11:44AM: Whitlock is hoping to pitch normally during Spring Training, he told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and other media. His offseason work has thus far extended to bullpen sessions of up to 15 pitches.
11:31AM: Garrett Whitlock will miss the first month or two of the 2025 season as he recovers from an internal brace surgery performed last May, but when the right-hander does return to action, it will be in a bullpen role. Whitlock told reporters (including Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe) today that the Red Sox intend to use him as a reliever in the coming season.
The news isn’t a huge surprise, given both Whitlock’s health status and the fact that the Sox have enough of a pitching surplus that the team is considering using a six-man rotation just to get everyone innings. There is also the fact that Whitlock has been markedly better as a reliever (2.65 ERA in 132 2/3 innings) than as a starter (4.29 ERA in 109 innings) during his big league career.
After being selected away from the Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 draft, Whitlock burst onto the Major League scene as a reliever when he posted a spectacular 1.96 ERA over 73 1/3 innings during the 2021 season. It was a tremendous breakout for a pitcher who had never even worked at Triple-A before making his MLB debut, and the Red Sox jumped to capitalize on that potential by signing Whitlock to a contract extension that will net him at least $18.75MM over the 2023-26 seasons, and might max out as a six-year, $44MM pact based on club options and escalators.
The Red Sox experimented with Whitlock as a starter in 2022, but moved him back to the pen after he missed about a month due to hip inflammation, and Whitlock continued to pitch well in a multi-inning relief role before a season-ending hip surgery in September. Whitlock was again deployed as a starter to begin the 2023 season, but struggled to a 5.23 ERA in 51 2/3 innings over 10 starts before again returned to the relief corps. This time, Whitlock had a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings as a reliever over the remainder of that season, as some elbow problems were the larger story of Whitlock’s 2023 campaign.
Injuries again surfaced in 2024, as Whitlock didn’t pitch again after suffering an oblique strain in mid-April. A month after his IL placement, Whitlock came away from a Triple-A rehab outing with elbow soreness, and ultimately the UCL damage that necessitated his surgery. Ironically, Whitlock had looked very sharp in his first four starts of the 2024 season, as an 1.96 ERA in 18 1/3 innings hinted that he was finally ready to step up as a regular member of Boston’s rotation.
It still seems possible that the Sox might again use Whitlock as a starter in 2026 or beyond, depending on his health, their rotation needs, or if the Red Sox exercise their club options on his services for the 2027 or 2028 seasons. However, it could be that simply keeping Whitlock in a relief role might be the ideal path to keep him off the injured list. As much as Boston might’ve hoped it had found a quality starter at a relative bargain price, having Whitlock as “only” a bullpen weapon for high-leverage innings is a pretty nice silver lining, assuming Whitlock can regain his 2021-22 form.
Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson are the highest-profile new additions to the Boston bullpen this offseason, and the exact nature of the relief mix might not be known for some time. The Red Sox will still need to figure out which five or six arms will comprise their rotation, which excess starters might also be used in the pen, and simply who will be healthy. Aside from Whitlock, Lucas Giolito, Patrick Sandoval, and Michael Fulmer are all returning from long-term injuries.
Without injuries, Whitlock was developing into one of the best relief arms in the game. Sad to see what health can do to a career. Hopefully he can get back to that form in the bullpen these next 2 seasons.
Cheap – Bloom gave him starter money to be a starter. Huge mistake, but maybe the contract can be salvaged with 50 good innings a year. Time will tell.
Are we gonna get a separate article for everything that’s said at FSG Fest today? Lol!!
Since when is a 4 year deal with an AAV of under $5M “starter money”?
Bloom Derangement Syndrome
Whitlock has a pretty team-friendly contract:
2023: $1M
2024: $3.25M (arb 1)
2025: $5.25M (arb 2)
2026: $7.25M (arb 3)
2027: $8.25M team option
2028: $10.5M team option
Ken – He wasn’t signed as a free agent, do some research rather than always depending on me to enlighten you.
Enlighten us all. Where does it say free agent?
