TODAY: The breakdown of Buehler’s deal is provided by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (multiple links), who reports that the contract also contains a $25MM mutual option for the 2026 season. Buehler receives a $3.05MM signing bonus, $15MM in base salary, and then a $3MM buyout of the mutual option, totaling the aforementioned $21.05MM guarantee.
As much as $2.5MM in bonus money is also available. Buehler will unlock the first $500K of that cash when he makes his 20th start of the season, and he’ll earn another $500K upon making his 22nd, 24th, 26th, and 28th starts of the season.
DEC. 28: The Red Sox officially announced the Buehler signing.
DEC. 23: The Red Sox are in agreement with right-hander Walker Buehler on a one-year deal worth $21.05MM, according to a report from Russell Dorsey of Yahoo Sports. The deal is pending a physical and includes incentives that could raise the value beyond that aforementioned figure. Buehler is an Excel Sports Management client.
It’s an interesting deal for Buehler, as the $21.05MM guarantee perfectly mirrors that of the Qualifying Offer. Both Buehler himself and Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta were considered borderline candidates to be extended the QO at the outset of the winter. Ultimately, the Dodgers declined to extend that offer to Buehler while the Red Sox did so for Pivetta but were rebuffed. From a financial and roster perspective, today’s deal allows Buehler to secure the same guarantee he would’ve gotten had the Dodgers extended him the QO while allowing Boston to add a veteran right-hander to its young rotation on a one-year deal that mirrors what they offered Pivetta last month.
The 30-year-old right-hander was among the league’s most talented young starters during his rookie season back in 2018, and pitched to an excellent 2.82 ERA (146 ERA+) with a 3.16 FIP in a four-season stretch from 2018-21. That stretch concluded with Buehler finishing fourth in NL Cy Young award voting behind Corbin Burnes, Zack Wheeler, and Max Scherzer in a race that seemingly cemented his status as one of the league’s top aces. That career trajectory was thrown off the rails early in the 2022 season, however. Buehler pitched to a relatively pedestrian 4.02 ERA (101 ERA+) in 12 starts for the Dodgers that year before going on the injured list in June and ultimately requiring Tommy John surgery.
Buehler wouldn’t return to a major league mound until May of 2024, nearly two full years later, and struggled badly upon returning. Additional injuries limited Buehler to just 16 starts for the Dodgers this year, and even when he took the mound the right-hander struggled badly. In all, Buehler pitched to a 5.38 ERA (72 ERA+) with a 5.54 FIP in his final regular season in a Dodgers uniform. With that being said, the righty did manage to end his season on a positive note with a solid 3.60 ERA during the club’s run to the World Series championship this year. After a brutal start against the Padres in the NLDS, Buehler fired off ten scoreless frames between the NLCS and the World Series while striking out a third of his opponents.
That combination of a strong postseason, a terrible regular season, a fraught injury history, and a dominant track record made Buehler one of the most intriguing free agents on the market this winter and perhaps the ultimate high-risk, high-reward signing. To that end, it’s perhaps no surprise that he garnered interest from a huge number of teams. In addition to the Red Sox, Buehler also garnered interest from the Tigers, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Athletics, and Braves this winter. That wide-ranging interest made it apparent early in the winter that Buehler was likely to surpass the one-year, $15MM deal MLBTR predicted he would land as part of our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list, where Buehler was ranked as the #37 free agent this winter. It even seemed to open the door to the possibility the right-hander would be able to land a mutli-year deal with opt-outs; while he ultimately settled for a straight one-year pact, his $21.05MM salary in 2025 is likely much healthier than what he would’ve received on an annual basis on a multi-year deal.
For the Red Sox, the addition of Buehler adds another arm with plenty of upside to a rotation already full of it. If Buehler manages to rebound to the form he showed earlier in his career, he’ll form a daunting front two in the Boston rotation alongside lefty Garrett Crochet with right-handers Lucas Giolito and Tanner Houck joining them to create a formidable quartet. The additions of Crochet and Buehler have also significantly deepened the group, as right-handers Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Richard Fitts, and Cooper Criswell all figure to be in the conversation for starts as well after being key pieces of the club’s rotation last year. Further down the depth chart, the Red Sox also boast interesting upside plays Quinn Priester and Michael Fulmer.
The addition of Buehler brings the club’s payroll for 2025 up to just over $175MM, according to RosterResource. The figure is substantially higher for luxury tax purposes, however, sitting just under $212MM. That leaves the club with about $29MM to work with before they surpass the first luxury tax threshold. The Red Sox last surpassed that first threshold in 2022, but there’s been no indication from club brass that the first threshold represents a hard limit on their spending amid what has been a fairly busy offseason for the club. With the rotation seemingly solidified, it seems likely the club’s priorities will now shift towards adding a right-handed bat to their lineup, whether that comes in the form of an outfielder such as Teoscar Hernández or an infielder like Alex Bregman or Nolan Arenado.
We’re alive!!
zoo wee mama
gotta stay warm somehow brotha
Prefer them to be on an ice floe heading out into the arctic waters….with their resumes
Dang…. best of luck to him and congrats on getting an extra $6,050,000 from the Red Sox, Buehler…. Buehler….
Let Craig cook!!!
Crap.
Thought he was going to the Northside as well…….
Jed has absolutely no excuse for not signing Tanner Scott. None. Zero, Zip, Zilch. Except the phobia in his own mind of signing Closers to serious contracts. Counsell has always had a top notch Closer. He probably won’t get one here either as long as Jed Freud is here.
You guys have a closer named Azozlay I thought.
Been in a Coma? Had TJ surgery and isn’t even in the Organization anymore. Although with Jed, He does like his pets and Alzolay was one of them.
Uncle, were any of Counsell’s closers signed to long term free agent deals?
Seem to remember Josh Hader getting a decent amount of change. Pretty sure Williams is going to get extended by the Yankees barring his arm falling off on National TV. He only needed the 2. in Milwaukee. The Cubs don’t have anybody who will get that title. They have a lot of POTENTIAL Closers, But none you can say with any certainty will be that this year.
Hader got paid by the Astros. His final year in Milwaukee was in arbitration. Was expected to get $14 million in arbitration in 2023 so they traded him at the deadline in 2022.
So they still played for Counsell when he was there. And Williams was Hader’s set up man and got the job when Hader left. But what’s your point exactly? Neither of those two guys are on the Cubs right now. Hodge might be that guy. But Uncle Jed thought Alzolay was that guy and Neris was plan B. That was a disaster that doesn’t need repeating. You’d think he would learn.
This would have been such a Hoyer move. I’d rather pay Buehler than trade for Luzardo. Jed has been in hiding for a couple weeks.
Dodgers dynasty ends today
I do laugh at everyone freaking out about the Dodgers, when they actually have done nothing but sign Snell. They lost Bueller, and Hernandez so far. They’re not a better team this off season.
lol.
vermont – When you win the World Series and you sign one of the top starting pitchers in the game, you don’t need to do much more.
I think Teo stays, but even if he leaves and they don’t replace him it’s not like Conforto is chopped liver.
as a giants fan watching conforto the last couple of years here – he has in fact been chopped liver
The Dodgers not only signed Snell, but have Gonsolin coming back, as well as Ohtani to pitch. And Glasnow, who did not pitch after August. A lot of them could break down and are not great bets for 150 innings, but I’ll go out on a limb and say that they will be pretty good in 2025. And WS favorites, again. 95 wins is almost a given, could be well over 100 if their pitchers have better than expected health. An absolute beast of a team, to which criticism is laughable.
@bag
That’s because you watched him play at home in SF, where most every hitter is a lesser version of himself….
Red Sox will sign Teo
Only snell? A top ten pitcher is an only? Espeiclally after the season you won it all lol. They replaced an above average outfielder for a top ten pitcher, they’ll be fine. And they got cheat codes and gonna end up Roki lol
*NEED – lol. This is the RH bat to go get. Maybe pickup a closer or another reliever and I think they did an ok job this offseason. It’s better than what they vommited last offseason with full throttle
Shoman – I hope you’re right, but I don’t see it unless they go through with trading Abreu or Duran.
Shoman5 – No they won’t.
I mean that is to be seen. the last thing I want is for the dodgers to succeed but if they do get sasaki and ohtani returns to his previous pitching performances you are looking at a much stronger pitching staff – considering you have snell, yamamoto, glasnow and add sasaki and ohtani – you kind of have 5 aces
Ohtani will not be pitching again.
They also signed a potential Ace called Ohtani to anchor the rotation along w Snell, Yamo and Mr Glass Joe Glasgow
sign Snell. They lost Bueller, and Hernandez
========================
I really like this signing for the RS, but continue to think that Snell is way, way better.
Joe: for the money paid to Snell basically had a good half season and was a major risk before that I disagree.
Snell is better but I think Walker will bounce back next year. He showed signs in the post-season similar to what Sale showed. If you want to talk about value, Buehler and Crochet could end up the steals of the off-season. I think we are a right handed third baseman from a really good off-season.
I don’t trust snell to suddenly turn into an inning eater as he gets older. that’s my biggest gripe with him.
As long as the Dodgers Bullpen can maintain its dominance, as it did in the 2024 playoffs, all they need out of Snell is 5 innings per start
2 guys motivated to get paid in Crochet and Buehler, the former who will extend and latter likely back on track to get a big deal next offseason. Nice work!
Exercised his $19M player option for the upcoming season
Giolito is coming back around the end of May if all keeps going well.
He had Internal Brace surgery on his elbow on March 12th. That generally is thought to have a quicker recovery than full blown TJ surgery so that would put him in line to join the team sometime in the first half of the 2025 season provided he doesn’t have any setbacks in his recovery.
I liked beuhler as an option before the world series. Thought that might put him out of reach, but decent signing. I just worry about durability in the rotation though. Crochet, beuhler, houck, Bello, giolito have all had issues with health to various degrees. We do have decent depth now though.
