The Red Sox have announced a four-year extension with right-hander Garrett Whitlock, with club options also covering the 2027 and 2028 seasons. Whitlock will earn $18.75M over the four guaranteed years (2023-26) of the deal, according to MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, and the 2027 option is worth $8.25MM with a $1MM buyout. The 2028 option would pay Whitlock $10.5MM, with a $500K buyout. With escalators, the option years can be worth up to $4MM more in extra money per season.
Whitlock was already controlled via arbitration through the 2026 season, so the extension gives the Red Sox some cost certainty and also some extra control over his first two free agent years. Sean McAdam of The Boston Sports Journal (Twitter link) has the annual breakdown, starting with a $1MM signing bonus. Whitlock earns $1MM in 2023, $3.25MM in 2024, $5.25MM in 2025, and $7.25MM in 2026.
If the escalators both max out, Whitlock will land a total of $44MM over the six-year term of the extension. Cotillo adds that Whitlock is also still eligible for the league’s bonus pool for pre-arbitration players both this season and in 2023, so the righty has the opportunity to land even more money.
It’s not a bad payday for a pitcher who is barely a year removed from his MLB debut, and who has still never pitched at the Triple-A level. An 18th-round pick for the Yankees in the 2017 draft, Whitlock had some strong numbers in his first three pro seasons but underwent Tommy John surgery in July 2019. Without any sort of 2020 season, Whitlock was seen as something of an under-the-radar choice when the Red Sox selected him away from New York in the December 2020 Rule 5 Draft.
As it turned out, Whitlock now stands as one of the best Rule 5 success stories in recent memory. The rookie posted a 1.96 ERA, 49.7% grounder rate, 27.2% strikeout rate, and 5.7% walk rate over 73 1/3 innings, acting as a lockdown multi-inning reliever out of the Red Sox bullpen. Whitlock’s surprise emergence was a major factor in Boston’s run to the ALCS, and the team has now locked him up as a contributor for the better part of the decade.
The contract escalators are tied in part to innings totals, which reflects the possibility that Whitlock might eventually go from the bullpen to the rotation. There was some consideration given to deploying Whitlock as a starter this year, but the Sox are opting to be as flexible as possible with the righty’s usage. Whitlock will be teamed with Rich Hill in piggyback fashion to begin the year, which also frees Whitlock up to pitch in other games in high-leverage situations.
This is the third extension of Chaim Bloom’s tenure as Boston’s chief baseball officer, and the second involving a relief pitcher, following the two-year, $18.75MM pact finalized with Matt Barnes last summer. Despite the similar guaranteed salaries, there isn’t much of a comp between the two contracts, as Barnes was just a few months away from entering the free agent market. Whitlock, on the other hand, turns 26 in June, and thus wouldn’t have been hitting the open market until he was on the verge of his age-31 season.
While his $247.5K draft bonus was larger than usual for an 18th-rounder, and the new pre-arbitration pool provides an extra avenue for more earnings for pre-arb players, it isn’t hard to see why Whitlock (with a TJ surgery already on his resume) would be eager to guarantee himself a life-changing fortune so early in his career. There was obvious appeal from Boston’s side as well, since the extension is a good deal for the team even if Whitlock remains “only” a shutdown reliever. Should Whitlock eventually emerge as a starter, the Red Sox stand to benefit from this early investment in the right-hander.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Sounds like a fair deal, but I would be focused on extending Devers and or X
I don’t think a deal of this value has any relevance to those negotiations
I believe the relevance is factored in time, not money. Time engaged with Whitlock’s agent and not a bigger fish.
That said Bloom probably had a minion do most of the leg work anyway.
It’s almost as if people are capable of multiple things.
The relevance is cost control for Whitlock means no crazy arbitration raises. That cost certainty is one less thing to worry about when discussing deals with other players
The Red Sox future payroll is as wide open as the hills in Ireland
While cap space is generally looked at as a good thing its a bit trickier for Bos
They have very few players with arb years left (major bummer)
They have very few starting pitchers under contract for 2023
The have the X and Denvers issues to solve, they are losing JD and Kiki and both there catchers to free agency next year, along with arms like Eovaldi, Hill, Stahm, and Wacha
Lotta money avail, but a lotta problems…Blooms gonna have to get savvy with the pen next year….You never wanna build a team outta free agency but Boston doesn’t have a choice….hopefully some of their youngsters can take a step forward this year and ease Chaim’s dilemmas next offseason
Going to be a huge offseason for them next year, some might find it exciting, but I can tell ya this is not how GM’s want to navigate the path to success in the MLB
Good post Cap & Crunch !!