Why don’t you start making sense instead of your usual “I’m smarter than everyone else in the industry” nonsense. There’s nothing that’s egregious about the salaries Whitlock is set to make even if he remains in the pen. You just have some pathological need to label every move Bloom made as a major mistake.
Said this before. Bloom ended up overpaying Whitlock because of the injury. This would’ve been a nice deal had he remained healthy.
Still could recoup all the value if he becomes a top reliever or returns to the rotation successfully. They hold 2 relatively cheap team options on him.
Lindor – Exactly!! The “King” is comparing Whitlock’s contract extension to that of a free agent contract, because he’s just a casual who doesn’t realize the extension he signed did NOT involve guaranteed money for any of his free agent years ….. the 4-year extension covered one pre-arb year and three arb years.
And guess how much the Sox have gotten out of Whitlock during the first half of that extension?
Just 90 innings combined of 4.50 ERA pitching.
And how much did it cost the Red Sox for those crappy 90 innings? $9.4M combined.
And how much WOULD Whitlock have been paid those two years if there was no extension? Less than a quarter of the $9.4M.
BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT YOU GET PAID WHEN YOU PITCH LIKE CRAP AS A PRE-ARB AND ARB1 PITCHER!!
The guy is absolutely clueless, I keep proving him wrong and he always disappears instead of manning up and apologizing.
Worse yet, if he had a clue he’d know another Garrett who just happened to join the Red Sox is ARB2 and was projected to earn only $2.9M for this season …. HOW ABOUT THAT!!!
Even with the Sox generously giving Crochet an additional millie as a good faith gesture, he is STILL getting paid several hundred thousand less than Whitlock who would have also been in his ARB2 season this year. Imagine that!!
Jbig – Yes, you are 100% correct! The only reason Bloom even had the opportunity to grab Whitlock in the Rule 5 is because the Yankees knew how much of an injury risk he was.
Bloom knew he was a major injury risk but as usual his ego forced him to believe he was smarter than everyone else giving a huge extension to a high risk pitcher.
Nothing has changed with Breslow, they are STILL taking high risk gambles on injury prone pitchers and they are STILL getting burned by their foolishness.
Ken – Uh excuse me, who the hell is the one who has “King” as their handle? I’m guessing your other handles include “Icon” and “GOAT” too, right? There’s only one in this discussion that has a massive ego, and that’s you.
And again, if you took ten seconds to do a search you’d find articles like THIS:
masslive.com/redsox/2022/04/boston-red-sox-sign-ga…
“It was not known that Whitlock was discussing an extension with the club because he entered the year with just one year of service time. Extensions for those types of players are unusual”
“The innings-related escalators are based on Whitlock accumulating a significant number of innings as a starter.”
“The Red Sox hope he maxes out the deal and earns the full $44.5 million, because that would mean he has turned into an effective starter who is in contention for major awards.”
THERE YOU HAVE IT, BLOOM GAVE HIM A STARTING PITCHER CONTRACT.
I’m done educating you for free. You could at least show some appreciation for setting you straight yet again.
…and it was a low-cost gamble that he could be a starter. Nothing wrong with the contract.
This was a low-cost, high-upside contract. Nothing wrong with it.
Sag.. that’s just not true.. His main issue was not making a trade when it was available. He developed and drafted most of what is still the top rated farm system in the league even after the trade for Crochet. He did a lot good. Made some mistakes but we are now set up for success for the foreseeable future and he had a lot to do with that.
Shoman – I can see only your post, therefore I’m addressing only yours.
Yes Bloom did a very good job of drafting …. however, he was able to build up the farm because that was the ONLY objective he was given by Henry.
And really when you look at it, John Henry stabbed Bloom in the back. Because Bloom did EXACTLY what Henry wanted him to do and allowed him to do, and then Henry fired him with the excuse that he ignored the big league club.
Fact is, Bloom got those high draft picks and prospects because:
1) The Red Sox kept missing the playoffs and finishing last
2) The Red Sox kept getting compensatory draft picks for letting free agents walk
3) The Red Sox stayed away from signing free agents that would cost draft picks
4) The Red Sox made several trades that were not intended to improve the current team, but rather were specifically to acquire prospects for the future. Such as the JBJ trade which involved $10M. And the Vazquez trade which I loved.