Tang – Nahhh ….. the trifecta isn’t complete until they overpay Means.
Then they will have cornered the market on pitchers returning from major surgery.
Great move by BOS.
Most one year deals with rebound candidates are described as “low risk, high reward” potential… But $21MM for a year of Buehler after the season he just had seems questionable to me.
Meh. Despite what most red Sox fans will tell you, the red Sox aren’t cheap and don’t care about a contract like this. They just don’t want to give out years to 30+ pitchers. We’ve had so many contracts backfire on us it’s not funny.
So instead of paying for a guy who had success in recent seasons and dealing with a bad year or two at the end, they just keep paying a premium for recliminaton project pitchers.
The rotation has been an area of weakness because they keep doing dumb things like this.
“The rotation has been an area of weakness”
Crochet, Giolito, Buehler, Hauck, Bello.
So weak.
“has been”
And in the last few years, which one of those guys has had a good second half of the season?
Bello and that’s it?
Crochet had a horrible second half in 2024.
Houck took a big step back in the second half Of 2024.
Giolito had a horrible second half of 2023 and then was hurt.
Buehler has a bad 2024.
@joemoe You ever heard of the concept buy low sell high? Let’s talk about Buehler, had a few injury riddled seasons with last year being the healthiest he’s been in a long time. Buehler had a 3.50 ERA this past post-season. Feels very similar to Sale in 2023 and he goes on to have a Cy Young caliber year for Atlanta.
Next let’s visit Crochet and Houck, they didn’t fall apart until they surpassed their career highs in innings pitched for a season. Seems like a very legitimate reason for a collapse every pitcher goes through, it’s called hitting the wall for a reason.
Giolito had internal brace surgery which means 9 to 12 months of recovery time instead of 12 to 18 months with TJS. Still I wouldn’t expect him to be right until 2026. Sandoval is a good insurance piece for Giolito
Now you got Bello, Crawford, and Priester who have good upside
I don’t buy my stocks at peak prices and I don’t want Henry buying players after peak performances especially after age 30. I like how this rotation looks
Tang – I will LMAO if the Sox give a massive contract to the soon-to-be 31 year old Bregman.
The biggest issue Red Sox Nation has with all of these dumpster-diving acquisitions is the Red Sox insisted they would “get back to acting like the Red Sox” and stated they “could go over the LT threshold” blah blah blah ….. as usual, they deceived us.
So you are on record as saying that Crochet is a dumpster reclamation pickup, is that right? And a serious error because they gave up Teel. You’d simply have strapped the team down with more than has already been paid out for “two of Snell, Fried and Burnes.”
stel – Where? Show me where I said Crochet is a dumpster reclamation pickup. He’s a high risk pitcher because of his health issues and lack of a track record. If he’s good the next 2 years he will either walk or receive a massive contract extension. And yes of course the Red Sox package was an overpay, and took a potential star away from a premium position that they have zero depth with.
Where did I write that I demanded both Burnes and Snell? Show me. I would have been perfectly content with Snell and a shutdown closer, I’m happy they finally got Chapman. I’ve been saying all along instead of bringing in a Bregman or Santander they should let the kids play, Duran/Abreu/Anthony and Campbell in the infield. Give Casas and Yoshida a chance to re-establish their value. If you’re trying to accuse me of demanding they spend a lot of money, you’re full of crap. Snell and a shutdown closer would not have been much money, especially if they had traded for a closer like the Yankees did. And Snell didn’t require any loss of draft picks.
Now YOUR turn, put on record what you think of the Crochet/Sandoval/Buehler/Wilson moves. Put on record who else you want them to acquire. I’m bookmarking to hold you accountable next year, no matter what handle you use.
Fever Pitch Guy – Let me add to this record we are making.
The Crochet deal was a terrible deal and very short sighted. First, he’ll be a free agent in 2027 and be out of our price range so we gave up Teel, Montgomery and Meidroth, three future starters for two seasons of Crochet which is one more season than he has actually pitched as a starter!!! We made a huge over pay, we won’t make the playoffs with him on the staff and we’ll have wasted three of our best young star prospects. Giolito if successful will be with a new team in 2026 so we will have paid for his rehab so we can watch him walk if he has success or agree he was a bust if he stinks this year. Sandoval got the same deal but a year later. His contract is less but he still gets to rehab on our dollar and if he does well he’ll be gone and if he doesn’t we won’t want him in 2027. Buehler is rehabbing on our dollar as well. There is no way he signs with Boston if he makes a great comeback in 2025 and if he doesn’t pitch well like the last two seasons, we will have wasted $21Million on a long=shot.
For the money spent on Buehler, Giolito and Sandoval we could have signed a very good pitcher to at least a four year deal and had some continuity above Houck, Crawford and Bello in the rotation. Now we have a revolving door top of the rotation with nothing permanent except Houck if we actually extend him soon.
That’s my take on the bad choices by Breslow to build temporary rotations over the next two years. I’ll take one blue chip pitcher for the duration that matches the money wasted on these three pitchers and our offense would be much stronger with Teel, Meidroth and Montgomery graduating to the MLB in 2025 and 2026.
You and FPG are trolls and need to be i
He was top 10 in Cy Young votes in 2019 and 2021. The reward is really high here which is why the cost is more.
The hope is that he was just getting back to form in the playoffs after TJS. Better than signing a pitcher that needs surgery. They have the money to spend. Unfortunately the Minnesota major league club has lost a part of its already low income and for them 20m is probably 25 percent of total payroll.
Congrats and thank you for your service Walker!
FAs flying off the board now. Thanks for the Dodger memories. Goodluck in Beantown.
And to think if SD bounced the Dodgers in the first round buehler would’ve been lucky to get 10 mil haha
Bye bye Burnes. Need dollar bills and Henry is picking up pennies looking for a 1943.
1943 ?::: Uh oh, I thought it was 1942. Just threw all my 43’s away.
I like the deal for the Red Sox. They need ace potential and have the depth to cover it if him or Crochet miss time with injuries. I take him over Pivetta any day of the week.
So instead of going for Sasaki or Burnes they go get a rehab project. This is like Dan Duquette all over again. Lets sign guys coming back from injury that use to be good even though we have the money and prospect capital to go get a really good player.
Goose this doesn’t preclude Boston for going after Sasaki in fact I’m quite sure they will go after him. This probably means Burnes is out though.
Every team will attempt to sign Sasaki. It would be maleficence not to try. The Red Sox will show “interest,” but there isn’t anyone alive that thinks the Red Sox will land him. It is possible, but it would be the single most shocking story of the off season. When the time comes it will not be a shock who he picks.
William
Malfeasance?
Instead of writing that it would be considered a crime by any team not to try to sign Sasaki by their fans, I just wrote malfeasance. Means the same.
Malfeasance sure, you wrote “male-fiancee” the first time. LOL
Oh crap, didn’t notice. Thank you. I suppose any and all male fiancés would try to sign Sasaki as well.
Most of the time they pick the West Coast because they can fly back to Japan then fly an additional 4 hours from the East Coast. I have no confidence that Breslow is going to get him. He will underwhelm him and it will be all BS and Eye Wash for the fans. The typical Red Sox BS, we were in on it, gave it our best shot and did not get him.
In this scenario Sasaki can only get the max of international money from any team. The rest is a standard league contract (like a rookie).
That means that whatever team is trying to get needs selling points. Endorsements, track record, team quality, ease of life and support for himself and any family, if any, and a clearly defined and guaranteed role on the team.
I see the Red Sox getting Sasaki as being on par with a miracle that the Vatican would be forced to investigate. Move along from this. This isn’t a bidding process on a long-term deal where we can blow him away with cash.
You are correct but with the current track record what does your gut tell you? The 2003 version of this ownership would not recognize what it is today.
The Red Sox ownership in 2003 was desperately hungry to win and you could feel the energy and drive they had. Not anymore. Not even close. I would go as far as to say they purposely have not tried in a few years. I have no doubt they are not trying this year either.
Bruin1012 – OK i’ll bite. WHY? Why would the ownership break the $20Millionish AAV per year rule for Sasaki?
If you mean they will go after Sasaki like they did Soto and put in a fake bid, I can agree with you on that one.
Based on the numbers, it sure seems like they are done but I would still like to see Tanner Scott added. But that’s just me. I think the pen needs beefing up.
Saga- Sasaki doesn’t cost money not really he’s not going to get more then 7.5 million or the max a team has to spend in international money. As such theoretically any team can sign him. Do I think he signs with Boston statistics say no but if he choose Boston as his preferred destination then yes ownership can easily sign him. This is why I say Boston will certainly try and sign him just like all other 29 teams will try. He costs next to nothing.
Bruin1012 – Doesn’t he get to choose based on what is offered to him? And can’t the METS just dump a huge contract in his lap to convince him to sign with them.
The initiial $7.5 just opens the door to him but all the teams get to flash what is waiting for him inside? Right? So why wouldn’t he go to the club that has the most behind the door? I can’t picture the international money as being the deciding factor in this international signing. That’s why I didn’t think we had a chance because behind the door, the METS look to be the team to beat and Boston wouldn’t compete successfully against them.
Last year they traded away the guy with injuries who used to be good for the reliable guy.
How did that work out?
Last year they signed Giolito to a $39 million deal. Saux gonna Saux.
Goose
So instead of going for Sasaki
================================
ROTFLMAO!!!
All 30 teams are going for Sasaki.
Every single team wants Sasaki. He is choosing a select few to meet with. It’s not that other teams are going after him harder. It’s all about his preference.
Red Sox Center for Rehabbing Pitchers adds on yet another arm.
Didn’t pitch over 6IP once last season. Both bWAR and fWAR had him below 0.
Let’s spend 21MM and hope Buehler can regain his 2021 form instead of spending on guys who were actually good in recent memory.
Not a bad deal. Not a great deal. Would have preferred Eovaldi.