Cap & Crunch – I liked what you said but Bloom painted himself into the corner he’s in at the end of the season. The only guy to blame for Bloom is the guy in his mirror.
A good GM does like DD did. He plans a base roster for a timeline. DD made his timeline until 2022 so most contracts lined up by finishing in 2022 when he planned to review and revise the next segment. That didn’t happen but the timeline is still there. Instead of a couple more rings Bloom chose to dump Mookie and all hopes for a ring during the 2017-2022 window DD created.
Rather than using what he’s been given, Bloom has created Chaos and no plan just a bunch of silly promises about sustained greatness and no timetable for fans to hold his feet to the fire. At 3B, he’s got a clown who thinks only of himself and doesn’t want to move off a position he can’t handle. I like that Bloom hasn’t contracted him because he’s going to want far more than his hitting worth. Since he’s not moving to DH his defense should drastically downgrade his pay. He’s a $30MM a year complete player who has downgraded himself to a $22MM to $25MM a year DH IF he can prove he can hit during even year seasons. Bloom should deal him since he is highly over=rated, it would be the first SELL HIGH rather than sell low that Bloom has performed.
He’s got a great SS who just needs a small bump to stick around. With all the money rolling off, I would do like Friedman and pay him an additional BONUS in 2023 to remove his opt outs. Story was a great pick-up playing out of position. He should be the 3B not the 2B. Kiki in his last year should be the 2B. Putting Story at 2B not 3B prolongs the agony for the pitchers having Devers at 3B. ONE GUY ruins the entire defense with 1/4 of the errors each year. 1B is Dalbec with Casas making the future very interesting since they could split DH/1B for a decade if both prove to be all-star quality players. OF is a disaster. Bloom’s done NO PLANNING in the outfield. He needed a Starling Marte type player in Center Field but ended up with JBJ. In right field he had Renfroe and gave him away! He got Verdugo who was supposed to be in Right Field to meekly replace Mookie but his defense was so bad they moved him to the small Left Field position to hide him. Bloom needs to figure out where he’s going with the outfield. Funny DD gets all the criticism yet had a great plan that only went slightly off course when Manny Machado took out Peddy permanently but until then his infield was set until 2022, his outfield was excellent with Mookie, Benny and JBJ (defense only since the hitting was so deep and Duran was on the way) and the best DH in baseball in JD. Bloom tore all that down while the players were in their prime and we’ve been watching inconsistent baseball since.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Bloom had a plan like DD did? All we know is that “HIS GUYS” will be here in a few years and Mayers will play SS, Yorke 2B and who knows where they’ll stick Story at that point. Devers will still be making 1/4 of the errors on the team and that will force many great young players to try to win the 1B or DH spots. Yes, Dalbec, Casas, Jordan and all the 3Bs in the minors will continue to be funneled to 1B/DH because the worst fielder in Red Sox history can’t be moved from 3B.
That’s why I say give the team a chance and trade Devers so the defense can be respectable again.
KD a lot of the problem is the farm hasn’t produced those 2~3 war players these last 5 years. That’s going to really challenge ANY GM, especially ones who’s fanbase expects a top 5 team every year
I don’t think he’s been as bad as yall say
There was obv cap on what he could spend and he’s done a decent job filling the team under the guidelines he was given
I liked the Story signing, when you stack it all up 12 months from now the Lindor Seager Bogs Correa Turner money It will look wise inking Story
As I analyze free agency next year I think it would be wise for Bos to jump into the Sp game fast and hard.. There’s some catchers out there too (you’ll need one) and some good relief pitchers …….
The position players in 23′ free agency are so thin it’s really going to be hard to find any value there even if you have 100 mill to spend ( like they probably will)….Going to need some youngsters to break thru here on the offensive side
they only person who thinks Bloom is doing that poor a job who consistently posts is KD 17. he’s been disproven several times to the point that he will mute people when they disprove him.
