The Red Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with left-hander Matt Moore, reports Rob Bradford of WEEI. He’ll presumably head to big league camp for the remainder of spring training.
Moore, 36, has spent the bulk of the past two seasons with the Angels. He made a couple of quick pit stops in Cleveland and Miami following the Angels’ Aug. 2023 mass waiver purge, but more than 90% of his appearances since 2023 have come in a Halos uniform.
Once ranked among the game’s top three prospects alongside Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, Moore had a nice start to his career but never got fully back on track following 2014 Tommy John surgery. He got back up 198 innings of 4.08 ERA ball in 2016 but wasn’t the borderline ace-caliber pitcher he looked to be when first breaking into the majors.
Moore struggled with the Giants and Rangers in 2017-18 and then missed nearly all of the 2019 season with the Tigers after suffering a knee injury in just his second start of the season. A nice 2020 run in Japan led to a 2021 deal with the Phillies, but Moore again struggled as a starter and was moved to a swing role.
Returning to the Rangers on a minor league deal in 2022, Moore found new life and a second act in his career upon a full-time shift to short relief. He pitched 74 innings of 1.95 ERA ball that season, parlaying that rebound effort into successive one-year deals in Anaheim.
The first of those two seasons was better than the second. Moore’s 2024 results (5.03 ERA in 48 1/3 innings) are skewed by a pair of disastrous outings; he combined to yield nine runs (one-third of his season-long total) in just one inning of work during those two appearances. Moore also saw a dip in average fastball velocity in 2024, falling from 94 mph to 92.7 mph. That lost velocity and his late struggles with command could be attributable to the forearm strain that ended his season in August, however.
Generally speaking, Moore has been a quality arm for the bulk of the past three seasons. During that time, he’s tossed 175 innings of 2.98 ERA ball and fanned one quarter of his opponents while issuing walks at a 10.8% clip. Moore has worked primarily in high-leverage settings, coming away with 46 holds and six saves. He’s been placed in position to pick up a hold or save 57 times over the past three seasons and succeeded doing so in 52 of those opportunities.
As it stands, the Red Sox project to have two lefties in Alex Cora’s bullpen: Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson. Both signed guaranteed one-year deals in free agency earlier this winter. Lefties Zach Penrod and Brennan Bernardino are both on the 40-man roster as well, but there’s an injury scare with regard to the former at the moment. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reports that Penrod has been dealing with elbow soreness and is headed for an MRI. There’s some concern, and Cora suggested when talking about Penrod’s outlook that the team was looking at bringing another lefty into the mix. That’ll be Moore.
Moore joins a list of experienced non-roster relievers trying to win a spot in the ’pen. He’s the second notable name to sign such a pact this week. The Sox inked righty Adam Ottavino on Tuesday. Righties Michael Fulmer, Austin Adams, Isaiah Campbell and Wyatt Mills are all non-roster invitees in camp with Boston, as are lefties Sean Newcomb and Jovani Moran.
By definition, Moore is an Article XX(b) free agent — which is to say he has six-plus years of major league service time and finished out the prior season on a major league roster or 60-day injured list. Under the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement, Article XX(b) free agents who sign minor league deals are granted uniform opt-out dates. Those opt-out opportunities will come five days before Opening Day (March 22, in this case) and then on May 1 and June 1. Moore will have the ability to elect free agency on each of those dates if he has not been added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster.
Eh, maybe they can wring a few innings out of an old lefty.
He’s been around a while, but if you’re always hurt, can you bring veteran leadership? He can show the young guys where the ibuprofen is in the clubhouse.
I sometimes wonder if part of the deal with signing veterans to contracts like this is, yes, to let them have a shot at a call up as a depth arm, but also with an understanding that they’ll help work with the younger arms a bit
Meow – I think it’s more to hedge against injuries. Obviously with the injury histories of the pitching staff, the IL is expected to be used quite often again this season. Crawford and Bello have already had setbacks this spring, and they had relatively durable the past few years!
At this point I honestly don’t care about these signings, unless they block the development of young guys like Priester, Fitts, etc.
This is a no risk move for both sides, if he has a good camp maybe he can make the team, if he doesn’t make the team he is still a lefty, and he had a almost full spring training so another team can give him a shot, and he won’t have to be stretched out like someone sitting home all thru spring training would be.
Win-Win
they need guys to toss innings at worcester
He wasn’t that bad until around the second half, when the wheels fell off. He’s worth a shot.
@mlbfan. I’m sure he has a opt out. It wouldn’t be a bad move to let him start the season on the team in low leverage situations. He has had 4 good years in a row. I think he just got tired.
Yeah its a solid move by Boston, I think he makes the team since he is a lefty.
He was an elite RP like, a year ago…
he was not
1.95 ERA in 2022
2.56 ERA in 2023
@rhandome. A year ago was 2024.
A year ago was February 2024, when he was coming off the aforementioned two great seasons.
ya know, if we’re being pedantic here 😛
@rhandome. Well you could’ve just said 2023. Just like you could say 4 solid years in a row.
@Rex, in traditional sports parlance “last year” was 2024 and “a year ago” was 2023. Once the 2025 season begins, it’ll shift so that they both apply to 2024. Naturally, this isn’t universal, but your interpretation is a less common one and thus not really sensible to hold over someone.
@redsox. I got it, but someone commented no he wasn’t. He made it vague on purpose he could’ve said 2023.
Rex – I agree, he should have said 2023 or even “going into last season” or something like that.
If he had been referring to 2020, he would have said “5 years ago” which would have covered all of 2020. Technically “a year ago” implies all of 2024.
@fpg. He just wanted to argue. If he was able to drop his 2022,2023 stat line. He could’ve said 2023 or even said he was solid for four years prior. Plus i wasn’t confused i saw him pitch last year. As far as a minor league deal it’s not bad.
As a Cubs fan I’ll always remember Matt Moore. Still one of the best comebacks in the playoffs, the dude was on fire for 8 innings and then Giants bullpen imploded.
No risk deal, let him throw some innings in exhibition games and either you like what you see and keep him, or you don’t, and cut him
I keep thinking that Ottavino is a lefty for some reason.
Good, low risk move that just might pay off.
good luck chompers
Me: Hey, the Rays had a guy with a similar name years and years ago who was pretty good and….holy cow! It’s the same guy!
We are Sox Nation. We question every move like it’s the make or break, and we should! I love this low-risk, high reward move. This could be that person who makes a big difference mid season, when Cora wears out the bullpen. Kudos to Bloom Lite for this transaction.
Give him 50 innings, mostly inconsequential, and call it a success.
Cora has the hottest seat in baseball. They’d be better off firing him mid season instead of waiting till October
They just extended him in July. He’s locked in till 2027. Unless a lot goes wrong, I don’t think he’s going anywhere.
Bring in Joe Maddon, he would be iconic in Boston !
Joe Maddon may be the most overrated manager of this century.
Yeah he’s a character. That’s for sure. But I think Alex Cora is the most overrated (this side of Oli Momol, but he’s not really rated at all.)
Where’s Blue Baron?
After this offseason has the full throttle crowd put away the knives for a bit? Lol…this is a nice move
The Red Sox signed a left-handed pitcher with a history of arm trouble. What a unique move.
The list of left handers that the Red Sox have turned into effective pitchers is going to grow.
Sounds like Penrod went down today and based on the swiftness of this move might not be good news coming, another lefty as depth.
Depth move, I like it. He’s been decent enough to get a look and if it doesn’t work for team or player he can move on by June 1st. This is no risk….