I wonder if he notified the Dodgers he was going to sign elsewhere, or there has been no conversation with Dodger management concerning his contract and everyone in Dodger management just figure he would sign with LA.before ST. Makes me wonder now about Hernandez re-signing with LA now, are the Dodgers just assuming that their FA’s are going to sign just because they are LA.
Dodgers didn’t give him the QO, so they obviously weren’t willing to give him this much. Just a case of the Red Sox valuing him more highly; nothing the Dodgers could have done in this case.
high – This is proof the Dodgers, who have a damn good reputation for projecting pitchers, didn’t think any other team would overpay by offering Buehler as much as the Red Sox did.
If the Dodgers thought he was worth $21M, they’d have offered the QO to get the compensation when he signs elsewhere.
Nobody knows Buehler better than the Dodgers.
…or the Dodgers already have a lot of starting pitchers under contract and don’t need Buhler. They have Ohtani, Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Gonsolin, May and they may get Roki.
All – Bueher has always been ahead of Gonsolin and May until this past year. That speaks volumes to the issue that they might have seen and Boston didn’t . There is precedent for these types of mistakes. Remember how high Bloom was on Jeter Downs? Yep, I asked the question in early 2020,
“If he’s so good why did they trade for him from Cincy and then almost immediately dump him in the Mookie giveaway?”
30 Parks
Not a bad deal. Not a great deal. Would have preferred Eovaldi.
===========================
I’d have liked that as well, but that was when I thought Eovaldi was going to get like $40-44M/2. $75M/3, for a guy his age, is pretty high.
I will be very curious to see what Burnes ends up getting. Will he get the massive contract he is hoping for or did he overplay his hand. Not sure who is left that would pay him $250 million+.
Joe – Eovaldi was always under valued by the Red Sox except when he got $17M a year. He was a work horse, a clubhouse guy and willing to do whatever Cora asked to help the team win.
YAY!!!! Full throttle is now Full Cripple!!!!
100%. I’m upset they are going to suck for a while but hopefully it weeds out this generation of ignorant fans who think the Yankees should get every player and win every year.
You know the idiots who chant “Deeeewickkk Jetahhh”
Am I crazy for thinking this is a lot? Buehler has had a good career but didnt look great coming off TJS last year
They might be this year.
Could be. Fried is a good pitcher but he is due for TJS and that’s really the only acquisition this offseason. Goldschmidt is past his prime just like Rizzo was so that’s a lateral move. Don’t see how any moves made make up for losing Soto though.
Replacing a closer who blew 13 saves should help. A lot.
Lord – So true! A shutdown closer is very, very valuable.
It’s the only position where if you do your primary job (saving games) it leads to a guaranteed win.
No other position can say that (if positions were able to talk LOL).
Luke Weaver was as good as any closer in the game once they handed it over to him. That was not the reason they got smoked by the Dodgers.
I don’t think any team who is seriously trying to contend should punt on closer but they have some serious glaring holes elsewhere – 1b they just signed Rizzo 2.0…..old and way past his prime, 2b/3b/CF (whichever Jazz doesn’t play) needs to be filled and they need OF depth.
The reason the Yanks got smoked by the Dodgers was one man….Freddie Freeman….I don’t know what Boone was thinking letting him hit in the 7th inning on after the first 2 games. Freddie was hot, Ohtani was hurt and Mookie wasn’t lighting the world on fire….
Strawman, @Yankes4Life22.
You’re not a Yankee fan anyway. Go back to your main ID.
I thought the Yankees would lose the series because the Dodgers were a slightly stronger team. I was hoping to face the Mets because a subway series would be fun, but I also think the Yankees would have taken the Mets out in five, six games max. My Dodger-fan friend was very concerned if the Yankees got it back to LA for a game six because it was clear Judge’s bat had woken up. It was the defense that did them in, which was my concern. They’re greatly strengthening that side. Losing Soto’s bat hurts, getting rid of his glove in RF and Judge back to right will be a huge defensive upgrade. That’s part of the improvements they’re making.
That and Fat Joe
I think the Yankees literally lost two close games on bad defense. One was when Ohtani hit a double and took third on the bobbled catch in the throw in to second, That allowed Ohtani to score on a sacrifice fly and let the Dodgers back into the game. The other game was the last game it looked like a Little League team playing defense. The goofs also called the Dodgers back into the game. Give credit to the Dodgers for taking advantage and doing all the little things, they played clutch baseball!
I think the Sox have a really good shot at winning their division this year. Loaded offense and vastly better pitching.
Great signing for Boston.. They’ll get a bulldog on the mound and isn’t scared of the big moment. Disappointed is an understatement but this is a business as much as it is a game. Best of luck to Walker and thanks for the memories as a Dodger.
This could be a very good signing. He might show as he did in the post-season. If it goes bad, they can always put him in the bullpen, and it’s just a year. If it goes well, both he and the Red Sox profit. The Mets just gave Manaea $75M/3. He’s probably better–but this is a decent gamble
Great deal only 1 year but massive upside sure better than committing 250 mil to burnes since a deal like that would be used as an excuse down the road
I think this solidifies their rotation now, which means they aren’t pursuing Burnes anymore. Will be interesting to see if they make a big move for a right handed bat now, or if they are done. Hopefully the former.
No more talk of casas being traded, moving devers to first or signing Bregman now the rotation is full
After Crochet ( and he has some potential issues too ) there is a lot of uncertainty and question marks.
IF THEY think this rotation is full/ complete, they have no intention of winning the division and praying n playing for a WC
vlad jr extension would be the nail in the coffin, but as for now thats what they are clinging to
Another player that wouldn’t sign with the Yankees? Or did they not even bother? Maybe they offered him Stroman ?
Why would the Yankees need another starter?
The Yankees are trying to unload Stroman, and if they succeed they will need another starter at that point. But I don’t think anyone wants Stroman even for free if they have to take his entire salary. Maybe the Nationals or if the A’s still have to add salary to hit their $105M payroll to qualify for revenue sharing.
Damn Dodgers
Is Bregman to the Red Sox next, or does that wrap up the spending for the year?
Quite possible. The years of thin drafts and shipping out talent and lopsided trades and absurd taking on of overpriced contracts sooner or later will cost for a while. The DJLM, Donaldson, Rizzo, Stanton, and on we go. The Sosa trade was a calculated risk and I’m not faulting Cashman. Some of these other moves? A deep pocket doesn’t translate to shrewdness.
That and they don’t have as deep of pockets as they used to. They are on budget and they have shown repeatedly they will ignore glaring holes on the team bc they won’t spend past their budget.
The problem is that if they don’t want to spend over a limit, then they might as not be spending as much….because the CBT and draft picks. Pick a direction.. I get the original idea of Stanton–Twin Towers and perhaps his decline is steeper than anticipated. It was a blunder but I can see some logic in it.. Some of these other moves….
Mikenmn – Agreed. Shrewdness and Cashman do not belong in the same sentence. Maybe Cashman wants players closer to his own age. Lol
The Yankees are filled with past their prime aging veterans. So what if they made it to the WS in a very down year for the AL. They were never going to win against a Dodger team that was so much better. Two of the best three Yankee hitters from last year are gone.
Cashman excels at spending money. That is pretty much it. My wife’s entire family is good at that too. That sure does NOT make them shrewd!
Red Sox only sign guys they can “fix.” Hence restoration project. I think this is one of their better ones, let’s see
Mr. Buehler…God bless you and your family. You were always at your best when it counted most.
Not a bad signing at all for them imo. Should be fine following the surgery for the season. Plus those one year prove it deals tend to be well rewarded.
Luzardo, Manea, Buehler. Here comes the run on pitchers following the big run on 1B. Last minute Christmas shoppers! Next up OFers!
Two World Series titles, big games pitched by the best big game pitcher the Dodgers have had since Hershiser.
Gonna miss him. But it’s a helluva way for him to finish his time here. Big Game Buehler. Buetane. Walker F’ing Buehler.
Enjoy him, Red Sox fans. He’s a fun guy to have on your team.
Massive overpay
I would have liked him on the orioles but I was thinking 10-13 mill
Paging Mr. Bailey……Mr Andrew Bailey please step forward and receive your pet project for 2025! I think Buehler will pitch well for Boston….
This is a seriously excellent move!
Now get a right handed bat and a closer.
Really wanted the Yankees or Mets to take a flyer on him, I bet this ends up being one of the better signings this offseason. His ceiling is just so high.
I am surprised at these dollars and years that the Mets didn’t get him.
Been hearing that for twenty years.
They only won 82 games two years ago and finished in fourth place. So I guess people were right.
He’ll yeah!! Huge pickup for the Sox!
This is why the Red Sox suck and will continue to do so. What an awful pickup. He sucked other than a few innings in the playoffs. Such a bad organization
ferris better
Well, I believe the Sox are now “out” on Burnes, but I have been wrong before. Everything I am reading suggests that Crochet is a “potential” number 1 starter, but as of now it looks like they have several number 2s or 3s with 1 potential. Overall, I like the signing particularly as it is only 1 year.. They still have some money left for the right handed bat. If they get that, 90 plus wins next year.
21+ million to this guy…FO could of used that toward signing a useful pitcher like Flaherty. WTH
If he can stay healthy, this is a good signing. However, outside of Bryan Bello, is there a starting pitcher on the current Red Sox roster that doesn’t have a history of arm injuries? Guess they are out or were never really serious about signing Corbin Burnes.
21 million is a lot for an injury prone pitcher who is going to give you an era over 4.
He’s not injury-prone, and has a ceiling higher than every pitcher on the Red Sox other than Crochet, and it’s a one-year deal, which comes essentially without risk.
But other than that, spot-on comment…..
Which means even if he does stay healthy and pitches good. The Red Sox are just going to lose him to free agency lol.
They would get a draft pick. This has Theo’s handwriting all over it. Not enough teams engage in tail-end benefits.
Great pickup
Love this. If he is as good as I think he will be , hopefully the Sox will have the inside track to extend him — if not, they make him a QO and get a draft pick.