Cap & Crunch – I often wonder if the cap is real or an interpretation by Bloom. Logically, the job of GM is to find deals and present them to the owners to make changes. If no money is spent for nearly 3 years until the Story deal you have to know specifically if it was due to a lack of suggestions or a lack of positive responses from ownership. Unfortunately we don’t know that fact so both you and i are guessing. with me guessing he didn’t propose the deals for one of two reasons; either he feared they would be turned down or because it’s not his comfort zone to contract big stars. He likes to dabble in what we call dumpster diving. Yes, great satisfaction can come from a successful dumpster dive but how many fails need to happen before it’s less productive than simply finding a player that fits your need. We all know there has been a need for pitching since Cora blew up Price and Sale and his choices have been poor ones. RIchards, Perez, Wacha and Paxton to name a few. Their common thread is the price is under $12MM. Wouldn’t it have been nice to see him put some money out for a Lance Lynn type pitcher rather than a bunch of long shots and a couple of cheap throw aways?
I agree with your forecast on 2023 free agency. Sale, Eovaldi, Houck, Pivetta can be the core of the Starting staff in 2023 BUT a quality lefty between Eovaldi and Houck would be outstanding. I think Means should be their target and parting with the depth at 1B/3B prospects would make sense because only so many guys can be starters in the majors at one time. Use the depth to fill the holes!
Great! I think he can probably retire the line about him willing to be the janitor if it keeps him on the team, at this point!
Win win
was a Rule 5 pick last year and now a secure longterm contract. Good for him.
X and Devers are gone, we’ve seen this same story play out before.
Each most likely will test free agency. What happens to the competitive nature of this team as the season progresses will determine if they are moved at the deadline. I agree that they’re probably not long term in Boston, but they could sweeten the pot and keep them in the fold. One thing is certain. there is time to get it done.
Yes because a contract extension for a reliever cancels the likelihood of an extension for a shortstop and 3rd baseman. Lighten up, Francis!
I think they let Xander walk and Devers gets extended unless he starts thinking like Aaron Judge.
Suit, I agree.. They’re not gonna go 300 million dollars on a short stop period… they’ve got guys waiting in the wings and they can spend money on pitching or mashers in the outfield.
Bogey is 100% gone. Devers 90%. They’ll end up having to deal both for prospects, pretty pathetic for a “high-end” club. I doubt Boston fans will tolerate a half-to-full rebuild. This is a team that has seldom kept their wallet in their back pocket. Lose both of those guys with no return and Sox fans will want Bloom’s head.
Been a Sox fan for 50 years. If they let them walk I’ll be reconsidering who I will follow in the future.
We let Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens, and Mo Vaughn walk. Chased Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez out of town and had several stars come and go. I would hate to see either go but i also realize its unlikely that both stay. JDM and Hernandez will probably be gone next season also so the 2024 will probably look drastically different from the team we will see this and next season
Nomar ran himself out of town, turned down a huge extension offer and then quit on the 2004 team. Never came close to making what the Sox offered him, thought he was ARod or Jeter.
4 World Series championships in the last 18 years. No team can boast that many. Bloom will see how Dalbec, Duran, Crawford, Houck, Whitlock (maybe a starter at some point), Casas, Darwinzon, and others look and fill in where he needs to. Henry may open the wallet to keep some of the free agents, if they do not ask stupid money (like Judge turning down 10 year $360,000,000).
Stupid Garciaparra turned down 4year $64,000,000 for the contract years 05, 06, 07, and 08. Instead he played for the Cubs and Dodgers and made $32,250,000 barely half. I loved Nomar’s contributions to the Red Sox, but he absolutely ran himself out of town and “suffered” the consequences (if making $32,250,000 is suffering).
Nomar was pissed because he was all but traded, if memory serves me right Ordonez and Nomar were headed to Texas and A-Rod was coming to Boston with the White Sox getting a bunch of prospects….Bud Selig says no to the trade because A-Rod was going to defer salary and play for Boston for less. Originally, A-Rod wanted to be a Red Sox and Nomar couldn’t get over that. That’s why he didn’t sign the 4 year 64 million extension. I think in his mind he rather take a pay cut then stay.
It was Arod and Ordonez to this Red Sox and Manny and Nomar shipped out.
He was better than Jeter lol. A better fielder and hitter. His problem was health, not production.