So without question, Bloom did a good job building the farm …. but he did it at the expense of the big league club, which is why the team has basically sucked for 4 of the past 5 years.
FPG.. you overvalue your opinion and knowledge of the decisions the front office is making. You believe your opinion is the only correct one. There is a better way to communicate your point without talking the other opinion down. It would serve you better to stop talking others down. It really just discredits you the moment you make it personal or you tout yourself as the educator or the more knowledgeable one. I would enjoy reading your posts more if you did that instead of how you currently go about it. Hard to take you seriously when half of your point is stating how you are smarter than everyone else and the front office is stupid because you don’t agree with what they are doing. Try something new maybe.
Shoman – I have a right to defend myself, that’s all I’m doing. And I’ll be damned if I allow anyone to come at me with lies and false accusations.
When people such as the “King” mock me for RIGHTFULLY calling Whitlock’s contract a starting pitcher contract, he is the one who is out of line.
And I don’t do it with opinions, I do it with FACTS and LOGIC.
There’s a difference between FACTS and opinions.
When someone is too lazy to do the research and support their statements with FACTS and SOURCES/LINKS, then that’s on them.
If you read most of my posts, it’s only a few handles here (fewer people) who continue to post lies for the sole purpose of making me look bad and them look good.
I’ve been wrong a couple times in the past, and guess what? I admitted it and I gave credit to the other person. How many times do you think these blowhards who I’ve proven wrong have done the same?
THAT is what messageboards are meant for.
And you mention “smarter”? The person who lies and falsely accuses me of being wrong with zero proof, THAT is the person who acts like they are “smarter” than everyone.
And one last point which I would like to see you acknowledge since you’ve basically forced me to explain what shouldn’t need to be explained …..
KNOWLEDGE and INTELLIGENCE are two entirely different things.
ANYBODY can be as knowledgeable as I ….. if they simply take the time to study baseball, follow baseball, learn baseball, and do some critical thinking before posting.
Everything I presented about Whitlock’s contract is easily accessible for everyone. if someone is too lazy or arrogant to do the research themself, that’s on them … not me.
You will NOT shame me for spending so much time and effort to learn facts.
You will NOT shame me for being knowledgeable about baseball by spending the time and effort to follow it.
I watch, listen to or attend over 150 games a year.
I watch and listen to nearly every pregame and postgame show.
I watch and listen to hundreds of interviews a year.
I read thousands of articles a year.
I talk to dozens of people in and around baseball, exchanging thoughts and soaking up THEIR knowledge.
Don’t you DARE try to shame me for being so passionate and dedicated to the game of baseball, especially when you don’t even know who the hell I am.
I think he was mainly trying to help you. Recommend you go for a walk and relax a bit.
Sagacity: Here is what I credit Bliom for .
Bloom, was the Red Sox’s chief baseball officer from October 2019 until September 2023
Kyle Teel drafted 2023
Meidroth drafted 2022
Romany Anthony drafted 2022
Kristian Campbell drafted 2023
Arias 2023
Bleis 2021
Garcia 2021
Maintaining a young developing core in the minors.
Duran, Casas and several others and not depleting the farm system completely via trades.
Picking up Wilyer Abreu in the trade of Vazquez.
We were clearly in the need to develop young core when Bloom came in and he did a solid job of that. His drafts will pay dividends for years to come. The young guys coming up behind this crop will develop into the next core.
I will trust the recent poll of MLB executives that ranked the Red Sox as having the top farm system in MLB even after Teel and Montgomery were traded:
“Some of the responses came before the Red Sox traded two Top 100 prospects (Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery) to the White Sox, but when those who picked Boston were asked if they would change picks as a result of that deal, only one did so, with some believing even with the trade the Red Sox had the best system in the game.”
