Red Sox Sign Michael Feliz To Minors Contract
The Red Sox have signed Michael Feliz to a minor league contract, according to MLB.com’s official transactions page. The right-hander will report to Triple-A Worcester. Feliz hit the open market earlier this week after being released by the Reds.
The 28-year-old hasn’t pitched in a big league game since June 6, after a right elbow sprain landed him on Cincinnati’s 60-day injured list. Between this absence and an earlier IL visit (due to a cracked fingernail) when he was a member of the Pirates organization earlier this season, Feliz has appeared in only 16 games this season, with an 8.79 ERA over 14 1/3 combined innings with the Pirates and Reds.
With an even 30% strikeout rate over 241 innings in The Show, Feliz’s ability to miss bats has never been in question. Staying healthy, avoiding walks, and delivering consistent results has been another matter entirely, as Feliz has only a 5.38 ERA while appearing in parts of seven MLB seasons. He began his career with the Astros from 2015-17, so should he make Boston’s active roster, he’ll find a familiar face in former Houston bench coach and current Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
The Sox will become the latest team to see if they can harness Feliz’s prodigious strikeout ability, and for the cost of just a minor league deal, there’s no real risk on Boston’s part. Despite his 5.38 career ERA, Feliz’s SIERA is over two runs lower at 3.35, so there is some measure of misfortune involved in his performance. That said, Feliz hasn’t helped his cause with a 9.9% career walk rate and a 15.6% career home run rate.
Red Sox Option Jarren Duran
The Red Sox have optioned outfielder Jarren Duran to Triple-A Worcester, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports. Righty Tanner Houck will take his spot on the active roster. The Red Sox have yet to formally announce this and any other roster moves that will be made this afternoon.
Duran, 24, is regarded as one of the top all-around prospects in baseball but did not hit the ground running upon his initial call-up from Worcester last month. The 2018 seventh-rounder was plugged in as the everyday center fielder in Boston upon his debut but has struggled to adjust to big league pitching. Through 89 plate appearances, Duran has posted a .221/.236/.372 slash. He’s drawn just two walks in that time and struck out at a whopping 37.1 percent clip to begin his big league career.
The Red Sox surely still view Duran as a key piece to their future. However, with deadline acquisition Kyle Schwarber now in the fold as an option in left field — Alex Verdugo is capable of manning center — the Sox can send Duran back to Worcester for further refinement in a lower-pressure setting. The fact that Boston has slid down the AL East standings in rapid fashion due both to the Sox’ own poor play and the Yankees’ 10-game winning streak surely also adds some pressure to get better immediate results on the field.
Duran appeared in 46 games with Worcester earlier this season and fared quite well, batting .270/.365/.561 with vastly better walk and strikeout percentages — 11.0 and 23.7, respectively — than he showed in the Majors. He’ll need to spend 10 days in the minors unless he’s recalled as the corresponding move in an injury. Rosters can expand from 26 to 28 players beginning Sept. 1, so he could very well get another opportunity in the Majors before too long.
The decision to option Duran today won’t impact his path to free agency or his arbitration schedule. Based on the July 17 date of Duran’s initial promotion to the big leagues, the maximum amount of service time he could’ve accrued in 2021 was 79 days — well shy of a full year of service (172 days). He’s controllable through at least the 2027 season as it stands and would reach arbitration in the 2024-25 offseason. Even if Duran stays in Triple-A for the remainder of the current season, that free agency timeline would remain intact so long as he accrues at least 134 days of service time next season. The Sox would need to keep him in Worcester through late May next year to change that timeline, which seems unlikely.
2021-22 Qualifying Offer Candidates
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror and a little more than six weeks remaining in the regular season, plenty of front offices are turning their attention towards the upcoming offseason. The first notable decision for many clubs will be to decide whether to tag one or more of their top impending free agents with a qualifying offer.
