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Garrett Richards

Rangers Activate Garrett Richards; Place Spencer Howard, Dennis Santana On Injured List

By Mark Polishuk | April 14, 2022 at 4:34pm CDT

The Rangers announced four roster moves involving right-handed pitchers today, including the activation of Garrett Richards from the 10-day injured list.  Nick Snyder was also called up from Triple-A.  In corresponding moves, Dennis Santana was placed on the COVID-related injured list, while Spencer Howard was placed on the regular 10-day IL due to a blister and cracked fingernail.

Richards signed a one-year deal worth a guaranteed $5.5MM following the lockout, but his Texas debut was postponed by a blister issue of his own.  Fortunately, it ended up being only a minor setback, and Richards is now lined up to take his spot in the Rangers bullpen.  Reporter Jeff Wilson (Twitter links) that the Rangers are tentatively planning a bullpen game for Friday’s contest with the Angels, so Richards could conceivably get the pseudo-start if he doesn’t see any action tonight.

Howard has been initially stated to start Friday’s game, but he will now head to the IL (retroactive to April 11) to recover from his own finger issue.  The 25-year-old didn’t fare well in his first start of the season, as Howard was tagged for four homers and six earned runs over three innings in a 12-6 loss to the Blue Jays.  Blisters have been a recurring problem for the Rangers in the early going, between Richards’ absence, and both Howard and Jon Gray now sidelined.  The Rangers have an off-day on April 18, so it’s possible the rotation might not need further re-alignment if Howard and/or Gray are able to return in short order.

Santana is still waiting results of his COVID-19 test, but Wilson reports that the IL placement was precautionary since Santana is showing symptoms.  As per the 2022 rules, Santana will have to miss a minimum of five days and be free of symptoms for the last two or more of those days.

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Texas Rangers Transactions Dennis Santana Garrett Richards Nick Snyder Spencer Howard

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Rangers Trade Yonny Hernandez To Diamondbacks

By Steve Adams | April 7, 2022 at 11:55am CDT

The Rangers have set their Opening Day roster, announcing a series of transactions that includes the trade of infielder Yonny Hernandez to the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league outfielder Jeferson Espinal. Arizona has designated right-hander Humberto Mejia for assignment in a corresponding roster move.

Texas also designated infielder Sherten Apostel for assignment and selected the contracts of veterans Matt Bush, Charlie Culberson and Greg Holland. Right-hander Garrett Richards, meanwhile, has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a blister issue, while righty Jose Leclerc has been placed on the 60-day IL as he continues recovering from last March’s Tommy John surgery.

Hernandez, 24 next month, made his big league debut with Texas last year and batted .217/.315/.252 in 166 trips to the plate. His work in Triple-A, where he slashed .250/.424/.323 in 261 plate appearances, was far better. Hernandez walked at a gaudy 20.3% clip in Triple-A last season and has a penchant for drawing free passes and making contact, albeit rarely with any real power. He’s walked in more than 15% of his professional plate appearances and also possesses plenty of speed, evidenced by 23 steals in the minors and another 11 in the big leagues last season.

Hernandez has experience all over the infield and has all three minor league option years remaining, so he’ll give the D-backs some flexibility and versatility not only in 2022 but for the foreseeable future. He can be controlled for at least the next six seasons, and possibly more, depending on how much big league time he accrues while he has those options remaining.

Espinal, 19, batted a combined .259/.340/.357 between Rookie ball and Low-A last season, with the vast majority of his production coming at the lower of those two levels. Eric Longenhagen and Brendan Gawlowski wrote at FanGraphs back in January that Espinal has 70 speed on the 20-80 scale but a long swing and serious questions about his overall hitting profile. Espinal did swipe 16 bases in 19 tries last season, but he’ll have a ways to go before the Rangers can even hope to have him as a viable option in the outfield.

Apostel, 23, went 2-for-20 in his big league debut back in 2020 and didn’t appear in the Majors last season. He’s primarily a third baseman but has experience at first base as well. Apostel posted a lackluster .235/.321/.416 across three levels last season, topping out with a sub-par showing in Triple-A Round Rock. The Rangers will have a week to trade Apostel, place him on outright waivers or release him.

As for the D-backs, they’re in the same boat with regard to the 25-year-old Mejia. He’s tallied 32 1/3 big league innings but struggled to a 6.68 ERA in that time, and last year’s work in the minors was not decidedly more encouraging. In 103 2/3 frames between Double-A and Triple-A, Mejia pitched to a combined 5.12 ERA with a 22.1% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate. Another club in need of some pitching depth might take a look in a small trade or via waivers, but Mejia has not yet found too much success above A-ball.

