The Red Sox announced that left-hander Mike Kickham has been added to the team’s player pool. Boston now has 50 players in their pool, ten shy of the 60-man maximum.
Kickham joined the Sox on a minors contract last December, and is looking to make it back to the big leagues for the first time since the 2014 season. The southpaw posted a 10.98 ERA over 30 1/3 innings for the Giants in 2013-14 and then bounced around the minors and the independent leagues. Kickham’s journeyman sojourn brought him to the Cubs, Mariners, Rangers, a return stint with the Giants, and (for the past three seasons) the Marlins’ farm system. A return call to the majors hasn’t come despite some decent numbers, as Kickham has a 4.06 ERA, 2.19 K/BB rate, and 7.8 K/9 over 835 1/3 career minor league frames.
Given the uncertain nature of Boston’s pitching, Kickham might have a decent shot at cracking the Sox roster. Staff ace Eduardo Rodriguez and left-handers Darwinzon Hernandez and Josh Taylor are are sidelined after positive COVID-19 tests, plus Collin McHugh won’t be fully ready to pitch by Opening Day. This creates plenty of opportunity for a pitcher like Kickham to earn a roster spot as the Red Sox try to figure out how they’ll approach this dearth of arms.
Jason Vargas?
Any word on whether or not Rusney Castillo gets a shot this year? I’ve been loosely following camp roster but don’t know how luxury tax implications come into play this year I haven’t educated myself on that side for how this year works.
Rusney makes $13 million this (his last) year with the Red Sox. He will absolutely not be on the mlb team!
Since there is no minor league baseball this year, will the Red Sox save all of Rusney’s salary? Sounds like they will. Rusney has still made $60 mil.
No it’s a guaranteed contract
Regardless of whether the have to pay him anything, the team is far more concerned about luxury tax thresholds right now. However, after saving David Price’s prorated salary this season, it supposedly would open the door to bring him in and still finish below the tax line.
That said, they could probably get the more talented Puig for a similar price if they really felt they needed OF help (which on paper doesn’t look like they do.) They’d be better suited taking on the salary of a SP from another team to plug a bigger hole.
Yes, the RS already
Benintendi
Bradley
Verdugo
Pillar
as well as other players to play the outfield. There is no need for Rusney. If the RS spendit will be on pitching which they have a huge need.
They’ll probably see how the games play out until late August and if the record surprises, they have the ability to make an unexpected splash. If not, they could reverse course and trade JDM.
With price opting out of the season we actually have quite a bit of flexibility under the cap. He could certainly play his way onto the team this year but I doubt it will happen based on his talent
With price opting out we have room for him financially but he would have to perform exceptionally for us to give him a look
How does Price opting out give us flexibility? His money is still on the books and he still gets paid, right? Still count against our bottom line so we can’t just turn around and use that money on some other guy. Did I miss something?
They still have to agree on whether or not the money for those who opt out gets removed from the luxury tax thresholds or simply isn’t paid.
Could’ve been a possibility… probably his best and only one with Boston. But, he’d be a fifth outfielder at best. Barring an injury or two, I don’t see it happening.
He was given the starting outfielder job in 2014, but had a bad OBP and little power. He is a AAAA player. He was one of Cherington’s mistakes ($72.5 million) along with Sandoval ($95 million), Hanley Ramirez ($88 million), Allen Craig ($38 million), Joe Kelly….
It was never a possibility lately because of his salary. He stays on the minor league books and off the 40-man.
He’s NEVER going to play on the major league team since they made that decision 2 or 3 years ago. NEVER going to be called up, NEVER going to see a single second of MLB time.
@Gary…
It’s ludicrous though isn’t it? They’ve paid him @$70million for his involvement in about 100 MLB games. Surely at this point they’d be better off (at least with moral obligation to the player) to DFA him and at least give him an opportunity elsewhere?
Or does DFA-ing him need him to be added to an active roster and thus would add his salary to 2020 budget.
I’ve got to say it – the Red Sox treatment of Castillo – has been appalling. OK – offer me $70 million not to work at my potential for 6-7 years and I’ll take it, But they’ve basically quaranteed him for 5 years in Pawtucket
I hope he gets a chance somewhere – it’s his sort of situation that makes me laugh when ownership pleads poverty….