They aren’t dealing Bogaerts this year unless they are completely out of it by the trade deadline and they can’t strike a deal with him to prevent him from opting out.
Short of an extension, what will prompt Bogaerts of not opting out? Better to deal him than just lose him to free agency. Of course, all avenues of retention need be exhausted before that happens. Don’t forget, Mookie was dealt. No player is untouchable.
The Sox drew their line in the sand by signing Story. Bogaerts has $60 million on the table right now, all he has to do is not opt out
what story exactly?
The Sawks just think about starting Wishlock. Hey at least he got paid. Maybe I sign in Boston next season? Lol
What are the escalators he needs to achieve?
I don’t really get these extensions for players with one year service time. As an excellent relief pitcher he would have made 700k the next 2 years, plus maybe 2.5mil arb year #1 and 4.5mil arb year #2. That’s between 8 or 9 mil for the next 4 years. By then you can see if the player is worth extending during arb year #3.
The most obvious blunder I can see is Tatis Jr.. If you’re going to pay him Mike Trout money wait 4 or 5 years to see if he’s actually worth it (or in his case if he can stay on the field).
Good for Whitlock though. I’m sure Boston has designs on him closing which would make the arb figures significantly higher.
cost certainty for their budget is the strategy.
For the team, they’re gambling a bit on the last two years. They’re overpaying market rate (as you point out) for the first 3 years, but they believe they’re still paying for value he will achieve. So even though they could have got him for $7m, it’s pretty easy to see him deliver ~$20m of value over that time.
The issue is the last two years they’re buying. If he hits it big, the Sox have control over him for 2 years and $18m, a total steal. If he doesn’t, the buy out gets them out for a rounding error ($1.5m). It’s a slam dunk for a team as wealthy as the Red Sox.
It’s also a steal for the player. He’s got $20m guaranteed. He never has to worry about money again, and all he’s giving up is a few years of prime free agency earning. He can buy a few houses, afford healthcare and food for his family, pay for his kids and grandkids education, and golf for 50 years if he wants to.
Maybe they see him as a closer at some point.
Maybe they see him as a closer at some point.
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I think you are spot-on correct. And I am thinking that maybe “at some point” is more like “at some point later today”.
I think the contract is fine. I think the $18.75M is about what we’d pay over the next four years if he remains healthy ($750k, $4M, $6M, $8M). So we buy two option years by guaranteeing Whitlock his control years.
But if we are thinking of making him the closer, then it makes a lot more sense.
More like a starting pitcher!
More like SP, closer, occasional long relief and UIF. I’ll settle for closer. But yeah, if he continues his success into a starter role, even the $18M is short.
If he becomes a closer, or a solid starting pitcher, those two option years will be extremely valuable and below-market-cost to the Red Sox. If he regresses, then they don’t have to pick them up. This deal is all about those two outlying years. Smart deal for the Red Sox. Good deal for Whitlock. He goes from a Rule 5 pickup a year back, to guaranteeing $19M at the worst, and up to $44M if he hits all the incentives. Both sides should be happy.
The point of Tatis’ contract is to avoid having to pay Trout money. The AAV on the deal is $24M or there abouts. He’s making $5M this year. He’s established he’s an excellent player. 29 other teams would take him off the hands if the Padres right now, even with missing the first few months.
I think the thought with those astronomical contracts for super young guys like tatis jr. is that 30 million dollars 10 years from now could be a big-time bargain. Who knows, guys might be making 60-70 million per season at that point?
Yes. That has been the history since free agency started.
I don’t think so in all honesty ….there’s only about 5~7 teams that even fathom these deals on a yearly basis and then once every blue Moon a mystery team
Those teams are furthering away from those contacts as many of them hold a few already. I really couldn’t believe Judge turned that down and he best believe if he isn’t lights out this year the Yankees have every right to play the market and not just submit that past offer outta respect
Free agency is a pretty true market tho, each year we see a little more folk not have a chair when the music goes out … I think we see more that trend than huge contracts being dolled out personally…Just a guess tho
May a yankee batter never reach base ever again at the hands of Whitlock. Amen.
Yeah, Wishlock looked really great on Friday against the Yankees! Lol.
He did look good except for the one cheap HR that is an out in every other MLB ballpark. Yankees stadium is a joke.