As a reminder, the qualifying offer is a one-year contract offer teams can make to certain impending free agents. The precise value of the QO has yet to be calculated, but it’s determined as the average salary of the game’s 125 highest-paid players. Last season, the QO value was set at $18.9MM. If the player accepts the offer, he returns to his current team on that one-year deal. If he rejects, his previous team would receive draft pick compensation should he sign elsewhere.
Last season, six players (George Springer, Trevor Bauer, J.T. Realmuto, DJ LeMahieu, Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman) received qualifying offers. Gausman and Stroman accepted the QO, while Realmuto and LeMahieu re-signed with their current clubs as free agents. The Reds and Astros received compensatory picks (used on Jay Allen and Chayce McDermott, respectively) when Bauer and Springer departed.
The collective bargaining agreement prohibits a player from being tagged with a qualifying offer multiple times in his career. (A list of every active big leaguer who has previously received a QO is available here). Similarly, in order to be eligible, the player must have spent the entire preceding season on the same team. Players traded midseason cannot be tagged with a QO.
With the majority of the 2021 season in the books, we can take a look at the upcoming free agent class to predict which players might wind up receiving qualifying offer this winter.
Locks
- Carlos Correa, Freddie Freeman, Clayton Kershaw, Robbie Ray, Carlos Rodón, Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Trevor Story
This group is fairly straightforward, as there’s very little chance any of these players would accept a qualifying offer. Correa, Seager and Freeman all have MVP-caliber upside and are locks to pull in long-term deals this winter. Semien didn’t receive a QO from the A’s after a down year in 2020, took a pillow contract with the Jays for almost the value of the QO ($18MM), and has essentially replicated his 2019 form that earned him a third place finish in AL MVP voting. He should find a big multi-year deal this time around.
Story is having a bit of a down year, but there’s no doubt the Rockies will make him a qualifying offer after not trading him at the deadline. Nick Groke of the Athletic wrote this week that Colorado hasn’t given up hope of convincing him to sign a long-term extension, but that seems unlikely given Story’s own bewilderment he wasn’t moved to a contender this summer. Whether Story is willing to return to Denver or not, he’ll receive a QO.
Kershaw, Ray and Rodón will be among the top pitchers on the market. Kershaw has spent the past couple months on the injured list due to forearm soreness, but he’s expected back in September and is in the midst of another fantastic season. So long as he’s healthy, he’s a lock for a QO. Ray and Rodón both had to settle for one-year deals after poor 2020 seasons, but they’ve each been among the best pitchers in the American League this year.
Likely
- Michael Conforto, Jon Gray, Yusei Kikuchi, Eduardo Rodríguez, Noah Syndergaard, Chris Taylor, Justin Verlander
Over the past two seasons, Taylor has somewhat quietly been one of the game’s top 25 qualified hitters by measure of wRC+ and he’s versatile enough to cover any non-catcher position on the diamond. He’s not a true everyday player at any one spot and he’s making contact at a career-worst rate this season, so he falls just short of being an absolute lock for a QO. But the Dodgers would be as willing as any team to shoulder a significant one-year salary were Taylor to accept, and his body of work should be sufficient to warrant a multi-year deal regardless.
The Mets’ players in this group are two of the more interesting free agents in the class. Conforto entered the season looking like a lock for a QO and seemingly having a chance at landing nine figures with a strong platform year. He missed a month with injury, though, and hasn’t made anywhere near his typical level of impact at the plate. He’s shown some life over the past few weeks, and between his track record and age (28), Conforto still seems a good bet to land a long-term deal.
Syndergaard was a top-of-the-rotation starter at his peak, but he hasn’t pitched since 2019 because of Tommy John surgery. He’s eyeing a September return — likely in relief, given his dwindling time to build up arm strength — and his late-season form will obviously be critical to his market. The Mets should run one of the higher payrolls in the league, and Syndergaard has the upside to be an ace if healthy, so New York still seems more likely than not to make the offer.