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Arizona Diamondbacks Texas Rangers Transactions Charlie Culberson Garrett Richards Greg Holland Humberto Mejia Jose Leclerc Matt Bush Sherten Apostel Yonny Hernandez

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Rangers Sign Garrett Richards

By Anthony Franco | March 20, 2022 at 6:55pm CDT

TODAY: The Rangers officially announced the Richards deal.  Jonathan Hernandez was placed on the 60-day injured list in the corresponding move, as Hernandez is still rehabbing after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2021.

The Athletic’s Levi Weaver reports (via Twitter) that Richards will earn $4.5MM in 2022, and the 2023 club option is worth $9MM.  There is a $1MM buyout if the Rangers decline the option, so Richards’ total guarantee is $5.5MM.

MARCH 17, 10:38pm: It’s a one-year contract with an option for 2023, reports Jon Heyman of the MLB Network (on Twitter).

10:26pm: The Rangers are in agreement with Garrett Richards, as first reported by MLB Drops (Twitter link). The deal is pending a physical, writes Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

Richards hit the open market when the Red Sox declined a $10MM club option on his services, buying him out for $1.5MM. Boston also bought out southpaw Martín Pérez at the same time. They’ll reunite in Arlington, as Pérez signed a one-year deal to rejoin the Rangers last week.

The 33-year-old Richards has had a decade-long run in the big leagues as a starter. He looked like a mid-rotation or better arm during his best days with the Angels, but the righty’s career was thrown off by a series of injuries. He combined for 31 starts between 2016-19, with recurring elbow/biceps injuries culminating in a July 2018 Tommy John procedure. Richards worked 51 1/3 innings of 4.03 ERA ball over 14 outings (10 starts) with the Padres during the shortened 2020 season, and Boston signed him to a $10MM guarantee heading into last year.

That started unfortunately, as Richards posted a 5.22 ERA while allowing opponents to hit .300/.371/.497 in 22 starts. In mid-August, the Red Sox bumped him out of the rotation into a multi-inning relief role. He began well in his new situation but had a tough final couple weeks of the season. Altogether, Richards posted a 3.42 ERA in 26 1/3 innings over 18 relief appearances late in the year. He struck out a roughly average 24.8% of batters in relief while walking a slightly higher than par 10.6% of opponents.

The Rangers are planning to keep Richards in a relief role this season, Grant tweets. He averaged north of 94 MPH on his heater while generating swinging strikes at a slightly above-average rate on his curveball. Richards adds a high-powered arm to the middle to late innings for skipper Chris Woodward. He becomes the biggest bullpen pickup to date for the Rangers, whose bullpen finished in the bottom ten last season in strikeout/walk rate differential.

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Texas Rangers Transactions Garrett Richards Jonathan Hernandez

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Red Sox Decline Options On Martin Perez, Garrett Richards

By Darragh McDonald | November 7, 2021 at 11:37am CDT

The Red Sox have declined their $6MM club option on left-hander Martin Perez, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. He will instead receive a $500K buyout and head into free agency. Right-hander Garrett Richards will also have his $10MM option declined, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. He gets a $1.5MM buyout on his way into the free agent pool.

The decision on Perez is largely unsurprising, given how things went for him in 2021. He posted mediocre results over the first few months of the season and was eventually bumped to a bullpen role for the playoff stretch. In 22 starts, the last of which was August 5th, he threw 100 innings with an ERA of 4.77, 19.1% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. After moving to the bullpen, he logged 14 innings in 14 games with similar results, as he had an ERA of 4.50, strikeout rate of 18.8% and 4.7% walk rate. Perez also pitched three postseason innings for the Red Sox, but they didn’t go well, as he allowed six hits, four walks and four earned runs, without tallying a strikeout.

Despite that meager showing, Perez could garner some interest for a job at the back of a rotation or a swing role. Although he has a lengthy track record, he’s still relatively young, turning 31 in April. The lack of strikeouts have always been a part of his numbers and that hasn’t stopped him from having productive seasons in the past. He could help a team soak up some innings without a huge financial commitment.