Bello, Giolito, Buehler and Crochet sounds like a pretty good rotation to me.
Houck?
June 2023 to May 2024 doesnt seem like two years.
Well if he pitches like he did vs Yankees in WS… great!!
They need to get Teoscar and they will have had a very good off season
Would’ve preferred Flaherty on 3/75ish deal, but we do love our one-and-done contracts. I like all the upside on this deal. Plus Buehler adds some experience to the staff, for what that’s worth. It’s a young group. I’m fine w this deal.
Interested to see which RH bat they get. And probably could use a closer to stack w Whit, Chapman and Hendricks.
Since the article mentions him, I am getting the sense that the two would be mega contract Free Agents who will prove to be the odd men out and have to settle for heavily discounted deals will be Alonso and Burnes.
Not sure why with Burnes, but I feel like the hype around him has severely cooled off and he could be looking at a far more modest contract in the grand scheme of things.
Don’t get me wrong, I think it will still be very lucrative- like 4 years/$130M or 5 years/$175M or something, but those 6 years/$210M or 7 years/$245M etc projections might now be a bit excessive, going by the market.
Alonso is, I think, in a very similar position, but he could be looking at like 1 year/$30M or 2 years/$50M or maybe 5 years/$125M at best…. and going by the deals signed by Carlos Santana and Paul Goldschmidt, the league might very well be like “1 year $12.25M take it or leave it, Alonso.”
Red Sox liked how he played well in New York, so they’re hoping to have him pitch in New York more often. Line him up for every Yankee stadium game. Between him and the Yankee defense, they’ll win every game. Can’t wait for Cole to not cover 1B again!
York – Even better, can’t wait for Cole to face Devers again!
And for Devers to steal on Cole again!
That’s a shock! I did not expect the Red Sox to actually spend money. Can’t wait for the first Cole – Buehler pitching matchup.
Didn’t Beckett have a 5 plus era for 2006?? Worth a shot… cause we all know how Becketts. 2007 was!!!
Good luck, dude. Dodger fans will forever remember that save in Game 5 against the Yanks.
“Why put off for tomorrow what can be done today?”
-Brian Cashman
That last inning of gm 5 WS is the best Buehler looked post TJ surgery. Like Buehler, but didn’t look the same all season long. Coming back frm TJ is not automatic n this was his 2nd one. Not surprised he couldn’t find longterm deal. If he can pitch like he did before, was Dodgers #1 starter for cpl playoff runs, then he may silence the doubters n secure big contract.
Expensive pillow contract but if the Buehler that pitched in the World Series shows up it’s worth it
Red Sox Trainers must be on the verge of quitting.
Good for walker! Thanks for everything walker. Good luck and may your stuff return.
The upside play of the offseason.
The Yankees will win the east. Of that I have no doubt.
The Red Sox will win the east. Of that I have no doubt.
With what rotation? The Orioles don’t have a starting rotation and their kids strike out too much. Not quite the hitting juggernaut everyone expected.
lol
Last year they said that and they finished first in the division and the best record in the American League. 2025 will repeat all over again.
That is true. I was here last year predicting the Yankees would win the division, with Orioles fans insisting the O’s would win by 10, and Mets and Red Sox fans predicting the Yankees for last.
They will win the AL East if they’re good at drawing the inside straight.
I’m in the middle of the comments I see above…
While Buehler in his prime would have been the second best pitcher in the rotation, easily better than Houck, I don’t think that is a realistic expectation for 2025. If I’m feeling pessimistic, I slot him behind a healthy Houck and a healthy Bello. If I’m a little more optimistic, I acknowledge that he might be a little better than Bello. I see him as replacing Pivetta. I can live with that.
Note that the $21.05M that they are paying him is exactly what they offered Pivetta (Pivetta declined) and exactly what the Dodgers *didn’t* offer Buehler. If he pitches well, they tender him a qualifying offer next year, and either he returns on another short deal or the Red Sox pick up draft compensation. It’s a low-cost and low-risk deal.
What this *doesn’t* accomplish is to “raise the ceiling”. You could argue that Crochet did that, however the Red Sox don’t project to be within 5 wins of either the Yankees or Orioles. Without any big signings, they were never going to compete for the division in 2025. “Full Throttle” last year never materialized. “Raise the Ceiling” this year is equally an illusion. This is a club that will likely be slugging it out with the Mariners and Royals for that last Wild Card spot. It is not a team that has any realistic hope of playing deep into October.
Bregman is maybe the only impact player left on the board, and he wouldn’t improve the team by THAT much. For that matter, I’d rather blow $250M on Burnes than $200M on Bregman. Neither contract will look good in five years, but at least Burnes has a chance to be a difference-maker over the next four. Bregman just isn’t that great a player.
So I guess we’re looking forward to another 81-85 win season? And rooting for Henry to make a fat profit that he can invest in the PGA or whatever other interests the FSG is pursuing? I dunno, I’ll save my money and let others cheer for that one. I’m not willing to spend money at Fenway to enrich owners that refuse to invest in their product.
I think this is good deal for the Sox and I had a feeling Walker was getting something like this. He needs to prove full health and get to being the pitcher he was consistently. If he can, a bigger payday awaits.
Still, seeing him settle for less AVV than what a lesser pitcher (imo) Sean Manaea just got feels odd. Granted he had a better season, but does anyone think he’s really better than Bueller?
It’s not much less, with deferrals on Manaea contract it brings the AAV to $22,023,552. Walker is a bigger question mark going into the year but has a higher ceiling and lower floor.
Wrote this before the deferrals were announced. Closer now for sure.
And the Dodgers sacrifice a draft pick. Turns out Friedman doesn’t always get it right.
Buehler would have probably accepted then most likely and might of ruled out a Kershaw return. Honestly can’t be that upset would have only been basically a 5th round pick anyway.
It would have meant nothing for Kershaw. He’s coming back no matter what. They simply got it wrong on Buehler just as they did on Bellinger. It happens, believe it or not.
Bro you can only carry 13 pitchers, technically Dodgers can carry 14 with Ohtani. They already have:
– Ohtani
– Yamamoto
– Snell
– Glassnow
– Gonsolin
– May
– Kopech
– Treinen
– Graterol
– Phillips
– Buehler (if offered QO)
– Banda
– Vesia
Plus they are going after Roki so yes adding Buehler would have probably stalled Kershaw. Dodgers simply just didn’t need or want to pay him.
Bro, trades happen. So do injuries. The odds of all these pitchers making the opening day roster are practically zero.
But I know how it works around here. The worst thing you can do is be proven right.
I get that, I’m saying offering Buehler a QO seems like an unnecessary risk/gamble for a 5th round pick.
1. They have already have 24 pitchers on the 40 man roster not counting possibly 3 more with Walker, Kershaw, Roki.
2. He’d just be a very expensive # 6 or 7 starter or RP. At 21MM, they have cheaper options internally already.
3. The 5th round pick is only worth about 500k-525k, it’s not a substantial return for the risk.
This is what the team decided, obviously. It just doesn’t look like such a great decision given that Buehler signed for exactly the price that so many thought he would never get. In fact it seems to me his asking for and getting exactly the QO amount can be read as a message from the player.
There is no way to tell what He’d have signed for had the QO been attached. It’s almost guaranteed to be less than the $21M he got.
Which only proves my point that the draft pick has value. Look, I argued that Buehler was a good candidate for a QO and was told no way he’d sign for that much. I sure can see the error of my ways now.
Crochet is a great pitcher, Bello is highly overrated, Giolito is garbarge, Houck is solid and Buehler is full of question marks. Good luck with that rotation
Good luck getting a tee time with all those Yankee players hitting ahead of you.
Good move by the “idle empire.” They can catch lighting in a bottle, and if he sucks, we’ll it’s just money. They can move him into the bullpen, and who knows what might happen.
Apparently I’m in the minority but I think this is a great move. I’m all for it.
Dirty – Honestly based on the $21Million AAV restraint, he’s the youngest guy available with some upside potential for the price.
Very predictable. Sure wish he wasn’t cut by LAD. That’s a huge red flag.
Sag – Excellent post as always!!!
Yes the Dodgers not only didn’t offer him an extension, they didn’t even extend him a QO because they KNEW other teams wouldn’t give him a better deal and they didn’t want to get stuck with him on the exact same QO contract he got from the Red Sox.
Nobody knows Buehler better than the Dodgers, to think otherwise is absurd.
1 year for $21M. Cease is available for 1 year at $14M. Preller must be asking for a lot in a trade.
Buehler only cost money. Cease is going to cost prospects. Any of those prospects hit and you’re going to lose way more than $7 million worth of production.
Dirty – Between the Crochet, Sims, Jansen and Garcia trades the Red Sox lost 12 prospects with none coming back.
They don’t have quite the surplus of prospects they used to have a few months ago.
Fever Pitch Guy – The had 5 high quality prospects and traded 3 of them away. A fair rating system would move them down twenty spots after the Crochet deal.
Sag – OUTSTANDING post as always!!! I am very curious to see how the farm system is rated at the start of next season (not that I put a ton of stock in ratings).
Just think of what the Crochet package could have brought, heck it could have brought Skubal or Skenes if they had been available.
The best move the Yanks have made this offseason is acquiring Williams, that guy is freakin’ awesome …. and the Red Sox could have EASILY beaten what the Yanks gave up for him.
If 2025 is gonna be another “Closer by Committee” situation, then the bullpen could be a big problem again.
Fever Pitch Guy – I’ll stake my reputation on Hendriks.
He’s a stud and should be coming out of the shute!
Two great support guys needed to me are Scott and Estevez. Both reasonably priced and under their $21Million limit. That would make the pen as strong or stronger than the rotation.
Dirty = Great point. I wish you would have added like we are gong to lose on the Crochet deal.
Two years for 3 stud farm players while you have dozens of pretenders in the minors with big names that could have been sent instead like when we sent Moncada to get Sale.