He actually looked great… Can’t take that away just because DJ hit a good pitch over that little league fence in right field.
You’re welcome, Sox fans!
We got lucky.
speaking of sox fans, which i am and watch this team like its religion,
they are NOT extending 2 shaky defenders who are no more than average to a lil above average hitters, they want to them to be free agents,
just get over it.
Bogaerts had the highest batting average and OBP and the second-highest OPS+ on your team last year, and since 2019 he ranks 3rd in fWAR, 15th in OPS, 12th in OBP and 8th in batting average among all qualified major league players.
“Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand.”
Maybe you didn’t understand? I’ll repeat it. The Sox are NOT extending Xander Bogaerts. They have guys waiting in the wings. Very good guys, good players, highly-ranked.
Also, if the Red Sox were smart they may even trade a Xander Bogaerts at the deadline. Be sweet to get two young arms from somebody needing an All-Star shortstop rental.
Not sure how that would work if Boston was in contention but acquiring a couple nice assets would be sweet!! Probably not going to happened because if Boston was rolling at that point it would disrupt the batting order and team chemistry immensely. Okay so that probably won’t happen lol.
Speaking of free agents Etc, one of my favorite things over the years being a Red Sox fan is even though they’ve had numerous blunders, they very often been correct and not extending a star approaching the astronomical contract as he hovers around 30 years old. Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Bay, Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon, and a few others.
Let them walk and get paid with very little worthy production behind the contract. Yes I know the Red Sox had blunders of their own but I like letting Superstars walk and developing our own as we did with Xander Bogaerts and Raphael Devers. Bring on Marcelo Mayer and Nick Yorke and the others and watch them flourish.
Do you have two screen ID’s, Amanda? If not, I wasn’t responding to you, was I?
You didn’t like what Amanda wrote. I’m repeating his assertion for you and siding with him. I guess he and I are a couple of the few that don’t understand?
GaryWarriorsRedSox39 mins ago
The Sox are NOT extending Xander Bogaerts. They have guys waiting in the wings. Very good guys, good players, highly-ranked.
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We don’t have any 3Bs. Dalbec isn’t even an accomplished 1B, let alone a 3B. Binelas, Kavadas, and Jordan probably all switch off.
I have to ask again if you and Amanda are the same person, because your reply, “I’ll repeat it,” makes no apparent sense otherwise.
I responded to the statement “extending 2 shaky defenders who are no more than average to a lil above average hitters.”
Bogaerts, as I pointed out, is one of the best hitters in baseball.
And if you think that he’s only “a lil above average” hitter, then, yes — it appears that you’re among those who don’t understand; however, if you had read the quotation correctly, you’d have recognized that those who do understand are among the few, not those who don’t understand.
While we’re on the subject of confusion: Amanda is a guy?
Fair enough Pink Floyd. I wish you well.
Back at you, Gary.
Amanda, I appreciate your fandom, but you simply have no idea of what the numbers are. Since 2018, Bogaerts is #6 in fWAR, #23 in wRC+, and #14 in wOBA.
they already TOLD xander’ we are not extending you this season’
like how many times does someone need to read that? its life, move on.
if you are going to make a statement please make it correct. It was Xander who said no as the red sox made an offer and he said no and he said he will not negotiate during the season as it is not fair to his teammates. Whether the offer was a pr move or not is not known but it was given.
mlbtraderumors.com/2022/04/rafael-devers-declined-…
“APRIL 7: In a press conference this afternoon, Bogaerts made clear that negotiations on a contract extension have stalled and that he doesn’t intend to sign a new deal before tomorrow’s opener in New York (first reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive; Twitter link). Asked whether he would agree to an extension, he replied simply: “No.” Asked subsequently whether an offer was made, he responded, “Yeah. But it didn’t work out, and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
The shortstop also appeared to rule out the possibility of in-season negotiation, adding, “I can’t do nothing about it right now. I’ve got a season coming up in front of me and I don’t want to put any of our teammates in that type of distraction. They don’t deserve it. We had time to get something done. It didn’t work out.””
Of all the negative criticisms of Cashman the last few years this one stings me the most. He was having great success as a starter in ’18 & ’19 and had a reputation as a pitcher and not a “thrower”. The fact that they protected Nelson and Kriske (neither of which could actually “pitch”) as well as Mike “I couldn’t beat out a run down Jay Bruce” Ford that off-season just makes me sick.