The poll also ranked the Red Sox second in MLB in drafting the best (the question was: Which team drafts the best?). So, it looks like the Red Sox are in very good shape and heading in the right direction.
mlb.com/news/front-office-executives-poll-for-farm…
FPG: “only a few”
Tons of others, myself included, dont bother with him or Saga anymore. We just read his ridiculously biased takes, laugh and move on. But, sure pretend its only a few that disagree with you.
Please send him back to NY Yankees
Good. He had great numbers once through a lineup, but teams were hitting him hard 2nd and 3rd time through.
If he was a lefty, I may consider it.
we’d take him in a second
great reliever who just couldn’t make the switch to starter
He is a way better relief pitcher anyway. Keep Whit in the bullpen.
The bullpen is looking good, even without a true closer. There’s a ton of options – Chapman (ugh), Hendricks, Slaten, or even Whitlock.the rest of those guys would be your high leverage arms. There was a handful of other young guys who looked good as well – Guerrero and Penrod.
Now if they could add say a Tanner Scott or Estevas (who I’d prefer) that BP would be a strength going into the season.
Tanner is better! Estevez Will be cheaper
Yeah – I was thinking Estévez (let me spell it right this time) tices a better compliment to Chapman, who is probably the other late inning guy right now. But they couldn’t go wrong with either addition.
The Sox screwed him up by moving him to the rotation. He was great in the pen and instead of leaving well enough alone they had to make him a starter, and that back & forth probably caused his initial injuries. Stupid.
Wonder if Jeff Hoffman will suffer the same fate with the Jays? He wasn’t much of a starter the first time around.
@letitbelowenstein They’re using Hoffman to close.
Yes, can’t afford the same debacle that ruined most of Daniel Bard’s career (late-age brief NL resurgence notwithstanding).
See: Daniel Bard
Took him years to get over the RS screwing with him.
Hoping for the same from Bobby D.
Are these not grown men bard was a fantastic starter at unc it made sense for him to want to try…its not only on the sox for letting him..geez
Bard wanted to be a starter.
so did michael king
some arms can handle starting and some can’t but starters are more valuable so if both sides are willing and there are no obvious medical issues you give it a shot. 20/20 hindsight can make any decision look stupid
So did Seth Lugo, as have many others. A lot of these guys start of as starters, then get relegated to the BP for a lack of performance. That doesn’t mean they will never be a starter. Whitlock was a good experiment that didn’t work out.
But what’s funny is the RS fans that don’t know that Houck was a RP as recently as 2022. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Whitlock was pushing to be a starter again the only reason he was in the pen to begin with was due to his rule 5 status and needing to keep him on the 25 man while protecting his arm post tj..so this wasnt all on the sox the player very much had alot of input and desire to be a starter
Exactly. The player has a say in what happens to them.
Wrong. MLB is not the military.
Did you miss Crochet speaking up for himself last year and not saying Yes Sir?
Pool – Precisely, you nailed it perfectly! And Whitlock WAS a starter in the minors.
In 2018-2019 he appeared in 37 games …. and 35 of them were as a starting pitcher.
It’s ridiculous how some people here keep denying the fact that BOTH Whitlock and the Red Sox (including Breslow) wanted him to be a starting pitcher. Pure ignorance on the part of those who think otherwise.
Relief is the best role for him. He was lights out most of the time as a reliever. The starting staff is decent now, with some depth. Good luck to him, he seems like a great guy. And nothings better than stealing a Yankee !
Finally, payback for the Bambino.
They finally learned their lesson I guess
How do you know this isnt whitlocks choice?
His choice or not, it was a failed experiment but one worth trying if a team rather not sign free agent starters for long-term.
It was the team’s decision to continue running him out there as a starter even after it was proven he belonged in the bullpen
Oh sorry by your comment I assumed you meant the upcoming season and him being used in the pen..not how he was used in the past…let me be clear …how do you know this decision for 2025 isnt being made with whitlocks input?..your statement implies the team learned a lesson, perhaps its possible both the team and player learned something or whitlock inititated the conversation on his own? My point is you dont unless you are in the room everything else is speculation and unfair to put this all on the team ..this guy is a grown man give him some credit
Because it’s ultimately up to the team where the player will be used. The player can tell them where he PREFERS to be used. I’m sure he does prefer to be used out of the pen this upcoming season and the team is smartly going with it, in past seasons they kept trying to sledgehammer him into the rotation despite results showing his rightful place was in the bullpen
Whitlock made some media session comments during his rehab that said he was willing to pitch wherever the club needed him most and wherever he had the best chance at staying healthy and on the field.