Sag – PHENOMENAL post as always!!!
I have also looked at the Sale trade as proof the Crochet trade was a massive overpay. It’s almost as if the Red Sox felt remorse for THE GREAT DAVE DOMBROWSKI robbing the ChiSox on the Sale trade!!!
Let’s look back and provide a detailed comparison of the two trades ….
Dombrowski gave up only ONE PLAYER (Moncada) in the Top 66 for Sale and none of the 4 prospects they traded were from a position of weakness.
The Red Sox gave up TWO players in the Top 54, including one that likely would have provided them a much-needed top catcher for more than a decade, and they also gave up a rising prospect in Meidroth.
Dombrowski got in return a proven HOF-caliber starting pitcher under THREE years of team control,
.The Red Sox this month got in return an injury-prone unproven starting pitcher who has hardly pitched, logging only 219 innings in his career going back to 2020 and never more than 146 innings in a season.
It’s NO CONTEST!!! The Sale trade was MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than the Crochet trade!!!
Moncada was the consensus #2 prospect in all of baseball at the time of the trade, the equivalent of trading Anthony today.
You would have traded Anthony to hang on to Teel, Montgomery, and Meidroth? I’m calling you out on that one!!!
The Red Sox need to extend Crochet this winter. They will then control him for 6-8 years rather than just two or three.
Sale was pretty injury prone with the Red Sox, could never make it to the end of the season… Will be disappointing if Crochet doesn’t end up healthier than that.
tff – Moncada wasn’t consensus #2, many ranked him as Numero Uno ;O)
Haha …. not a chance I’d trade Roman for anyone! Moncada didn’t have the track record Roman has, he never even played in AAA until after he was traded.
I strongly suggest waiting until next offseason before considering an extension for Crochet. Better to pay a little more after he proves he can perform well and stay healthy.
That uncertainty cuts both ways, and is more critical to Crochet than to the Red Sox. Extend him now, while the uncertainty is high, and you can get very favorable terms – maybe a couple club options at the end. Wait a year and he’ll want a FA deal (and may be willing to wait an additional year to get one).
Since there is no way that the Red Sox are going to give a $200M+ deal to a pitcher, “wait a year” means “keep him for two years and let him walk”. And at that point you’ve badly overpaid for the trade.
tff – You changed your handle! I like the new one, but why did you change it? For anonymity? Would have made more sense when Saga was TF, it got confusing there for a while between TF and TFF. Haha!
To answer your question, I disagree. It’s entirely possible the Red Sox give $200M+ to a pitcher, but only if they are in their 20’s as Crochet would obviously be.
Therefore I stand by my position that the Red Sox should most definitely wait a year before discussing an extension.
Nah, got tired of the boring handle. People who know who I am still know who I am….
Sign Crochet now and they might get him as low as $160M. He knows he is an injury risk, and doesn’t want to take the chance of staying healthy for just a 25% larger deal.
It is a risk for the Red Sox as well, but they can afford that risk.
Wait – Think of it this way.
Crochet is risking $160M by waiting a year, or risking only $40M by not waiting.
The Red Sox are risking $160M by signing him now, or only risking $40M by waiting a year.
Seems pretty clear from a team perspective it’s worth the wait, just like it was by not signing Casas last offseason.
Not clear what the offer was to Casas, but my understanding is that they weren’t within a factor of two. Different expectations for his future production – Casas is extremely self-confident while the Red Sox are a bit more measured in their expectations. Some differences in the situation:
* Casas had just one year of service time with five years of team control remaining. Crochet has four years of service time with just two years of team control remaining.
* Casas managed just a +1.7 WAR in 2023. Both sides were negotiating based on their expectations of what he might do in the future, not on proven performance. Crochet is seen as one of the five best arms in the majors, at least on a rate basis.
* The Red Sox just spent four decent prospects to acquire Crochet. If he is only around for two years, even if he plays well, then that becomes an overpay. The only way this deal works is if they sign him long term.
While the dollar amounts may seem symmetric, the impact of a disappointment for the two parties is not symmetric. That is why Crochet is by all indications willing to sign BELOW his expectation this winter.
Crochet has thus far earned something like $8M in his career. Add in his arbitration salary and he’ll still be under $15M. If he blows out his arm again in 2025, there is a chance he’ll never make it back – and his lifetime earnings could top out at $20M. That’s a lot of money, but a $160M deal would guarantee him an order of magnitude more money.
Let’s say you averaged a $125k (present value) salary over a 40 year career for $5M lifetime earnings. You get offered a chance to increase that by 25% if you accept a 1-in-10 chance of having 80% taken away. Run the expected value on that — it is STRONGLY in your favor. But it would be “betting the house” on that 90% chance of winning the bet.
Similarly, Crochet might be weighing a 90% chance of $200M and 10% chance of $20M against a guaranteed $160M. The expected earnings are greater if he takes the gamble, which is why it makes sense for the Red Sox to offer the guarantee, but most people would be willing to sacrifice that last 10% of expectation for a guarantee. More complicated than that, of course, but you get the gist?
Young hitters can lose a few years to injury and still recover, e.g. Bellinger from 2020 through 2022. His earnings power will never match what he could have gotten in a long term deal after his tremendous 2019, but he’s still walking away with $150M+ lifetime earnings. In contrast, if Crochet gets floored by injuries over the next two years, he’s going to struggle to ever get that nine-figure deal.
Besides, I know it is cheating, but Crochet has already publicly broached his desire for a long-term contract. He’s not out to maximize his lifetime earnings, and the Red Sox should take advantage of that.
Wait – You’re doing a great job of explaining why you go for the extension now if you’re Crochet (which I already agreed with), but I don’t think you realize in doing so you are also supporting why the Sox should NOT give him an extension now.
It cannot be a win-win for both parties in terms of risk. If an extension is done within the next 3 months, it’s a big win for Crochet. If not, it’s a big win for the Sox. This is very reminiscent of 6 years ago when fans were clamoring to give Sale a huge extension, how did that work out?
Crochet hasn’t proven he can throw at least 180 innings and stay healthy. In fact HE HIMSELF was so concerned about his health this year that he demanded an extension before any team were to acquire him at the trade deadline.
I don’t understand why you are so anxious for the Sox to take such a huge risk right now, unless you’re related to Crochet or something? Haha!
You are right, I forgot to get to that part.
The risk for the Red Sox isn’t dying penniless, it is getting stuck with a non-performing asset as they did with Story and Yoshida and Giolito and Sale for all but the last year of his contract. So it isn’t a symmetric risk. In the worst case scenario they are mediocre for a few years.
In some sense the bigger risk to the Red Sox isn’t if Crochet underperforms but if he has a great season, waits until free agency, and then leaves for the Bronx. It is HARD to find star-quality talent at any price, so it is important to lock up what you have at the earliest opportunity.
If you don’t feel Crochet is an ace, then I can understand a “wait and see” attitude. But if he isn’t an ace, then why did they give up such a fat package to acquire him?!? Either he IS a top pitcher and they need to lock him up through his prime, or he ISN’T a top pitcher and they overpaid. Badly.
They waited to sign Mookie as well. How did that one work out for the team?
Wait – I feel he has the *potential* to be an ace.
They acquired him because of his *potential* as he has no “ace” track record.
Why does his health and lack of a track record not concern you? He’s had like 10 good starts total in his entire career! Sounds like FOMO going on here.
You think Mookie would have extended after the 2018 season? No chance for what they offered him a year later, and rightfully so.
I think that they missed the boat on Mookie when they dragged him through arbitration with lowball offers.
All pitchers are huge injury risks, I don’t see Crochet as being especially riskier than Flaherty or Snell or Fried.
Sometimes you have to take risks or accept mediocrity.
TFF17 – Definitely #1 in the land and highly over rated as can be seen by Dombrowski’s actions. This kid came from Cuba and played 2015 at A ball. Very modest numbers. In 2016 when Dombrowski showed up and he started him at Hi-A and quickly moved him to AA which shot up his rating then he pulled him up to the Red Sox for 8 games in September so he could cement the #1 spot knowing full well he wasn’t that good but he was perfect trade bait. Boston needed another lefty and Sale was his target and he sucker punched the CWS GM much like Friedman did to Bloom. Sale came over with multiple years at home team friendly prices.
This time the CWS did the same sucker punch. A guy with a high K rate always turns heads so the GM took aim at the heart of the Red Sox farm system. He landed the 1st, 4th and 5th best prospects and avoided the pretenders. Brilliant move on their part. Now, with the farm system gutted except for Campbell and Anthony, Boston needs to get both players into the majors in 2025 because it’s a growth year for Boston. If the new pitchers flourish, the team jumps from 81 to 90 wins and both Campbell and Anthony mature sooner as MLB players to go along with Duran, Casas, Rafaela and possibly Grissom. Six out of 8 hitters would be young controllable ball players while the pitching staff is trying to retain Buehler and Crochet long term. They young hitters might convince the ownership to invest in the two stud pitchers if in fact they are two stud pitchers so the club might go back to winning divisions and rings again.
Cease has more value than Buehler.
Cease.
Love this move. I don’t even like Buehler, but in today’s market, I thought he’d be looking at $60M/3+. It’s a guessing game, but I am guessing that he will look more like the 2024 playoff Buehler than the regular season. TJS takes some throwing to get over.
And this looks 100% like Buehler is betting on himself, and I like that. There is a solid chance at a QO next year.
I agree. His regular season had some warts but he was coming back from a lengthy injury, that always involves having to shake off some rust to get your sea legs back under you. He was great in the playoffs and one thing that caught my attention was he was talking after his world series start and he had mentioned how focused he’d been on staying within himself and learning to maximize his effectiveness with the pitches he had in his repertoire and not just going out there trying to pump 100 every single pitch. So one, I really like his mindset. Two, I think some of the younger guys on the staff like Bello in particular could really learn a lot spending time around a guy taking an approach like that, and three it’s a short term bet on a guy who is in turn betting on himself. If we are wrong, it is better to be wrong small like this than to be wrong big on a guy with a 7 year deal. But if we are right, we will have a guy who will be pitching on par with one of those guys who get 7 year deals.