And if Hal weren’t married to Cashman, he could’ve hired Chaim Bloom.
i think in this case it was one of those numbers deal and you could have thrown a dart to see which of the young pitchers you kept because there are were quite a few that had potential. Also before they banned the “grip” it was all about power pitchers but now with grip being an issue you getting hbp like its going out of style i can see the need for “pitchers” growing and not so much power.
I think it’s a case of a grossly incompetent appraisal of talent by Cashman and his advisers, followed by a competent appraisal by Chaim Bloom and his advisers.
Your theory about power pitchers doesn’t hold water, given that Cashman just traded for Castro, whose fastball averaged 98.1 MPH last year and the year before, and it’s riding at 98.4 MPH so far this year.
I should also mention that Castro’s problem, which they hope Blake will correct, is a lack of command. That didn’t stop them from acquiring another fireballer.
I might be too harsh against Cashman over the Whitlock blunder — but to prefer Brooks Kriske, Mike Ford and Jay Bruce?
Stud Winfield, it’s a crapshoot brother. You just never know what will happen and occasionally you get one right. Who really knows with young guys how anything will turn out. By the way, not sure if he is your reference in your username, but I loved Dave Winfield.
Gary said, “ Bring on Marcelo Mayer and Nick Yorke and the others and watch them flourish.”
And then said, “ Who really knows with young guys how anything will turn out.”
LMAO
So which is it? You’re ready to let Devers and Xander walk for guys who have proven squat? Good grief…
VTbaseball, How about “both.” You don’t know with the young guys. Are you saying that you do know? Yes let Marcelo Myers and Nick York flourish. That’s the hope not the guarantee. Get it?
And no I’m not in favor of letting Devers go also. You probably let Xander Bogaerts walk because he wants 300 million dollars. Rafael Devers is a different situation. He can DH or switch him to first base or even keep them at 3rd. He’s a homegrown guy you probably have to pay and keep.
It’s a crapshoot much of the time but not here. Yanks have a ton of young RH power relievers but struggle to develop any into SP’s. They have also continued to invest in TJS pitchers (Schimdt, Tallion,Kaprelian) so it’s not that. IMO it was 1)Whitlock was an 18th round pick that built himself into a top 20 team prospect and not a high end draftee, and 2) Cashman has develop a crippling myopic view of power relievers up and down the organization. Red Sox obviously evaluated him with a bit more objectivity and it came up spades for them. Meanwhile, by the middle of last season Kriske, Nelson and Ford were doing nothing at the MLB level anywhere.
Winfield was my first favorite player but Mattingly is my all time guy.
Winfield was my first favorite player but Mattingly is my all time guy.
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As an all-time Yankee hater, I have a lot of respect for Winfield. Except for having a slow first step, he was one of the best baserunners I’ve ever seen. Him going from first-to-third, and beating the throw by a split-second, was an art form. I still hate him but…..
IRT Mattingly, even as a RS fan, I love the guy. When asked if he felt bad that Mattingly missed new Yankee era, Jeter’s response was along the lines of “Every young player on this team modeled themselves after Mattingly, so the team was very much Mattingly’s team, even if he was no longer there”.
Dude is a stud. Electric stuff
If Whitlock only proves to be a reliever, but an elite one, it’s a very good deal for the Sox. If he turns out to be a mid-rotation starter, it’s a great deal. If he turns out to be a TOR starter, it’s a grand slam.
If he ends up being an elite closer then that is a slam dunk too. Unless he has a Matt Barnes collapse, there’s nothing but upside for the Red Sox in this deal.
Keep in mind the Sox have control over James Paxton through 2024 with a couple of $13M options so if he comes back from TJS well, that contract could be a steal too.
Signing Paxton was a classic Chaim Bloom move. In 2017, he signed Eovaldi to the Rays, expecting he’d miss the season after TJ surgery.
I think this guy will end up being the closer this year.
