like Gordon or Heyward.
In your scenario, how does any player ever become proven?
Bradley has already proven that he’s a very below average bat. One hot month doesn’t change that. Castillo also was very shaky albeit in limited time. By unproven, I mean they haven’t proven that they can be consistent starters.
his point is, if your rule of thumb is that “you must always sign a stud to play over unproven young players”, then those young players will never get any playing time to prove themselves.
Bradley has had plenty of playing time. Isn’t a full season in 2014 enough to say the guy can’t hit the side of a barn?
it’s not about bradley in particular. if you mean “bad”, then say “bad” and we can argue that point. “unproven” means something else.
and to your point about bradley – young players take time to adjust sometimes. his hot month was probably over the top, but before that he was abysmally bad in the majors in a way that didn’t really jive with his minor league record. i think the truth about him is in the middle. the only way to find out is to play him.
Fine then, let’s not argue terms. Bradley Jr is bad… at hitting. He still has tremendous value in terms of defense, but he would be a much better fit on a different team. That’s why he should be traded for bullpen help, and since Boston expects to contend (ownership expects to, not saying it’s gonna happen) Heyward or Gordon would make a lot more sense to shore up the outfield with Betts in center. Castillo is probably fine for now, but I still have serious doubts about him.
see, these are reasonable positions to take. i don’t personally agree about bradley’s bat. or about trading him for relievers. or about heyward or gordon being good ideas. but, that’s life
You don’t think Heyward would solidify Boston’s outfield?
he’d improve the team on the field, probably. if he was free. but you do have to pay him, and i don’t think it’s the best use of those resources. especially since a lot of heyward’s value is in OF defense and that’s not something the sox have any kind of problem with right now. they need to fix the pitching. the offense and defense are fine.
Agree that there is no real reason to use resources to improve the offense. Everything should go towards starting pitching and late relievers. I do not believe they need multiple “aces” but they need Cueto or Price. Then I would love to see bullpen players (I like Tim Collins since he’s local but I do not know how healthy he is).
Then you can think about depth guys, where I believe Young is a good start. He can essentially slot in where De Aza did last year and contribute.
Cueto’s not an ace.
Cueto isn’t an ace despite a 3.30 career ERA? He has been in the top 5 for cy young twice in the past four years and may have been this year if not for being traded. I admit his time in KC wasn’t good but his overall interleague stats against the AL are solid.
Also, I am tired of hearing this from the same people who called Lester an ace going into the 2014 season, saying we should have thrown the house at a guy who had a 3.74 career ERA going into 2014 with a 4.28 in his previous 2 seasons.
Not when you already have three quality defenders in the outfield.
his season at 24 where he was still positive war despite that batting line? 24 is still young and his curve is up. i do agree one good month doesnt make him a good hitter. but he will hit better than 2014 and therefore be at least a 2 win guy with his defense which is just fine.
It does if your name is Didi Gregorious.
So they can sit on the bench and not give the unproven players a chance to be proven?
How much of a payroll do you expect them to have?
Two years isn’t that bad at all… better tying up a decent 4th outfielder for two years then missing the opportunity on the next.
A 4th outfielder who could be a starter for some teams, and two of our the outfielders are unproven, so the depth is important.
Fairly sure that if he could start for some team, that’s where he would sign, because he would then be paid even more on his next contract.
Makes no sense. Glad red soxs spend stupid but maybe they are trading an outfielder
It makes perfect sense. JBJ and Castillo are unproven and the RS needed a 4th OFer. This is simply a depth move, doesn’t mean they’re trading an OFer.
I thought this would make him like a 5th or 6th outfielder doesn’t it?
if he’s the 5th, who’s the 4th
Brock Holt
holt’s also the main backup infielder though, and that’s his primary job. he can’t do everything
i mean, he can, but not all at one time
Brock Holt
Brock Holt plays everywhere though.
According to there 25 man active roster he would be the 5th or 6th behind Betts, JBJ, Castillo, Holt and Brentz.
bryce brentz? are these people serious?