I read between the lines as that meaning he’s happy with the bullpen role, probably in large part because the club previously honored his wishes to try starting
GA! Hope you are doing well.
Suit – I’m enjoying the novelty of the snow up here! Monday starts the new chemo, fingers crossed I tolerate this one ok.
Like Asia said, time will tell.
I hope it goes well. This offseason has been going very slowly lately. Pivetta might be getting worried. The Red Sox should have a good international signing period. They are supposed to be signing 3 of the top 50. They are signing no. 8 SS Soto, no. 32 OF Rivas and no. 46 P Del Zine. You can read about them here:
mlb.com/milb/prospects/2025/international/
Good to hear from you. One of the things that doesn’t get discussed is that I wonder if the RS made a promise to give him a starting opportunity when he extended.
I’ve often wondered that myself Joe, and I’d expect it to be so considering some of the optional incentives that were there to unlock.
You’ve got to love the professionalism though that he isn’t acting spoiled/entitled and taking a ‘whatever the team needs’ mentality.
Hope the new year is treating you well
Definitely tougher for players to perform in Major markets. Takes player’s with thick skin to play in AL or NL East. Not all players can handle the extra stress of a New York or Boston. Day and night when comparing Boston and Colorado environments.
Good idea.
The BoSox are looking good for 2025.
Finally, some sense being used
This pitching staff will be nasty
Of course health is key as is every team. Yankees have a very fragile staff also. Time will tell
Some of these MLB Gms are morons. There is no reason to turn someone who is a great reliever into a starter. I’d understand if that reliever had success in the past as a starter and their relief stats were mediocre (Lugo, Reynaldo Lopez) but it doesnt make sense to me to turn quality relievers into starters like Jordan Hicks or what they were thinking of doing with Mason Miller. If Mariano Rivera was flip flopped around like this, he never would of made the hall of fame, the only unanimous player ever
It’s so great that every player’s failure is completely the fault of the manager, the general manager, the pitching coach, the agent, the stadium, the team’s defense, the pitch calling, the catcher, the scouting, Manfred, the union, the announcers, the ground crew, the dirt on the pitcher’s mound, the seams on the baseballs, the materials the pitchers are allowed or not allowed to use, the baseball itself, sign stealing, the inability to hold runners on base, spin rate, velocity, facial hair, and probably countless more factors that I can’t think of off the top of my head.
If you were good at one` job but better at another.Your boss says i think you are better at being a janitor.We will give you going rate for a janitor.You want to be a supervisor and paid like one.You aren’t as good at being a supervisor.Which do you pick?Most people go with the money and better title.
So if you’re a failed business man with multiple bankruptcies and a convicted criminal AND you were miserable at an important job the first time you had it, you get the job back?
Cool.
Sure, if the alternative is the village idiot.
I am going to go against the grain here.
The four games that Whitlock pitched last year, he was the best starter in MLB. Don’t believe me? Look it up. His four starts were all spectacular. Does he get injured from longer outings? Only his doctors know. If I think he’s healthy, I ask him what he wants to do and think seriously again about starting him.
This story is just chum for underwhelmed Bosox fanbase. Had to get Red Sox on baseball sites to appear as though they’re really trying. Next they’ll be hyping the new bullpen C. Making moves.
They’ve been one of more active teams this offseason thus far. It may not be the moves a lot fans want but they’re trying to improve. No one asked you to click on the article nor comment.