Whitlock will end up as closer, the way he ended last season he deserves the job. Having a sub 2 ERA on a team that had a million baserunners against that should be his job. However, sometimes the most important inning of the game isn’t the 9th. Whatever is the most important inning of the game, I want Whitlock pitching it. I’m glad he’s paid, given his injury history I understand why he took the extension but I think he sold himself short. As far as Bogey and Raffy go, they signed Story with the intention of letting Bogey go. They are going to go to arbitration with Devers since they still have team controlled years left. Devers will win in arbitration, and it already looks evident he’s been working on his defense just in this series against the Yankees. Yorke will play second and Dalbec moves to third opening first for Cassas. I think that’s the plan, you really don’t want to be in the habit of having a 30+ yr old shortstop unless they are really special because defensively you will lose production. His bat will remain great up until age 35 or so but defensively you will lose outs. Shortstop too important of a position defensively to have those leaks.
Kingburp – A very interesting read on what’s going on. Whitlock is not going to be the closer because Cora looks into his mirror and sees a clever individual when the rest of the world sees an idiot. He’s going to use him all over the place until Cutter replaces him as the guy who can get you out of an inning. Then, he might be a starter or the closer or who knows what brain cramp Cora will have next. To me the future is unpredictable thanks to Cora’s beautiful mind approach to managing.
Why would you sign Story for $23MM in hopes of getting rid of Bogaerts who is the better fielder and hitter and you are paying him $3MM per year less? I know Bloom is unconventional but is this another JBJ deal in your mind? Get the less player for more money? I thought Story was contracted much like Schwarber. Bloom realized all the guys that would have helped fill a weakness were gone and the fans were going to have his head if he didn’t make a move so he contracted a big name that didn’t fit. Schwarber a 3rd DH and now Story a 2nd SS with the future SS only a year or two away. Both are terrible fits but when a GM panics that’s what happens. Pretending Schwarber was not a panic move by suggesting he’s good outfielder or a 1B which he had never played was Bloom doing a CYA. Likewise, Story being put at 2B when you already had Kiki and Arroyo makes far less sense than fixing the biggest problem on the team and putting him at 3B. Bloom is inept at being a GM. That’s the bottom line. Trying to predict what a guy who is totally reactive is going to do is much harder than predicting a guy who always has a plan like DD.
To suggest you know Bloom’s plan is silly. He has NONE. He waits until the noise from the fans is peaking and he makes a move to lower the noise. The moves are not fits for what he needs, they simply happen so give him space and time to dig for some more dumpster diving prospects in hopes that one pans out and he’s considered a genius. That’s his thing. He’s more of an analyst than a GM. He’s not a big picture guy, he likes jumping into the dumpster and digging for talent that might put him on the mount Olympus of GMs. FYI… so far, it’s not happening.
Bloom drafted a HS shortstop for the future and contracted a second 30 year old shortstop to replace the current 30 year old shortstop? And he did this knowing his 3B needs to move to DH to significantly improve the defense? And that is predictable? Not to me. Like I said, Bloom is all over the board without a plan. He got a 3rd DH and a stellar back-up SS who could fix his 3B problem but instead he moved him to 2B where things may have been the best of any position.
There is leakage, it’s at 3B ONLY. The 30 year old current SS is above league average and the new guy who is playing 2B is above league average and the guy at 3B is over 20 points below league average. Where is the real problem? 3B since 2017!!
Kingbump gotta respectfully disagree on the deserves the job part. I’ve got nothing bad to say about Whitlock but if with the innings escalator in his contract he might feel jobbed if he isn’t given a crack at the rotation. With his health history its definitely the team’s discretion to protect their investment but I agree that hes shown enough to cash in some potential future earnings for some security. Good for him.
Great ink for Bos for a live young arm
Bos manages a ton of risk well here and getting quite a bit of upside on the back-end
I like the 4 mill incentive clause because if he earns it it means Boston is still getting surplus on the contract and skies are blue
Think you will see more contracts structured like this with young arms around the league. As a pitcher/player its more likely you’ll lock some security in to be team friendly deal than a position player would Id assume
After yesterday’s performance, I’d say that Whitlock has earned about half of this year’s pay. I know that Detroit is completely there yet, but how does someone get thru 4 innings with only 39 pitches?
That’s it kid. Fly back to Boston and take a few days off.
I’m not sure Ive forgiven you for agreeing with KD17 yet but I will soon hahaha!
I have a dispensation by saying I would deny it later. But Bogaerts does fit better. If we extend Bogaerts for a reasonable amount, I’d have to say that I am intrigued by the idea of what we could get for Devers in a trade.