If he becomes a free agent and signs elsewhere for the minimum, I believe his prorated salary for 2020 would then be charged to the Sox payroll. Otherwise he could have been released earlier. Remember he triggered this year’s option. He could have been a free agent back in November but chose to take the money (as most of us would have).
I would take $72.5 million to play AAA. Almost anyone would…..he was never talented enough to play MLB. It was just a bad contract offered by Cherington.
If Rusney wanted a chance to play MLB he could have declined the contact for free agency at any point, but he would not have made nearly as much from any other team.
I would take $72.5 million to play AAA. Almost anyone would…..he was never talented enough to play MLB. It was just a bad contract offered by Cherington.
Even with a 60 game schedule, the Red Sox do not have the pitching to even go.500. As a Red Sox fan of 50 years it will still be interesting to see all the old and new faces alike……IF there actually ends up being a season….which I am not completely convinced
Yes this was always going to be a lame duck season. Just get through it, chop expenses, get below that line that they needed to be, reset any tax penalties for multiple seasons of going over.
With this reset the Sox can go gangbusters again after the season and fill the holes with free agents etc. We’ll be dancing in the streets in Boston again soon.
Good job, Mike! I remember watching his debut in 2013 and kind of forgetting about him. Hope he gets a shot this year.
All I remember about the guy is he got lit up just about every time out.
yeah when he came up if I remember they had high hopes for him, glad to see he is still playing
There is ZERO chance he has even a single sniff at the MLB level. The Red Sox worked so hard to get below the luxury-tax line or whatever tax line, they’re not going to suddenly put 13 million dollars back on the books !! The decision was made two or three years ago. He is completely done as a Red Sox Major League Prospect.
Another not so big deal for a not so big year…
Biggest blow, however, is choosing Peraza over Holt. I still say that’s just one stupid move, Bloom.
You’ll reverse your opinion soon…
you Red Sox fans have a Holt addiction
I agree. The fact that it took him so long to sign elsewhere shows the overvaluing fans had of him. He is a great guy and that can’t be overstated, but he is not as valuable as some fans think.
There you go generalizing again. Holt was great for many years but not worth the money he originally wanted from the team. That became evident when he realized how little he would actually sign for.
Most educated Red Sox fans we’re not overly emotional about the Brockstar. Good thing some of these guys here, “Red Sox fans” as you call them, are not the GM of the team LOL.
Peralta is overpaid. Sox could have first waited for Holt to sign first or see if his price became better for the team. He meant as much off the field and in the clubhouse as he did on the field. That said, he produced in 18 in the playoffs and could play seven positions if necessary. Please don’t say fans overvalued him.
I am a Red Sox fan and I do not understand the Holt addiction…..Peraza is a right handed hitter to complement Tzu-Wei Lin (out of options) and Marco Hernandez. He is a better defensive infielder and outfielder. He is younger and less injury prone….I liked Holt, but it was time to move on…
Lin has been a disappointment as has Peraza outside of one season. Holt wasn’t a gold glove but was average to above at so many positions and again he delivered on and off the field.
Holt wasn’t the greatest but he was great and a passionate player in Boston. And for a bench player, his stats don’t lie. Check out his and compare to Peraza.
Holy crap, where did the Red Sox dig this guy up. Talk about how old lefties never fade away. Kickham might literally be the worst pitcher the Giants have ever had based on ERA, and yet, he;s still around six years after his last trip to the majors. I know this is a weird year and all, but damn, its hard to believe that he is still considered a possible option on a big league staff. at this point…
I think it is a cool storyline. Mr Kickham deserves a lot of credit for his perseverance.
My take on why he is on the roster is simply Mr Bloom & Mr O’Holloran evaluate on what the see and are willing to give a prospect a second chance.
It’s not that weird. He had a pretty good spring with Boston so they kept him in mind. I know there was a transaction halt but aside from that he still was not picked up by any single team until just a day or two ago. Not quite the scenario you paint because he was free for so long.
Barry Zito is a consultant for in Nashville but wait, as Goldberg would ask, he’s next!
If there’s ever a year to tank and grab some good prospects to fill up the cupboard for next season…
The Red Sox will bring Mike in when they’re losing.
Kickham while they’re down.
Kickham probably will never get activated, but he can be an inning eat when the Red Sox are loosing…..which they will probably do a lot in this “bridge year”.
How could any major league team’s pitching staff go so horribly wrong is beyond me. The Red Sox definitely have THE worst pitching in the MLB this season.
Kickham ? Gotta be kidding.