Free agents:
• RHP Walker Buehler, 1 year/$21.05 million
• LHP Patrick Sandoval, 2 year/$18.25 million
• LHP Aroldis Chapman, 1 year/$10.75 million
• LHP Justin Wilson, 1 year, $2.25 million
Trades:
• Acquired LHP Garrett Crochet from White Sox for C Kyle Teel, OF Braden Montgomery, INF Chase Meidroth and RHP Wikelman Gonzalez
• Acquired C Carlos Narvaez from Yankees for RHP Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international bonus pool money
• Acquired RHP Joe Vogatsky from Pirates for INF/OF Emmanuel Valdez
• Acquired RHP Yhoiker Fajardo from White Sox for LHP Cam Booser
• Acquired LHP Jovani Moran from Twins for C/1B Mickey Gasper
YBC. This true and a great point. I think Bosox are much better next year. Could win the division.
Don’t present facts to RS fans. Half of them already know them, and half of them cannot process them.
FPG…
Definition of shaming;
the act or activity of subjecting someone to shame, disgrace, humiliation, or disrepute especially by public exposure or criticism.
My apologies if my post came across as shaming. But I believe that’s what you do when you call others ignorant. That I believe is shaming.
I did not use shaming in my post rather brought attention to the fact that you do that to others.
We can disagree on this but it’s my thought that your posts and points would be much better served by leaving out the insults.
We can disagree and argue over baseball stuff in the future… just thought I should you make a statement to you about that. I’ll leave it alone moving forward. Hope maybe you can stop with the insults.
Good posts. You are not the first to confront FPG about his behavior. I commend you for being so polite.
Shoman – Where did I call anyone ignorant? It’s concerning that you are defending “King”, the one who falsely accused me about Whitlock’s contract. He also lied about me hating on Bloom all the time, I have praised many of Bloom’s moves including the Vaz trade which many people here were strongly against.
Ironically, I AGREED with you by defending Bloom …. and you totally ignored that post.
Word of advice: Don’t get involved in situations that don’t have anything to do with you. King has a long history of inflammatory posts in which he intentionally spouts off, doesn’t have anything to back up what he says, and then runs away when proven wrong. He’s not the first to be bitter about me proving them wrong all the time, many of the bitter ones are muted by me because I don’t want to waste anymore time responding to those who have targeted me.
Just stick to the topic of baseball and don’t get personal. I have really good conversations with countless people here, they treat me with respect and I do the same.
One last thing I haven’t addressed yet, you said I “overvalue” my opinions. Nobody here supports their statements more than I. With the Whitlock contract I provided detailed facts, quotes, and links to sources. In other words, I put in the time and effort to explain what I say.
The people who “overvalue” their opinions are those that throw stuff out there with zero effort, provide nothing to support them, and they then refuse to admit they are wrong even after being proven wrong. So once again you’ve got it backwards.
Hope you’re not one of the muted people using another new alias, if you are I’ll find out soon enough. Just stick to baseball, don’t get personal or insult me, and all will be good.
FPG… I’m glad we agree that we should just keep it to baseball and stop insulting people while we do. That’s a great point and I will follow through with that. I hope you will as well. You make great points much of the time. I don’t always agree with your viewpoint but can tell you know a lot. The one thing I would add is all of these comments on here are strictly opinion and not facts.. They are opinions based on what we read, see , listen to or hear. The only facts out there we won’t know unless we are directly talking the front office.. We are all smart, intelligent people commenting on what is posted because we care, but at the end of the day the only ones that know their intentions and true plans are the ones with the money and positions and they will never reveal that to us fully. They’ve earned that right with their purchase of a team and skill set to get the positions they are in. I’m ok with saying they probably know much better than me on what the best decisions are. I don’t have to love them but I respect them and will be a die hard fan , knowing that they will mess up but they have out performed every other organization over the last 25 years, I’m sure they will fight the ship and believe that’s what they plan to do,
Most people already have FPG on mute.
Joe – Agree 100%! FPG and KD were to of the first I muted years ago…
Word of Advice: People can comment on anything posted here all they want, including your posts. You are not above scrutiny.
Can’t we all just get along. Most of us are on this site because we love baseball. Ps n Cs report in month. Go Dodgers !