He is on there roster as a outfielder. You have a problem take it up with the Red Sox. Not me.
i’m not arguing that he exists, but that young is “behind” him in the outfield hierarchy. is there a note on their roster that says “brentz plays before young”? i bet there isn’t
I never said there was a order in where he fits in. Just making the point is that they now have 6th outfield depth. Unless they are planning a trade did they really need Young? My guess is this is just part one on a different plan. And if I remember correct Young said after the season he wanted a full time gig. Not saying he can get what he wants but you have to think he was told he will get plenty playing time for him to agree to the deal.
yes you did. you said “he would be the 5th or 6th behind Betts, JBJ, Castillo, Holt and Brentz”
How is Brentz even still on the 40-man….
Brentz isn’t even a major leaguer, and Holt is the primary backup infielder, they needed someone to be the primary backup outfielder.
DD always tended to trade for pitching when he was with Detroit. This looks like he’s prepping for a trade.
LOL. You have ZERO idea on the money involved in the contract yet you say they are “spending stupid”? SMFH
LOL.
JBJ BBQ
What’s funny about it?
Just the multi year part. He’s a good player but I’m sure it will be for a lot more then he’s worth.
Before we know the numbers, care to state his yearly value?
I would say somewhere in the 2 year/ 10 million area is a decent deal.
This is a classic DD move. Soon you will see a deal for one of your outfielders. I will be interested in what $$$ Young gets. My guess is that Young was one of the OF that Avila of the Tigers spoke to and could not make a deal. It was too rich for Avila or he wanted too many years.
DD has said he wanted a 4th OFer to complement JBJ/Betts/Castillo. It doesn’t mean he will deal an OFer, in fact, it probably means the polar opposite. It means hes probably not going after Gordon, he’s likley keeping the 3 OFers and wanted protection in case one of them struggle.
I thought Holt was the 4th outfielder but last year he only played 32/129 games in the outfield.I was wrong.
A nice right handed bat/ average outfielder good platoon option with JBJ and added protection against either JBJ or Castillo struggling or injuries
Interesting signing. Means they either don’t trust JBJ against lefties or that we could see a trade. Interestingly, Boston could easily trade for an ace like Gray, Sale, or Strasburg without giving up Betts or Bogaerts. However, I could see something along the lines of JBJ and Devers for Strasburg and Storen/Papelbon
JBJ and Devers wouldn’t get you Strasburg by himself, let alone him and a closer. BTW, Papelbon has said will not pitch unless he is the closer. With Kimbrel, why would you want to trade for him at all?
Strasburg has 1 year of control and is a rental. Devers alone would likley be an overpay. Devers is one of the best prospects in baseball.
In your opinion, that may be. However, Washington is asking the moon for him. Therefore it will require an overpay in order to get him.
Not to mention the fact that Devers is not going to help the Nationals in their win-window. He is not going to be in the bigs for at least two years and probably three or more. By that time, Strasburg and Harper will probably be gone and the Nats will be back to being a doormat.
You must be joking.
i don’t know… you could make an argument that JBJ and devers wouldn’t get you strasburg by himself, but WOULD get you strasburg and papelbon
Point taken, but I still don’t think Boston has any reason to want Papelbon unless they plan on turning Kimbrel into an 8th inning guy. I’d rather pay an additional prospect or two an avoid the headache altogether.
Except you cannot have Papelbon and Kimbrel together. Papelbon is clearly not going to accept anything but a closer role — his situation working with Storen in DC was a disaster.
sure, sure. i don’t think this will or should actually happen. i was just making the point about trade values
No you could not make that argument at all. Stop prospect hugging. Strasburg would fetch a massive return.
i was just pointing out that papelbon’s trade value is probably negative. i didn’t think very hard about the actual trade. relax.
JBJ and devers is a pretty good package though. how much do you think a one-year rental of strasburg should be worth. everyone just finished laughing at the sox for giving up less than JBJ+devers for three years of kimbrel. “kimbrel is a reliever” yes but he’s an awesome one and it’s three years of control as opposed to one…
“Interestingly, Boston could easily trade for an ace like Gray, Sale without giving up Betts or Bogaerts.”
This has been argued for days on here, and the answer is an absolute NO, they cannot trade for Gray or Sale without giving up Bogaerts or Betts. The White Sox and A’s have no reason to do that, at all. Stop it with this nonsense.