Similarly, Verlander has essentially missed two full seasons because of his own Tommy John procedure. That’s a scary development for a pitcher who’ll be 39 on Opening Day 2022, but he was still every bit an ace when we last saw him in 2018-19. The Astros are a win-now club that runs high payrolls, so Verlander accepting a QO wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. If he declines and signs elsewhere, Houston would recoup some much-needed draft compensation after losing their past two first-round picks as punishment for the sign-stealing scandal.
Colorado reportedly showed even less interest in trading Gray than they did with Story at the deadline. There’s apparently mutual interest about working out a multi-year extension, and the QO could serve as a temporary measure to keep Gray in Denver while the Rockies and Gray’s representatives work on a long-term deal.
Rodríguez has bounced back to take the ball every fifth day this year after a scary bout with myocarditis cost him all of 2020. His ERA’s pushing 5.00, but his peripherals are far better than that bottom line run prevention and the southpaw has an established track record of mid-rotation production.
The Mariners are facing a difficult decision regarding Kikuchi, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams explored last month. Seattle must decide whether to exercise a package deal of four successive club options at $16.5MM apiece (essentially a four-year, $66MM extension) this winter. If the Mariners don’t exercise their four-year option, Kikuchi has a $13MM player option to return to Seattle for 2022. If both parties decline their ends, the 30-year-old would hit free agency this offseason, although the M’s could then tag Kikuchi with a qualifying offer.
Given that Kikuchi will only be a free agent if he passes on a $13MM player option, the Mariners would likely make him a QO worth a few million dollars more if it comes to that — either with the expectation he’ll decline in search of a longer-term deal, or with the hope he accepts and Seattle can keep him in the fold next season without committing themselves to the additional three years of guaranteed money.
Possible
The Giants have plenty of payroll space this offseason and seem likely to try to keep most of this season’s core together. Belt has been one of the sport’s most productive offensive players on a rate basis over the past two years. But he’s also 33 years old, has a long injury history and is striking out at the highest rate of his career.
San Francisco bought low on DeSclafani over the winter after he had a tough 2020 season with the Reds. He’s bounced back to post a very strong 3.26 ERA, although his peripherals are closer to average and he’s benefitted from opponents’ .257 batting average on balls in play. The Giants will likely see 4/5 of their starting rotation hit free agency this winter, so they could be eager to bring DeSclafani back, even if that comes via a lofty 2022 salary.
Morton has had another productive season in his first year as a Brave, but his previous two teams (the Astros in 2018 and the Rays in 2020) let him reach free agency without making a qualifying offer despite his consistently strong track record. That’s presumably due to concerns about his past injury history and age. He’ll turn 38 this winter and might check his potential earning power by limiting himself to teams in the Southeastern part of the country — as he reportedly did last offseason. That could inspire the Braves to pass on a QO, but Morton continually reels off above-average performances, and this is an Atlanta front office that has been eager to dole out hefty single-year salaries for key veteran upgrades in recent years.
Iglesias looks like the top impending free agent reliever (assuming the White Sox exercise their option over Craig Kimbrel). He’s sporting an ERA under 3.00 for the fifth time in his six seasons since moving to the bullpen, and he’s never had a single-season SIERA above 3.55. Home runs have been an issue, but Iglesias gets above-average results year in and year out and has some of the best strikeout and walk numbers in the game in 2021.
Long Shots
The Giants hold a $22MM club option (with a $3MM buyout) over Posey’s services for next season. If the front office is willing to commit him a significant salary, they’ll just exercise the option rather than going the QO route. Indeed, they’re reportedly planning to do exactly that (or to potentially pursue a multi-year extension with the franchise icon). Either way, there’s no real reason to involve the qualifying offer here.