Dirty – here’s what i still don’t get: lets say he has a very good season, mentors the young players and instills some tenacity to a team that could use some. Next year he walks. If we don’t make the playoffs this year does that move the needle for you?
How do you build a team, a deense, a culture when the good players leave every year (assuming they’re good)?
Not complaining, happy he’s here, but I can’t answer these questions on these one years
No, if he proves he is healthy again and pitches very well and is a good culture fit, I will fully expect them to stay involved with his market next winter and reward him with an extension. The only way I can foresee being content to let him go if he meets or exceeds high expectations would be if someone else gives him a genuinely insane contract while at the same time someone like Crawford or Bello or Fitts takes such a tremendous step forward in their development that we can actually say “we’re good”. To be clear I don’t expect that to actually happen, but to think through it I think those would have to be the conditions.
Dirty – i hear you, but i’m not sure it works. Hoping upon hope that everything breaks your way.
The Yankees signed Fried, they know now they need above average third base play to help out his ground ball induced contact. That makes sense.
How do you start from scratch each and every year?
You certainly can’t every year. But sometimes a one year marriage is a perfect fit for both sides. The Red Sox needed great starting pitching enough they were certainly in no position to dictate that they’d only shop in one corner of the market. Buehler needs to prove he is fully healthy, and if he does then we can talk long term deal and not have to worry about that spot for several years.
Dirty – WOW…. so after SIX years of nothing over $21Million AAV the rules will suddenly change? We just spent $100 Million on three guys working their way back to big payrolls on our dollar.
I still say sign a blue chip pitcher for 3 or 4 years for that same $100Million and we are far better off.
The blue chip pitchers are going for $200M+. The Red Sox are going cheap.
At the end of the day it’s a move and he isn’t cheap but man….. Burnes is out there and they have plenty of CBT wiggle room but they are unwilling to commit to the big contract. Hopefully Burnes is just holding out for money on the west coast.
I wanted Burnes too, but (and this is still a sizable “but”) if their approach is to spend at a similar overall level to what they would’ve given two or three ultra high end guys, but spread it around more, I think it could result in a better team.
I.E. as you mention there is still plenty of room in the budget…could be a sign that Bregman and/or Teoscar Hernandez are still to come…Plus they will need to clear an outfield spot for Roman Anthony once he’s ready, so don’t be surprised to see Wilyer Abreu used to help go get even more pitching, or perhaps to fetch a different catching prospect to replace Teel since the organizational depth is quite thin there now.
Now that they have gone and gotten two legit high quality arms, I feel comfortable in declaring it’s safe to say we are not done yet.
Dirty – I bookmarked ;O)
Joe – Signing Burnes is clearly a ridiculous comparison.
Burnes won’t get 8+ years.
We rehabbed Buehler with $21Million of our payroll so he can sign with the Yankees or Mets in a year after he’s proven he can be an ace again. If he’s a bust, we wasted the money too.
Every year of Burnes’ contract will provide quality pitching you can’t guarantee with Buehler, Giolito, Sandoval or even Crochet. Crochet has the best chance to not be a bust but Burnes is a blue chipper not a wannabe blue chipper like Crochet.
Always take the blue chipper over the wannabe. That’s an axiom for life not just baseball.
I hope these are not famous last words, but if they were just planning to jerk us around again like last winter – trading an MLB-ready catcher and shelling out $21 million cash to get two real pitching upgrades has not ever been their MO in years they’re punting. They’ve actually made some effort and paid the cost to upgrade the most glaring weakness holding the team back, so why come this far to stop here? There’s plenty of room to keep spending, and plenty of guys who could still be had that would address our remaining glaring issues. I’m cautiously optimistic more moves are coming, and by keeping my mood upbeat hoping to speak some of this into existence
Dirty – So you don’t think they were punting a year ago when they shelled out $39M for a pitcher who had a 5-ERA the prior two seasons, and $10M for an old injured reliever that wasn’t expected to pitch much, if at all last season? Remember some people here thought Gio was a major upgrade to Sale! Haha!!
I’m neutral as to whether or not they are punting next season, the Crochet trade was a panic move after they missed out on their Top 3 free agent targets. They knew they had to do something, trading a boatload of prospect talent was the best way to keep the payroll down which is always this team’s top priority.
As I’ve been saying, I’ll have a more definitive stance once the offseason is over. I think more trades are coming, and possibly another free agent signing.
Sag – SPECTACULAR post as always!!!
It’s so very true, always take the player with the great track record and the history of good health and endurance!
If John Henry had $1M to invest somewhere, would he choose to invest it all in biotech penny stocks? HELL NO! He would invest it in proven stocks such as Apple, Tesla, Amazon, etc.
So why is he doing the EXACT OPPOSITE with players????
Burnes is likely looking for Fried money. I’d rather pay Buehler $21M than $200M/8+ for Burnes.
Buehler has been my favorite Dodgers pitcher since his debut. Really sad to see him change uniforms. I don’t know if there was a better way to end his Dodgers career though. I really hope he can stay healthy, the guy is an absolute bulldog, and when he’s on, he’s fun to watch. No moment is too big for that guy.
Agree with everything you said. If the Red Sox make the playoffs, he will help them in the big games. If they are out of playoff contention, maybe the Dodgers bring him back at the TD in time for the playoffs.
Shrutefarm – Yeah i think you are right. Boston has become like a farm system for the Dodgers kinda like the As are a farm system for the Yankees over the years. That makes perfect sense since we GAVE them Mookie.
If they are not strong contenders at the trade deadline they will flip him for a young arm with years of control…..I think pitchers are way to vulnerable to be signed for long term contacts they are dropping like flies heading to the knife and lost for two years of the contact.. Better off getting one that just had the surgery and hopping he pans out.
AK – i think you’re right, and if i were a fan of, say, the Diamondbacks, i’d be happy about that. But, cant justify a team this far below the tax, with this many resources, with this pedigree buying player with the hope of maybe flipping them.
Sad Sox 3 – There are bigger issues than the ones you mentioned with this type of thinking.
The Red Sox are going into the season thinking:
1 – Lets not win so we can get a prospect for Buehler
2 – The Red Sox want to use Buehler to make the playoffs but have no chance to resign him if he does well
3 – The Red Sox invested their max money per player on Buehler who hasn’t been right since 2021.
Is this the thinking of a winning organization?
$100Million wasted on Giolito, Sandoval and Bueher with nothing to show for it in 2027 except possibly a trade deadline prospect for Buehler IF he recovers any of his former greatness.
WOW – How screwed up is this organization’s thinking?
I may be wrong, but I think this is a good pick up.
Hopefully he goes 20-5 era 2.75
Because Buehler and Sandoval are far better than Fried. Gotcha.
Sox gotta do something to stay in the chase It is a good move.
Buehler is better than Fried when you remove the injury years. And Fried will have those injury years during his next 8 years, probably soon. So this is a huge dominating win for the Red Sox. There’s still work to be done but they are crushing it this offseason. Time to clear the streets of Boston, we’re having another parade.
Part of the reason the Dodgers crashed out in the 1st round in 2022 and 2023 was due to Buehler and Treinen not being healthy and avaiable to pitch. Buehler is nails and if the Red Sox have a big game next year, he will at least keep you in the game, and likely pitch them a gem.
fred-3 – OR Boston won’t do well in the post season or even make it because Giolito and Buehler are not healthy.
That seems most likely. The what-ifs of the fantasy world are great but reality is bitter in Boston.
Sag – STUPENDOUS post, I totally agree!!
It’s fine to be overly optimistic like me, but some people here just are not into reality. Hahaha!!
This means Burnes is down to Jays Giants and O’s
Ray – They are just making uneducated guesses, like when they insisted the Giants were out of the Burnes sweepstakes.
I hafta admit, it would be shocking if Baltimore doesn’t make a big splash with SOME free agent this offseason.
That’s too high for him
braves will give morton 20mm but wouldnt sign buehler for 21 smh… disappointing off season for sure
At least it’s only for 1 year. Watching him these past few years, he is so erratic. He’s still trying to figure it out. LL RS improved their rotation, and assuming Crochet puts up similar numbers the rest of the staff collectively not elite.
May 2024 is “nearly 2 full years” after June 2023?
He had his 2nd Tommy John surgery in August of 2022.
This signing makes sense Buehler probably has a good year unless injured he’s pitching for his next chance at a big contract.
This signing should give the Red Sox a chance to open their competitive window a year or so early. It will also the pitching a chance to continue to develop in the minors. This signing also makes the Crochet trade make a little more sense they needed more pitching now they could have a staff that is very competitive but with a lot of variance. It’s time to now go get Tanner Scott for the back of the bullpen and let’s see what happens. This team will have a lot of variance with its outcome this based on how effective the starting staff is starting with Crochet and Buehler. Should be at least fun and with nearly 30 million to play with can’t rule out a couple more additions especially if they go over the lux tax line at 241 million. If they do they should easily be able to dip back down below it 2026.
@Bruin1012 If Buehler is “probably” going to have a good year he would have gotten much more than 1/21m, given what a good Buehler year tends to look like.
Jack I just think he’s got incentive to put up a good year then go get his contract. I’m not saying it’s a guarantee but I’m guessing you see a very focused Walker Buehler this season.
Fair enough. He surely has at least 100 million incentives to put up a strong year.
If you believe that Buehler needs any kind of incentive to compete, then you don’t know Walker Buehler.
Bruin – Are you saying Buehler dogged it this year? That’s not something I have heard before.
No matter how “focused” he is, if he continues to have hip/back/arm issues then being focused won’t help much.