Guy you just don’t know with billy beane…. Look at that Donaldson return. Bad, and didn’t fill any needs on the team. You never know
From a Billy Beane standpoint it wasn’t bad. Donaldson was a third baseman entering his prime and had put up all star numbers. Beane went and traded him for three prospects one of which essentially replaced Addison Russell as potential shortstop of the future in Barreto in addition to Lawrie a young guy who has shown signs of his upside throughout his career and who could replace Donaldson at third or even slide to second if needed adding more versatility.
no matter what happens with the players the A’s got, it was a sensational deal to get Donaldson for the Jays. It could still wind up being a great deal for Oakland, too. It’ll take a couple years before we know for sure.
The answer continues to be an absolute “they could, but they won’t.” It would just involve a lot of top prospects/rookies going in place of Betts/Bogaerts.
E-Rod, Owens, Devers, Moncada, Johnson, et al, plus the slightly more experienced JBJ, provide enough talented depth to make a trade for a Sale/Gray type possible, but it would involve moving a lot of those players and leaving the Red Sox farm system vacant.
The issue isn’t with Boston’s prospects, its with the notion that prospects alone can bring in either of those two, when both front offices have categorically said they aren’t trading them for prospects.
This move makes total sense. Insurance if Castillo or JBJ struggle, which is very possible. DD is building depth and there is nothing wrong with that.
The Sox are so right-handed I definitely expected a LH OF. Then again you wont sit Mookie, and if a righty pitcher is up you swap Holt for Castillo, and if a lefty is up you swap Young for Bradley. Not a bad set up, i jusy hope i dont see much righty v Young this year.
Also, before this the only RHH on their bench was Hannigan, so this gives them a legitimate RHH pinch hitting option. (The other bench guys are presumably Holt and Shaw)
Even with Young doing well this last season…. I don’t think he will repeat it….. So now who are the Redsox going to get rid of? They have how many outfielders????
four? why does everyone keep saying this.
rosterresource.com/mlb-boston-red-sox/
Cause last season Hanley and Craig were lingering.
A nice Jonny Gones type of player! Good pickup to protect against injuries and potential struggles for JBJ and Castillo
This isn’t at bad signing, at all.
The entirety of Boston’s 2016 MLB OF depth (not counting Benintendi, who’s only going to see time in MLB in a best-case scenario) was:
Betts, Bradley Jr, Holt, Castillo, Brentz.
That’s not…great, especially if Betts got hurt for any reason. Young fortifies that group, and can play any OF spot.
Also, historically, Young’s 2nd and 3rd best park OPSs all-time are Fenway and Camden Yards. It would have been fun to finally see what a full year of him in Houston would look like, but this is the second best placement for him.
Brentz is essentially a non factor. He can’t be expected to spend much time on a big league roster anywhere, let alone actually contribute.
Depending on the actual price tag, I don’t see a reason to dislike this deal unless it’s for a ridiculous amount of money.
I also don’t think it displaces anyone or makes a trade imminent. Holt would continue to be a super utility player getting more time in the infield if Sandoval struggles or if Pedroia’s injuries return. Meanwhile Bradley and Castillo will still get their shots with Young mixing in as necessary.
I really don’t understand the mind of someone who sees the signing of a part time veteran OF instantly mean that a trade of a young cost-controlled everyday player is imminent. Young mashes at Fenway and can play any OF spot. He’s a quality backup to rest the younger guys, he’s better than Holt or Brentz, who he’s essentially replacing on the OF depth chart. His signing means nothing, at all, in terms of future moves.
Yeah, I think there’s a lot of knee jerk reactions and I think a lot of that is coming from the phrase “multi-year deal.”
Granted, he’s not the first name I was hoping to see the Red Sox sign, but looking at everything right now I don’t see anything that makes this a bad deal.
I dont think this is a shocker. DD has said many times he wanted a 4th OFer to protect JBJ and Castillo in case they struggle.
“multi-year” most likely means “2” for Young here though, any casual fan should know that.
Kinda my point. People hear “multi-year deal” and that translates in people’s heads as long term commitment which translates to someone else is out. This will be a 2 year deal with a possible third year buyout. He’s a 4th outfielder and the Sox got him because they have more resources to spend on a player like this to be a 4th outfielder.
I agree and also you never know when a player goes down with an injury.
I predicted this one!