Canha would be a very plausible qualifying offer candidate on many teams. He’s been a well above-average hitter and overall performer three years running and is generally one of the game’s more underrated players. The A’s, though, didn’t make a QO to either of Semien or Liam Hendriks last season. Canha’s a Bay Area native, and his age (33 in February) will cap the length of offers he receives from other clubs. Given that, it’s not hard to envision him accepting a QO if offered. The A’s, who perennially run low payrolls and will have a loaded class of arbitration-eligible players this winter, don’t seem likely to take that risk.
Wainwright has had a fantastic 2021 season, and the Cardinals figure to be motivated to keep the franchise icon in St. Louis in some capacity. But that also looked to be true after his strong 2020 campaign, and Wainwright only wound up landing a one-year, $8MM deal. He’d be well-deserved in demanding a raise over that sum to return next season, but it remains to be seen if the Cardinals would be willing to chance more than doubling his salary — particularly if they feel Wainwright’s motivated to remain in St. Louis rather than pursue the highest possible offers in free agency.
Kluber signed an $11MM deal with the Yankees last offseason after back-to-back seasons wrecked by injury. He pitched well through ten starts but has been out since late May with a shoulder strain. Kluber’s nearing a return to action, but his missing nearly three months only adds to prior concerns about his ability to handle a significant workload at this stage of his career.
Kim, García and Wood are all having strong 2021 seasons and could plausibly land solid multi-year deals this winter. Each has enough question marks that their teams don’t seem especially likely to offer a salary in the range of the qualifying offer, though. Kim doesn’t miss many bats; García has had extreme highs and lows throughout his career; Wood has a checkered injury history. García’s contract contains a $12MM club option that vests into a mutual option if he reaches 492 plate appearances this season. If that option doesn’t vest, the Brewers would obviously have no incentive to decline the option only to make a qualifying offer at a higher price point.
Opt-Out Clauses
Each of Arenado (six years, $179MM), Castellanos (two years, $34MM) and Martinez (one year, $19.35MM) has significant guaranteed money remaining on their contracts but can opt out of those deals this winter. Arenado and Castellanos would be locks to reject qualifying offers if they trigger their opt-out provisions, since they’d be foregoing bigger guarantees to test the market.
Martinez’s player option is of similar enough value to the projected value of the qualifying offer that he could plausibly trigger the opt-out but then accept a QO. Even if that proved to be the case, the Red Sox would probably be happy to keep him in the middle of the lineup for another season.
Ineligible
- Javier Báez (midseason trade), Kris Bryant (midseason trade), Alex Cobb (previous QO), Nelson Cruz (previous QO/midseason trade), Danny Duffy (midseason trade), Eduardo Escobar (midseason trade), Kevin Gausman (previous QO), Kendall Graveman (midseason trade), Zack Greinke (previous QO), Kenley Jansen (previous QO), Starling Marte (midseason trade), Anthony Rizzo (midseason trade), Max Scherzer (previous QO/midseason trade), Kyle Schwarber (midseason trade), Marcus Stroman (previous QO)
Red Sox Release Matt Andriese
Aug. 19: The Red Sox have released Andriese. He’s now free to sign with any club for the prorated league minimum over the remainder of the season.
Aug. 17: The Red Sox have designated reliever Matt Andriese for assignment, per a club announcement. The move clears space on the 40-man roster for fellow bullpen arm Josh Taylor, who has been reinstated from the COVID-19 injured list.
Boston brought Andriese aboard on a free agent deal over the winter. He’d hoped to compete for a spot in the starting rotation during Spring Training but ultimately found himself working exclusively as a multi-inning option out of the bullpen. The 31-year-old didn’t find a lot of success in that role, posting a 6.03 ERA over 37 1/3 frames.
Andriese has always been a solid strike-thrower and that’s again been the case in 2021. He’s only walked 6.2% of opponents this year, but Andriese has struggled to miss bats. His 21.5% strikeout rate and 8.8% swinging strike rate are each well below-average for a reliever and he’s given up plenty of loud contact. Certainly, Andriese has been a bit unlucky to allow opponents to hit .407 on balls in play against him, but he’s had a hard time avoiding barrels over the course of the campaign.