I sure hope that Bloom is not done adding. After 2 TJ surgeries Buehler has a better shot at hitting an inside straight than even being an above average starting pitcher. As a #6 starter Buehler is a good fit. Other than that he is cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Buehler has a better shot at hitting an inside straight
=========================
Is that something you’d like wager on? I’ll bet that Buehler has a better than average SP ERA. for an honor wager.
I will take that bet. Should be fun to see how it works out.
3 SP out of the 56 that have had two UCL surgeries have returned and posted an ERA under 4.00 and more than 20 starts in any season. One had 3 such seasons.
I have no clue what the odds are of drawing to an inside straight, but Beuhler’s odds are 5.4%.
Last season 3.98 ERA was average for a starting pitcher with 100 or more innings pitched. (20 starts of 5+ innings)
Didn’t reply with the right account!
I will take the bet. Whether best does is up to him. Looks like they really did peg that Ragnarok is Ryan’s new account.
Negative. The two of you have signature tells w/ the multiple account usage. Birds of a feather don’t flock together there though!
Okay, do you want to make it simple? If Buehler’s ERA+ is below 100, you win. If it above 100, I win. The prize is a honor wager that, upon the winner’s request, the loser has to spend a week posting Joe or Web knows more about BB than they do.
IRT the 2nd TJS, I figure two things. The first is that they are better at it now. And the 2nd is that he was pitching better at the end of the year than in the beginning.
Was I right or was I right Web? Ryan’s newest account, Ragnarok. He doesn’t even try to deny it when he gets busted for multiple accounts. Just tries to spin it. Him and Joel/Blackpink/BITA are two peas in a pod with their new accounts every couple of months.
Best – Your posts are the best!!! I totally agree with you.
Nick Deeds. You need to correct the article. Buehler never pitched in 2023. He had TJ in August 2022.
Baseballisthebest – I heard Buehler struck out his mother in a back yard whiffle ball game in 2023? Not true?
Is there really a need for accuracy in articles like this one? Apparently not.
Good catch.
Base – That was actually his SECOND TJS.
21.05 million, for -1.3 WAR and 16 starts, and a missed 2023.
Interesting. That the Mets didn’t top this either means they’re done adding to the rotation, or they only believe that a TOR is worth the additional cost given their SP depth.
I hope it’s the latter. Cease and a solid DH would make this a scary team.
As expected, there is no consensus on this and its quite a speculative move. I like it in that Buehler was once a top 5 starter, so you know he had something at one stage and has a very high ceiling and if he can regain a bit of that then it’ll be a solid signing. OTOH, outside of the world series, he looked pretty poor in 2024 which may be more indicative of his actual level these days.
I’m thinking he’ll bounce back a bit and give us 120+ IP of 115 ERA+ performance and it’ll be a good signing. Not having the QO attached made it a pretty easy decision for whoever signed him in the end.
casual – Well said, it is indeed quite a speculative move.
Even if he remains healthy next year, which is something he hasn’t been for many years, why are you disregarding his performance drop immediately after the banning of the sticky stuff?
BTW – Snell didn’t have a QO attached to him either, just sayin’ …..
BREGMAN if any…screw the 2 OF options…Boston has a plethora of 4 and 5 tool stud Outfielders, if anything we need a 2b that can eventually transition to 3b once Raffy goes full DH. (NO Raffy isn’t ever playing 1b! Stop that nonsense)…so That’s none other than Bregman…if not him use Campbell, Mayer and Grisson for 2b and sign Burns or Scott or both! Preferably then lock down Roki Sasaki San! Join the Dynasty Boston Roki!
If Mark Vientos can be moved to 1B, ANYONE can be moved to 1B!!
Jack – Agreed! And the same could be said about Vladdy ;O)
Walker has a strong weight training program and has a lot of strength in the lower body. I actually wanted this signing. Pivetta was and always has been a workhorse. Now we probably get Pivetta like production if he’s still not right under Bailey, or we get a glimmer of him a couple years ago. One year guys always seem to want to get paid on a multi year deal. I expect good things from this, and we get the draft pick for Pivetta. Front end guy, no, but I think it’s a good signing. I mean this isn’t a $15mm Corey Kluber signing I think we saw as being completely ridiculous.
Off topic…I want to know whom in the organization was the catalyst who lead to NOT issuing a QO to Tyler O’Neil? I want to fire that dumb Mfer after a stiff swat on the back of his/her neck! Man for all the jobs in MLB I’d take 5 of you in this chat room before most of these imbeciles in the game. Fog a mirrors type people must be
Walker Buehler’s Day Off.
Blue – I bet he hates that movie, because he’s probably heard the references literally a million times throughout his life.
The Goldbergs did a reenactment of the jail scene and Charlie Sheen played the same character, it was great!
Tim Dierkes,
Please fix this article.
Nick Deeds wrote “That career trajectory was thrown off the rails early in the 2023 season, however. Buehler pitched to a relatively pedestrian 4.02 ERA (101 ERA+) in 12 starts for the Dodgers that year before going on the injured list in June and ultimately requiring Tommy John surgery.”
But Beuhler never pitched in 2023. He had Tommy John surgery in August of 2022.
Look at that.. little Red Sox get themselves a couple of legitimate pitchers with a trade and a signing while the Orioles sit on their lazy, fat, cheap, typical, and boring butts. Man they never do crap “new ownership is fantastic” (Fart)
Hello. Not sure what to say.
My husband Jack loved baseball. It was our first date as teenagers. As I was going through his phone I saw that he had visited this site almost every day so I am guessing he had friends here.
I am sad to say that Jack passed away on November 26th after a 1 year battle with pancreatic cancer.
He asked that if anyone was interested in remembering him, to plant a tree. One of his favorite quotes was “the true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit” by Nelson Henderson.
As he would say, do something this year you d—ned Mets.
I am so sorry. That is so sad. Please try to enjoy the holidays.
Life – So sorry for your loss.
Yes the real fans here are like a brotherhood. I remember some of his posts.
Thoughts and prayers to you and all his loved ones.
My condolences for both your husband and the Mets thing.
Your story reminds me of an early date with my wife. We were with a group of friends, and I overhear her best friend asking her if she was going to hanging out with me after the game. Her response was “hang out with Joe and his drunken friends?”. I’m pretty sure that’s when I first thought that she was perfect for me. And I haven’t changed my mind.
My condolences to you and your family. It is wonderful to know you were able to share Jack’s passion for this game. I’m sure that meant a great deal to him. Your notice also serves as reminder to all of us that real people lurk behind these screen names, and that we can all stand to be more compassionate and understanding.
BaseballisLife – My condolences. May he rest in peace.
He’s going to have a great view of the Mets games and my guess is he’s going to be pleased with their team in 2025. He may bring them the luck they need to win it all. So sorry for your loss.
Another” Rube Goldberg” on the cheap signing by Breslow of an injured pitcher coming off a major injury. So far that is 3 injured pitchers Breslow has signed. Are you kidding me? This is “Full Throttle” and “All In”? This team needed a major pitcher to be signed and a right handed hitter. So far none of that has happened! Now you know that they had no intention of signing Soto. It was all BS and they were going to lowball him knowing the Mets would up the offer beyond what they were going to do. All “Eye Wash” for the fans to see. I did not expect them to do much this off season and I was right so far.
AL34 – Not only is it 3 pitchers but it’s at a cost of $100Million for 2 pitchers getting 2 years with one of them hurt and 1 pitcher throwing just one year.
Best part, if all three do great none will be with Boston by 2027. They will cash in on their success with contracts above Breslow’s limit.
What a brilliant front office!!
Sag – One more similar signing on the way… John Means! HAHAHA!!
Lets hope they do amazing and taje this motley crew to ANOTHER title…right sag?
Overpay. Glass
Theo – And no more sticky stuff to hold the pieces of glass together! Hahaha!
Lets hope he stays together and wins a ton of games for the red sox!
Pool – That would be great …. but the deal getting killed because of his medicals would be even better ;o)
See you cant help yourself lol
Pool – What can I say, I’m an eternal optimist ;O)
We saw the Correa deal killed twice because of medicals, so there’s always hope we can avoid another Giolito!!
Working out a deal for Vaughn Grissom and Trevor Story.
Most teams re build or re tool, Boston appears to be in the re hab business
Daj – They are what’s known in the legal world as “ambulance chasers”! Hahaha!
Great move. Redsox are playing chess
Rick – You’re right, they are playing …. but it’s not chess, it’s slots!!! Haha!!!
Very solid rotation. The Sox may be playoff bound again.
Von – Solid as jello!! Hahaha!!!
Has the potential to be a terrific signing. And, from Red Sox payroll management it’s one year–not even two with an opt-out, so it’s very limited risk.
Hope is not a plan. Buehler would be a fine 6th/7th starter/reliever depth signing at far less $. The greatest predictor of future injury, is past injury. Hoping that Buehler regains his form or expecting him to be a reliable rotation piece is irrational and GM negligence.
Zeus – Supreme post, I totally agree!! Well said!!!
It’s a good move , if he exceeds expectations sox can give him a QO and get draft picks, if he disappoints no long term exposure
It appears to me Breslow is plating the hands his dealt. The evidence at this point is ownership isn’t going to make that big splashy long term commitment. Sure ownership feigned they had interest in Soto and it sounds like they made an uncomfortable offer but they had to know they weren’t getting Soto for anything shy of the highest bid and they Cohen was in it to win it. Ownership is the issue and Breslow is working around ownerships obvious problem with long term commitments especially for pitchers. It’s not up to Breslow to sign Burnes. That’s an ownership level decision. I’m sure Craig pitched signing Burnes to the owners and was probably refuted.
This is Breslow countering with what he is allowed to do. He traded a lot for Crochet and if that’s all he did then trading that much makes no sense. Obviously ownership has told him no on Burnes or they are convinced Burnes wants to play on the West Coast so he pivoted. He signed probably the best high end potential play besides Burnes. I’m glad they didn’t overpay for Flaherty was worried that might happen if they got desperate.
