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Red Sox, Rob Refsnyder Avoid Arbitration

By Darragh McDonald | November 9, 2022 at 3:05pm CDT

The Red Sox have avoided arbitration with outfielder Rob Refsnyder by agreeing to a one-year deal, according to Chad Jennings of The Athletic. Refsnyder will earn a salary of $1.2MM in 2023, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive, and will be able to earn an extra $100K in performance bonuses, per Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected a slightly higher salary of $1.6MM.

Refsnyder, who turns 32 in March, has bounced around the league for much of his career, spending time with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays, Rangers and Twins. Minnesota non-tendered him after a 2021 season where he hit .245/.325/.338 for a wRC+ of 88.

The Red Sox signed him to a minor league deal and sent him to Triple-A Worcester to start the year. He got a brief bump to the big leagues in April as a COVID “substitute” but didn’t properly get his contract selected until June. With Worcester, he was hitting an incredible .306/.429/.524 for a wRC+ of 155. After his promotion, he was largely able to duplicate those results at the big league level, finishing the year with a batting line of .307/.384/.497 for a wRC+ of 146. He had only six career home runs in over 600 plate appearances coming into the year and doubled that total by adding six more in just 177 trips to the plate.

That’s still a fairly small sample size but it was enough for the Sox to see if he can carry that over into 2023 with a slight bump in pay. Though Refsnyder has played a lot of infield in his career, Boston kept him in the outfield in 2022 and seems likely to keep him there again next year. Enrique Hernandez could play some infield but is also the best in-house option for the regular center field job at the moment. Alex Verdugo should be pencilled into one of the corners, though the club recently declined their mutual option on Tommy Pham.

Refsnyder has never been much more than a part-time player, with his 177 plate appearances in 2022 actually his career high. Perhaps he’ll have a chance to carve out an everyday role next year if the Red Sox think his results are sustainable, but it’s also possible they acquire another option at some point this offseason and push Refsnyder into the fourth outfielder. But for now, they’ve got a deal at a modest price point on a guy who showed breakout potential and could be sneaky value.

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Boston Red Sox Transactions Rob Refsnyder

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View Comments (19)

Comments

  1. Rsox

    11 months ago

    Good bench piece.

    1
    Reply
    • Judgement Day

      11 months ago

      That’s all really.

      1
      Reply
      • deweybelongsinthehall

        11 months ago

        Nothing wrong with having a bench player who can play multiple positions and deliver a key hit or two. I don’t expect him to hit .300 again but he’s a valuable back up. Reminds me of thevSox’ original Super Sub, John Kennedy from 50 years ago.

        Reply
    • Gothamcityriddler

      11 months ago

      Good for nothing. Ahahaha!

      Reply
      • Arcia Later!!

        11 months ago

        The Riddler is back! Long time no see

        Reply
  2. Peart of the game

    11 months ago

    Maybe we should pick up Yoshida if he’s posted. It would be great to have a younger version of Michael Brantley playing Left Field with Verdugo playing right field.

    Reply
    • acell10

      11 months ago

      I’m not sure Verdugo could hold up for a whole season in RF. Is Yoshida not that great defensively?

      Reply
    • Judgement Day

      11 months ago

      Not the best idea. Bloom’s got to build a winning team. A foreign player would be a huge question mark. I’d rather have sure talent.

      Reply
      • Peart of the game

        11 months ago

        A four year deal for about $11 million a year for a guy with a career 9.4% strikeout rate and a 13.2% walk rate in NPB sounding ridiculous when he’s also a guy who can be a 20 home run guy that would fit well in left field. He isn’t a great defender in left field but oftentimes guys who were good here in MLB rate poorly on defense in NPB.

        Reply
  3. Ghost Pepper

    11 months ago

    Good for you Rob! Bear Down

    Reply
  4. realsox

    11 months ago

    So the player gets $1.2 million, though his projected salary was “slightly higher” at $1.6. In what world is $400,000 “slight”?

    Reply
    • YankeesBleacherCreature

      11 months ago

      Average 2022 player salary was $4.41M so, in baseball world, a 10% difference would be slight.

      4
      Reply
  5. Ghost Pepper

    11 months ago

    Pro sport salary’s world

    2
    Reply
  6. Get Off My Mound

    11 months ago

    Finally, the Legend is getting his due. Rob Refsnyder for HOF, Inner Circle.

    4
    Reply
  7. HBan22

    11 months ago

    I love how everyone used to joke about Refsnyder as the ultimate random journeyman and now he’s actually good. We’ll see if he can keep it up next year, but between his minor and major league stats last year he may have finally figured something out.

    2
    Reply
  8. Gothamcityriddler

    11 months ago

    I’ve been around Mr. Rivera. Cheers!

    Reply
  9. jimmertee

    11 months ago

    Vitamins

    Reply
  10. ExileInLA 2

    11 months ago

    Will they trade him at the deadline for Otani? Or will the Angels need to sweeten the deal?

    Reply
  11. cdr9er

    11 months ago

    He’s a great dude, cheap, solid utility/bench.

    Some guys finally click with certain ball clubs, let’s hope he continues where he left off.

    Reply

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