That production all came in the season’s first half, as Andriese hasn’t pitched since landing on the injured list with hamstring tendinitis on July 10. He’s nearing a return to health, having spent the past few weeks on a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester.
Injured players can’t be placed on outright waivers, so Andriese figures to be released. That’s little more than a formality, as he had enough big league service time to refuse an outright assignment and hit free agency anyways. Assuming he passes through waivers unclaimed — which would appear likely — the Red Sox will remain on the hook for what remains of his $2.1MM guarantee. Any team that then signs Andriese as a free agent would only owe him the prorated portion of the league minimum salary for any time he spends on the big league roster.
Red Sox Release Marwin Gonzalez
The Red Sox announced they’ve released utilityman Marwin González. That was the expected outcome after Boston designated the 32-year-old for assignment last week. The Sox also officially added waiver claim Travis Shaw to the active roster and optioned outfielder Franchy Cordero and catcher Connor Wong to Triple-A Worcester.
Signed to a one-year deal over the winter, González’s tenure in Boston was a disappointment. He hit a career-worst .202/.281/.285 with two home runs across 271 plate appearances. That marked his second consecutive very poor season at the plate, as González also struggled last year — his final with the Twins. His monstrous 2017 season looks like an outlier, but González hit at a league average level from 2018-19 before falling off over the past two years.
González inked a $3MM guarantee, around $738K of which is still due to be paid out. Any club that claims González off waivers would assume that obligation, but it seems more likely the switch-hitter will pass through unclaimed and reach free agency, leaving the Red Sox on the hook for the money. At that point, another team could sign González and would owe him the prorated league minimum salary for any time he spends on the big league roster, which would be subtracted from what he’s owed by Boston. If González lands elsewhere before August 31, he’d be eligible for his new team’s postseason roster.
The Red Sox are off tonight but will have a doubleheader against the Yankees tomorrow. Tanner Houck will be recalled as the 27th man to start one half of that twin bill. Boston’s pair of optional assignments leaves another active roster spot open, and Ian Browne of MLB.com notes the hope is reliever Josh Taylor will be activated from the injured list tomorrow. Taylor landed on the COVID-19 IL over the weekend but has apparently not tested positive to this point. If Taylor is indeed ready for reinstatement, Boston will need to create a 40-man roster spot.
Red Sox Claim Travis Shaw Off Waivers From Brewers
The Red Sox have claimed Travis Shaw off waivers from the Brewers, according to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. Shaw was placed on waivers by the Brewers yesterday. Rob Bradford of WEEI notes that the Red Sox plan to have Shaw with the team by Tuesday’s game. A spot on the 40-man roster was opened earlier in the day when Josh Taylor was placed on the COVID IL.
This will be a homecoming for Shaw, returning to the organization that drafted him and gave him his first MLB experience. In 2015 and 2016, he played 210 games for the Red Sox, slashing .251/.312/.442, producing a wRC+ of 97. In December 2016, the Sox traded Shaw to Milwaukee, along with Mauricio Dubon and Josh Pennington, for Tyler Thornburg.
Shaw was excellent in his first two season for Milwaukee, slashing .258/.347/.497 for a wRC+ of 120 over that span. Unfortunately, it’s been up-and-down since then. 2019 was a disastrous campaign, producing a meager .157/.281/.270 line, wRC+ of 48, leading to Shaw being non-tendered that offseason. The Blue Jays gave him a shot and saw him rebound slightly to a line of .239/.306/.411, wRC+ of 92. Unfortunately, after re-signing with the Brewers, his numbers tailed off again. His 2021 production so far has been .191/.279/.337, a wRC+ of 68.
