The Red Sox locked up Brayan Bello and Ceddanne Rafaela to contract extensions this past spring, but no deal developed between the team and Tanner Houck, even though the two sides had some negotiations. Houck confirmed to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo that some “discussions” took place, “but we’re at where we are now. I put that behind me whenever we shook hands and said, ’Let’s go out and win as many games as we can.’ ” There’s nothing preventing Houck and the Sox from restarting talks, though it would seem that Houck (like most players) prefers to save contractual matters for the offseason to cut down on potential distractions.
The right-hander also doesn’t even reach arbitration eligibility until this coming winter, so since he is already under team control through 2027, Boston might not feel too much urgency to lock Houck up on an extension. Of course, given how Houck has pitched this season, the Sox might’ve missed their window for landing Houck at a relative bargain price. Houck has broken out with a 2.17 ERA over 58 innings and nine starts, and his secondary metrics are highlighted by impressive grounder (55.2%), walk (4.7%) and barrel (3.7%) rates. Even in a season marked by impressive pitching around baseball, Houck has stood out, as his 1.9 fWAR is behind only Tarik Skubal as the highest in the league.
More from the AL East…
- Tommy Kahnle is on pace to be activated from the 15-day injured list prior to the Yankees’ game on Wednesday, manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including Greg Joyce of the New York Post). Kahnle threw ten pitches in a scoreless inning for Double-A Somerset today, which marks his fifth and likely final rehab outing. The reliever hasn’t pitched in a big league game since September 20, as a bout of shoulder inflammation prematurely ended his 2023 campaign, and then more inflammation this spring led to a season-opening stint on the 15-day IL. Getting Kahnle back in good health will add another yet quality arm to a New York relief corps that led the majors in bullpen ERA entering today’s action.
- Anthony Santander has been battling a bruised left knee since Wednesday, when he collided with the outfield wall in pursuit of a Bo Bichette fly ball. After the Orioles had an off-day Thursday, Santander felt well enough to serve as the DH in Baltimore’s last two games, but didn’t play at all in today’s 6-3 win over the Mariners. Santander told MLB.com and other media that he is hoping one more day of rest will help calm the still-lingering soreness in his knee, and he described his knee as feeling “about 75 percent” when running, so some more DH duty might be in order. Santander is hitting .210/.290/.427 with seven homers over 176 plate appearances this season, still good for a respectable 106 wRC+ but also a comparative weak link in the powerful Orioles lineup.
- For most on the Red Sox, Orioles, and Blue Jays, check out another set of AL East Notes published earlier today on MLBTR.
The Royals should be trying to pry Santander from the O’s. And the O’s should be determining which couple of failed Royals prospects they can turn into productive major leaguers.
That does not sound like a recipe for success
How does that benefit the O’s while in contention?
Santander is a free agent after this season. Doubt the Royals would be interested
The Os would trade Santander quickly for the right bullpen piece. They have plenty of outfielders and Santander is a pending free agent that will not receive a QO
Gorav – no disrespect but this makes no sense. Besides the fact that the Os won’t trade a middle of the order bat to make room for a prospect in the middle of a pennant race, the only team that would want a pending FA is another contender so why would they trade a front line reliever.
I agree he may not get a QO, but that’s not guaranteed. He’s always been a slow starter so he’ll get going and in the end it depends whether they believe Kjerstad is the real deal.
Finally their pen has been better than most and Tate and Tyler Wells could be mid year upgrades. What they miss is Felix and you don’t get that in a trade for an outfielder.
He’s not getting a QO unless he goes on some ungodly tear where he produces better than he’s ever produced and the Os need him for the playoff push. Even if it’s a mirror of last year, he’s not getting a QO.
Santander is prototypical trade fodder. And this is his last valuable year for a team exiting a rebuild. It would be dumb not to trade him.
I would ditch Austin Hays before Santander.
You are looking at my comment by itself opposed to in response to someone else that said the Os should trade him for a Royals failed prospect. That is not something they would do. The only way they would is like you said, if it lines up with another contender such as Cleveland. Guardians desperately need outfielders and have a lot of pitching.
well, to be honest neither did the OHearn pick up from the Royals. he didn’t look good in his time in KC to expect what he’s been to the O’s.
The point of an early extension for a young player is, from the team’s standpoint, to create known dollar amounts into the foreseeable future that represent some kind of savings over what would be full market value of the player–this is the player’s advantage of the extension, less money for guaranteed security. The Sox don’t know how to play this game, which they showed with Whitlock, then Bello, then Rafaela. None is a future certainty. All are probably replaceable by the end of their six years of control. Yet the Sox have overpaid for all three. They should stop this practice now until they gain an understanding of how it works and to whom it should be applied..
106 wRC+ is a “weak” link? That could be one of the best in many teams.
Before the season started I said to extend Houck for cheap because he will become the righty Chris Sale and he is turning into him in front of our eyes. The Sox missed the boat!
Can’t criticize hope… But aside from the Devers extension (and that contract makes a ton of sense given his age and rare offensive ability), they haven’t signed any premier free agents in the last five years. Not their own and not ones from other teams. Instead they’ve looked for “bargains” like Story and Paxton. How has that worked out for them?