I’m guessing 2/14. I wouldn’t be shocked with anything in the $12-18M range though. $6-9M a year seems right for Young. I would be shocked if he got a 3rd year.
Chris Sale. I will hang up an listen.
Who is one of the best pitchers in baseball, Alex.
Let’s wait to see the financial terms before we judge it. 2 years $5,000,000—Great move Dave
2 years $20,000,000 we have a problem.
Quality 4th OF who could serve as insurance for a speculative trade. But could also step in for jbj or castillo if they slump
Or just platoon with bradley since thdy both would be a perfect platoon.
interesting. As a precursor to a deal for one of their existing OF makes some sense, and he might be very effective against left handers–and there’s always DH possibilities when Ortiz rests and next year when he retires. what about craig?
This trade pretty much confirms JBJ is staying put. Young will platoon vs lefties and spot start for the other OFs. I’m trying to see how this could be a lynchpin for other deals, but its just OF depth.
Nothing to see here…move along. And don’t sign Heyward!!
Sox name was floated im rumors with Davis and Gordon, I doubt they get either now unless a trade is made.
I agree. Unless Castillo is dealt I don’t see Gordon as an option as bradley looks to be staying put and betts is clearly going nowhere. And I doubt they trade Castillo. Davis could be an option of they manage to move Hanley. Because then he plays first ghis year and DH’s when Ortiz retires and brings the left handed thump ortiz will leave behind.
Good fit for them as long as the contract isn’t significantly more than 2/14. Great against lefthanders, awful against rightys.
He can play all three outfield spots but doesn’t have the range for center or the arm for right. Would have to be strictly a fill-in at either of those spots.
So who will the Red So drop off the 40 man roster?
Rutledge was DFA’d earlier. Do they have to DFA someone else?
Yes. They DFAed Rutlege to set up who they’d protect for the Rule 5 draft and they currently have a full roster. But they don’t actually have to put Young on the roster until after they officially announce the deal which can be delayed as long as both sides agree to delay (I think). Of course with no official announcement any deal between both sides is merely a handshake.
My guess is if he’s announced soon then it will be either after a relatively minor trade or their try to sneak Mendez or Aro off the 40-man roster. But They could always try to delay for a couple of weeks before making the deal actually offical.
Maybe Dombrowksi plans to sneak a first baseman’s mitt under Chris’ tree.
Hanley Ramirez, Travis Shaw, a top prospect in sam travis near ready, Allen Craig, Garin Cecchini, Brock Holt all capable first base options (or or first base hopefuls) and you want to add a nicr platoon outfielder with no experience to the mix. I don’t understand
This looks like a pretty perfect platoon between JBJ and Young. Complimentary and should Young continue is renaissance, he could bridge the gap between Papi and a black hole next year, Don’t see why people dislike this move.
Red Sox sign Young… 5 hours later we find out it is a 2 year deal…. do we now have to wait another 5 hours to find out the $$$ details?
Things are so slow they are spreading out the press releases to the reporters
Saw a rumor today of JBJ to the A’s for Eric Sogard?
So a guy with all star potential in Bradley for a career utility infielder. Hmm. ..No
JBJ had ONE good month. Perhaps you and the red sox hype machine are over valuing just a tad? I think so. Is he worth more than Sogard? Probably, but let’s ease up on the all star potential nonsense lol
Good month? More like excellent month, his slugging was over 600. Hes changed his swing and could resemble his truest form at the moment.
Does that make him a all star tho? Again the point was one “EXCELLENT” month does not make him the best option. He has 3 years in the bigs and has a career 213 batting average. I would not call that ALL STAR caliber. One can argue that Young will be the starter and JBJ could be the 4th man.
Youre missing my point which I didnt make very well. He changed his swing when demoted last, and has been on fire since being called back up. Yeah his career numbers suck but they average across his old swing and his new swing. Sure there is some real chance of regression next season but he has a lot of promise and for that reason is the best option
He was signed as a Bradley platoon option as well as a very capable 4th outfielder. Good solid signing.
Not bad for a guy the Yankees got off the scrap heap? But why Boston? This move makes little sense??
Sure, he’s worth $6.5 million a year for two years. And I’m the king of England. They desperately needed a fifth outfielder. Hahaha.