Shaw will now presumably be a candidate for some time at first base for Boston. There had been plans to get Kyle Schwarber some work at first, but he has been at designated hitter in both his games since being activated off the IL, with J.D. Martinez taking some time in the outfield. Bobby Dalbec has been the primary first baseman for Boston this year. Although he has struggled at times this year, he has been red hot lately, slashing .286/.357/.571 over the past month.
Red Sox Activate Chris Sale
The Red Sox have reinstated Chris Sale from the 60-day injured list, the team has announced. A spot on the 40-man roster was opened by Marwin Gonzalez being designated for assignment yesterday. Additionally, Christian Vazquez was reinstated from the bereavement list. To make room for Sale and Vazquez, Yacksel Rios and Connor Wong have been optioned to Triple-A.
This officially ends the star lefty’s journey of over two years away from big league mounds, having last pitched August 13th of 2019. At that time, he was shut down with elbow inflammation and eventually underwent Tommy John surgery in March of 2020.
Prior to this absence, he had been one of the best pitchers in all of baseball for almost a decade. For the eight seasons from 2012 to 2019, he pitched 1,535 1/3 innings with an ERA of 3.05 with 1,896 strikeouts. The 42.8 fWAR he accumulated during that time was third among all pitchers in baseball, behind only Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw.
If Sale is even half as good as that elite level, he’ll provide a huge boost to a Red Sox rotation that has been floundering of late. Martin Perez and Garrett Richards have been moved to the bullpen because of their recent struggles, leaving the club with a three-man rotation of Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta and Eduardo Rodriguez. (Tanner Houck was recalled to start on Thursday but then optioned to Triple-A the next day.) The club has gone on a cold streak of late, surrendering the AL East lead to the Rays, but still holding onto the second AL Wild Card spot, 2 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees.
Red Sox Designate Marwin Gonzalez For Assignment, Activate Kyle Schwarber
The Red Sox are reinstating trade deadline acquisition Kyle Schwarber from the injured list, manager Alex Cora announced to reporters Friday (Twitter link via MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo). In order to clear roster space for Schwarber, who’s making his team debut tonight, Boston has designated infielder/outfielder Marwin Gonzalez for assignment.
Gonzalez, 32, found a rather frigid market for his services in free agency this past offseason, lingering on the market until inking a one-year, $3MM deal in Boston on the heels of a poor 2020 showing in Minnesota. The versatile switch-hitter posted just a .211/.286/.320 slash in 199 plate appearances with the Twins last year and hasn’t been able to improve upon that in 2021, batting just .201/.282/.285 in a larger sample of 271 trips to the plate.
Gonzalez has, at times, been an average or better offensive contributor, but his lone standout season at the plate came during the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in 2017. Gonzalez posted a massive .303/.377/.530 batting line with a career-high 23 home runs in 515 plate appearances. He’s hit just .240/.310/.376 in nearly 1500 plate appearances since that season.
Defensively, Gonzalez has played solidly around the diamond in Boston, where he’s logged time at all four infield positions and both corner outfield slots. Gonzalez has more than 1000 career innings played at all four infield positions and in left field (plus another 402 in right field).
Given that he’s still owed about $839K of this year’s $3MM base salary and has produced a lowly .206/.284/.300 batting line in his past 470 MLB plate appearances, Gonzalez is a lock to go unclaimed on waivers. He’ll become a free agent at that point and be able to sign with any team for the prorated league minimum. Any pay he receives from another club would be deducted from the remainder of the salary still owed to him by the Red Sox.
Schwarber is now in line to make his team debut. The slugger rode an absurd month of June to a .253/.340/.570 line over 303 plate appearances with the Nationals. He suffered a significant hamstring strain in early July and landed on the injured list. Washington fell out of contention not long thereafter and traded away a huge swath of players before the deadline — including Schwarber, who’s an impending free agent. Now that he has returned to health, Schwarber figures to get plenty of run at first base, a position he’s never played in the major leagues, with Boston.