Breslow has done a good job so far working under the obvious constraints set by ownership. The Rotation has been reset with a lot of high end potential and based on what ownership is seeming to allow he has done a solid and decisive job rebuilding the rotation potential. He’s not done yet and I think he has ownerships blessing to at least go up to the lux line would love to see an impact reliever in the Scott or Hoffman maybe Estévez. Would also love to see him offload Masa and sign Teo. I’m not as keen on Bregman unless they are willing to move Devers to DH. I want no part of Devers moving to first.
Keep up the solid work Breslow and who knows maybe someday ownership will green light another long term big ticket item.
I like it. Low risk, very high reward. Could be a top of the rotation starter. If not, he’s only here for a year.
I can’t help but feel Breslow is playing a high risk/high reward game. Either the Sox will have a powerful rotation or this will be a painful season of regressions, injuries, and should have beens.
Regardless, a few things need to change as well.
1) According to fan graphs, the Sox were 15th in offensive WAR. If you look at it position by position you see the issue is the infield. Hopefully a full season of Casas changes that. But regardless it would be nice to get some more offense there.
2) Anyone who watched the Red Sox last season had to experience the same thing as me… a genuine cringe anytime the infield had to, well field the ball. There were a number of botched plays that made them look like 12 year olds just learning the game. Loved Hamiliton’s speed, but a complete liability in the field.
3) Chapman alone doesn’t fix the pen which was another major issue.
So yeah, there’s hope in the starting rotation… but I’m not seeing them trying to fix the bigger issues.
Sabe – If it is a painful season of regressions, injuries, and should have beens, the Red Sox won’t care because they already went on record as saying they won’t try to win until at least 2026 so that would be their built-in excuse.
It almost seems like the Red Sox are stacking trade chips for the trade deadline if their season doesn’t go well
It’s obvious Buehler’s numbers werent great last season. A cursory glance tells a pretty bleak story. As an avid Dodgers fan I can say that watching him was uncomfortable at first. His velo was down but worse, his command was non-existent But as the season drew on, he got better and better, looking a lot more like the Buehler I hoped for. Although the velo never got all the way back. he learned to command what he had and made it work. Couple that with his bulldog tenacity and what you signed is an absolute beast. Better play well behind him if you dont want your butts chewed because he plays to win. Period. Personally, I think it will be a mistake not having locked him up for 3 years. You’ll get one great one and he walks…
I’m still processing the buehler signing, so let me see. They offered a qualifying offer to Pivetta, who refused it. He had an era of about four, so instead, they signed buehler for pivetta money, who has an era of over five.
This is nothing but rearranging the depth chairs on the titanic.
Yea you also have to factor in Buehler was coming of missing almost two seasons when he came back. He struggled but got better at the end and then we all saw what he did in the post last season. He was really good against the Yankees. I think he’s going to be really motivated and he has show electric stuff in the past before injuries. Since it appears that ownership isn’t willing to sign the big market especially pitching free agents then Breslow has to do something like this. I agree it’s a risk he could flop but if that high end pitcher is still in there it could be a steal and very little risk just one year if things go bad.
Bruin – I would have preferred he got the hip replacement before signing with the Sox.
My prediction FPG he’s going to be just fine he’s pitching for his career and from all the Dodger fans he’s a competitor let’s see where this goes.
Bruin1012 – His competitive spirit and track record reminds me of Bieber. Bieber will be ok going forward after just one season that wasn’t elite. Buehler’s down seasons were short and bit more dramatically down but if anyone can comeback I think he has a great shot. My issue is that we rehabbed the guy and will lose him if ownership doesn’t fund an extension. For consistency sake, I would rather sign a SP1 to be here 4 or 5 years so the young pitchers can have a top end guy to learn from and build consistency. This is a revolving door top end of the rotation and that never seems to work. You have to have at least ONE stable top of the rotation guy.
Now, if Crochet backs up what he did last year and ownership is willing to pay big bucks to extend him, then this rotation should benefit greatly from the deal with Chicago. Even if Giolito does well and moves on and the same for Sandoval the Red Sox would still have one linchpin to create a cohesive starting staff. The miracle move would be to have both Crochet and Buehler play well in 2025 and sign extensions At that point, then Boston is back as a top 10 team and the .500 teams will be over. That’s a huge if and highly unlikely based on recent history. We would need an ownership PIVOT as large as the one that happened in 2019 when things went south by firing Dombrowski for the Bueher/Crochet scenario to have a chance at being a reality.
Walker Buehler is not going to have a 5 ERA next year. He has found himself. And he’s one of the greatest post season pitchers of all time.
Kershaw – He didn’t join a post season team so I’m not impressed with that aspect of him. We need him to show up and throw strikes and not let any grounders go to 3B. If he does that, he’ll be a great add.
So you don’t like to consider career numbers, or how he did later in the season as opposed to earlier in the season when he was getting over TJS?
Also the Sox get the compensation pick when Pivetta signs elsewhere… And if Buehler is not good, they let him walk. If he is good, they either sign him to an extension or make another qualifying offer which would net a second compensation pick. Beside the fact that I think Buehler is better than Pivetta (we can debate that).. You get Buehler and possibly 2 compensation picks for this signing rather than keeping Pivetta.
He might have the temperament of your average lefty.
I wonder if they fell in love with the World Series performance and think he is back. It’s a 1 year deal but if they think he is now their #2 this is a BAD idea. The ONLY good news is at least they go into the season with a better rotation. Houck, Bello, Paxton, Crochet and Buehler are at a minimum competent starters. I would hope they are in on Burnes or Sasaki or maybe pull a trade, but something tells me they are done with trying to upgrade the rotation.
Though O’Neill is a wild card they haven’t addressed a RH power bat.
Paxton?!? Don’t tell me he’s coming back! Did you mean Crawford, Giolito, or Sandoval? Not sure when Giolito will be ready, and Sandoval will probably miss most of the season.
All these pitchers are using the Roger Beshens Football Slider and their performance improved once they learned about it. The Red Sox are facing consequences because they are not good at teaching the Roger Beshens Football Slider. Roger Beshens is currently working with ML pitchers in Phoenix. Other ML teams should consider hiring him.
I like this signing for Boston. It’s a one year risk of 21 million. My unscientific take is a 40% chance you get $30 million in value. A 40% chance you get $15 to $18 million in value. A 20% chance he’s injured and you get little to no value. Those aren’t bad odds for MLB starting pitching.
Pivetta signs for 3 years $48MM lol
Buehler is going to deliver this year for the Sox. And I’m not talking about the mail.
Wade – Good, I look forward to receiving pizzas from him!
I agree. didnt read all the incentives but im hoping for a run at the al cy young…no that was not sarcasm ala fpg
Pool – I’m hoping Yoshida and Devers both win Gold Gloves.
If Palmeiro could win a Gold Glove while playing DH, why not Yoshida?
Fever Pitch Guy – Does that mean Devers found his glove after EIGHT years of looking for it? hahahaha
Ahhhhh – He painted his glove gold. I get it!!
Even with all the incentives and whatnot this is a very rich deal for a player with a lot of uncertainty around them. But hey- good for Buehler.
I saw some celebrating the fact that there is a mutual $25M option for 2026 included. Not to rain on anyone’s parade, but the last time both parties exercised a mutual option was MIL and Aramis Ramirez in 2015. Once in 10 years makes for really long odds.
Plus wouldn’t that reduce this year’s contract to $18m since he would not get the $3m buyout?
Bill – Exactly! Which means it’s really only a $22M option.
Solaris – So true! The only way it happens is if the team thinks the player is worth the option amount, and the player doesn’t think that. It’s the longest of long shots.
How many guys named Walker Buehler are they allowed to sign?
Brian – Enough to reach 1,000 comments.
Hate these re-releases of old information.
This just keeps getting better and better.
This is not news.
Wait, breaking news. The Bosox just issued the cap and jersey to Buehler. Breaking the Bosox just signed Buehler. ENOUGH ALREADY. MY GOD. Every day. STOP
boston – The sad thing about the jersey is that some people here actually believed he would get to keep #21 ….. absolutely ridiculous of them to believe that.
Zero is so appropriate a number for Buehler, as it represents his level of interest in signing an extension with the Red Sox if he has a good year.
How can anyone say FPG is not a troll after a post like this? He went out of his way to put down the Red Sox.
He’s a one-trick pony. He only signs on to post negative $chitt about the RS. There is nothing more boring in the world than someone that has only one thing to say.
All – I think you are taking his comments too personally. You and I recognize that we differ because I report performance and you are an eternal optimist. Sometimes performance isn’t positive and we have different viewpoints.
In this case, FPG is pointing out a harsh reality that exists with each of our three acquisitions of starting pitchers. Boston is going to rehab three guys who have been hurt for several years in hopes they can make a big comeback but the irony of the situation is that if they are successful, their new cost will be above the threshold that owners have allowed other than their Soto bid.
So Boston gets 3 seasons of potential star quality starting pitchers and then we get to watch them take bigger deals elsewhere. That’s the same thing I don’t like about these deals. Without having permission to extend them for more than $21Million a year if they do great, we simply rehabbed a SP for another team and got ONE year of benefit from a two year investment in the cases of Giolito and Sandoval and a one year investment in Buehler.
I’m a blue chip guy so I’d rather spend the money on a blue chip for 3 or 4 years so Houck, Crawford and Bello can be part of a consistent pitching staff that can grow as a team and get better. Instead, we have Buehler and Giolito for 2025 and then if they flourish they will go to another team and if they fail we wasted the money. Then in 2026 we’ll see Crochet and Sandoval pitch and if they do great they will move on to another team in 2027 for much bigger money. That seems totally unfair because it does nothing for building team chemistry through continuity. I agree with FPG that this is a bad strategy and will either provide rehab and big pay days to these pitchers or they will end up being busts as investments if they don’t successfully comeback from TJ surgery.
Does that make sense? I didn’t see it as a troll move just a harsh reality.
Vintage WB? Wow if he can even be close to that.