Red Sox Move Garrett Richards To Bullpen
The Red Sox are transferring right-hander Garrett Richards to the bullpen, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Christopher Smith of MassLive). His rotation spot will be filled by Chris Sale, who is expected to make his first appearance in two years on Saturday against the Orioles.
The Sox signed Richards to a one-year, $10MM guarantee over the offseason. (The deal also contains a club option currently valued at $10.25MM — with potential escalators — for the 2022 campaign, but Richards’ struggles this year make it likely he’ll be bought out instead). The hope was that Richards would solidify a starting rotation that looked to be one of the weak points on the roster. Things haven’t played out that way, as the 33-year-old worked to a 5.22 ERA/5.02 SIERA over 22 starts before losing his rotation spot.
Few pitchers in baseball seemed more affected by MLB’s midseason decision to enforce the prohibition against foreign substances than Richards, who acknowledged he’d previously used a sunscreen/rosin combination. Through games on June 15 — the date MLB announced their impending crackdown — Richards had a decent 4.09 ERA/3.85 FIP over 70 1/3 frames. In his nine starts since, the righty has a 7.20 ERA/7.45 FIP. Along the way, he’s worked to incorporate a changeup while cutting back on the usage of his curveball, which saw a rather precipitous decline in spin (albeit from a top-of-the-league 3100-3300 rpm range to a still high 2800-3000 rpm band).
That’s not to say Richards’ disappointing few months was solely the result of the foreign substance crackdown — nor was his prior success specifically because of sticky stuff. Richards’ strikeout and walk rates were worse than average even early in the season. His strong run prevention was largely on the strength of his ability to keep the ball in the yard, but the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction of late.
Richards allowed just five home runs through his first 13 starts, with a tiny 8.2% HR/FB rate in that time; since then, he’s been tagged for thirteen longballs on a 24.1% HR/FB rate. It’s certainly possible his diminished stuff plays a role in that — his four-seam fastball has been much more hittable since its spin dropped in June — but he’s likely also been prone to some poor luck on fly balls after benefitting from good fortune earlier in the year.
Whatever the specific cause, Richards’ recent struggles became severe enough for the Sox to reduce his role for the stretch run. Boston also bumped Martín Pérez from the rotation last week in favor of Tanner Houck, shaking up the starting staff as the team continues to struggle. The Red Sox have gone just 9-14 since the All-Star Break, falling five games back of the Rays in the AL East (not including tonight’s near-certain win over Tampa Bay). Boston holds a 1.5 game advantage over the Yankees for the American League’s final Wild Card spot.
Red Sox Sign Alex Claudio
The Red Sox have signed left-hander Alex Claudio to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Worcester, relays Bill Koch of the Providence Journal (Twitter link). The veteran southpaw was released by the Angels last month.
Claudio signed with Los Angeles on a one-year contract over the offseason on the heels of a pair of decent but unspectacular years with the Brewers. The 29-year-old was a frequently-utilized option for Angels manager Joe Maddon, who turned to him 41 times over the club’s first 98 games. Claudio pitched to a career-worst 5.51 ERA over 32 2/3 frames, partially due to the highest walk rate (10.1%) of his career.
That said, Claudio did strike out batters at a 20.3% clip, the highest rate of his career (excluding his 12 1/3 inning debut season in 2014). That’s well below league average for a reliever, but the soft-tossing Claudio has long been known as a groundball specialist. He’s no longer inducing grounders on over 60% of balls in play — as he did at his 2016-18 peak with the Rangers — but the southpaw’s 52% grounder rate this season remains above-average.
In other Red Sox news, Koch notes that Worcester released reliever Marcus Walden over the weekend. The 32-year-old pitched 106 innings of 4.50 ERA ball for the Red Sox between 2018-20 but was outrighted off the 40-man roster in Spring Training. Walden worked 42 2/3 innings with Worcester this year, posting a 4.01 ERA with a 20.8% strikeout rate.