As for Richards, he also made 22 starts but eventually got bumped into a bullpen role, just like Perez. His last start was August 8th, just a few days after his teammate’s. In those starts, he logged 110 1/3 innings with an ERA of 5.22, strikeout rate of 17.2% and 9.5% walk rate. After moving into a relief role, things seemed to greatly improve for him, as explored by MLBTR’s Steve Adams in September. At that time, Richards had thrown 20 2/3 innings out of the bullpen with an ERA of 0.87, a 29.4 percent strikeout rate, a 9.4 percent walk rate and a 48.1 percent ground-ball rate. However, his final few appearances weren’t great and his ERA as a reliever shot up to 3.42. Richards made one postseason appearance but was removed from the ALDS roster with a hamstring strain that ultimately ended his season.

He will make for an interesting wildcard option on the free agent market this year. He’s now far removed from his best stretch as a starter, which came in 2013-2015, but he showed flashes of potentially being an effective reliever, albeit in a fairly small sample size. He’ll turn 34 in May and seems to be in line for a short-term deal, whether it’s as a starter or reliever.

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Boston Red Sox Transactions Garrett Richards Martin Perez

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Matt Barnes Replaces Garrett Richards On Red Sox’s ALDS Roster

By Anthony Franco | October 8, 2021 at 5:28pm CDT

The Red Sox announced that right-hander Garrett Richards has suffered a left hamstring strain and been removed from the Division Series roster. Matt Barnes was added in his place.

Teams must request approval from the commissioner’s office to replace injured players on a playoff roster. Injury removal renders that player ineligible both for the remainder of the current series and the next series, should the team advance. Were the Red Sox to erase their 1-0 deficit and take down the Rays, Richards would not be eligible to return until the World Series.

While Richards’ season-long numbers are underwhelming, they’re also a bit misleading. The 33-year-old began the season as a member of the rotation but struggled, leading to his transfer to a bullpen role in mid-August. Since moving into shorter stints, Richards has been far better than he was a starter, as MLBTR’s Steve Adams recently explored. Over 26 1/3 frames of relief to close out the regular season, he pitched to a 3.42 ERA/2.90 FIP.

Richards’ strikeout (24.8%) and walk (10.6%) rates were right around the league average, but he’s racked up grounders on nearly half the balls in play against him. He garnered increased trust of manager Alex Cora along the way, seeing increasingly higher-leverage work as the season progressed. His contract contains a $10MM club option (or a $1.5MM buyout) for the 2022 season.

Barnes’ year has gone in the opposite direction. The 31-year-old was among the game’s best relievers through the season’s first couple months, earning an All-Star nod and a two-year, $18.75MM contract extension in the process. He’s had a stunningly poor second half, posting a 6.48 ERA over 16 2/3 frames since the Break. He’s still fanned a solid 26.6% of opposing hitters in that time, but Barnes’ walk and home run rates have spiked dramatically over the past couple months. Those recent struggles led the Red Sox to leave him off the initial Division Series roster, but he’ll get another opportunity to step up after Richards’ injury.

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Boston Red Sox Garrett Richards Matt Barnes

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Garrett Richards’ Bullpen Rebirth

By Steve Adams | September 20, 2021 at 12:30pm CDT

The Red Sox’ offseason addition of right-hander Garrett Richards to their rotation didn’t pan out quite like chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, general manager Brian O’Halloran and the rest of the Boston front office hoped. Richards got out to a solid start, pitching to a 3.75 ERA through his first 11 trips with a 20.2 percent strikeout rate, an 11.6 percent walk rate and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate. Richards wasn’t exactly dominant, but for a pitcher who’d signed a one-year, $10MM contract with a club option, the results to that point were a bargain.

Things spiraled downhill rapidly for Richards from that point forth, however. Over his next 11 starts, from June 6 through Aug. 8, Richards was clobbered for a 6.97 ERA. He went from averaging just over 5 1/3 innings per start to 4 1/3 frames, and his strikeout rate plummeted to just 14.3 percent.

This isn’t intended to serve as some form of exposé on pitchers utilizing foreign substances, but it’s important context to note that Richards, a traditionally high-spin-rate pitcher, saw his decline coincide with the league’s memo on the forthcoming foreign-substance crackdown. Richards didn’t shy away from acknowledging that he’d used foreign substances, though he insisted to Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic that he’d only ever used a combination of sunscreen and rosin. (Both McCaffrey’s June 24 and June 30 interviews with Richards are well worth a full read for context.)

“(I’m) going through a little transition period right now,” Richards told McCaffery in late June. “Changing some grips on some of my pitches, learning new pitches, just trying to figure this whole thing out.”

That “transition” period didn’t exactly pay dividends for Richards, as evidenced by the previously referenced plummet in his results. The Red Sox gave him some runway to try to sort things out, but on Aug. 11, they pulled him from the rotation and plugged him into the bullpen. So far, it’s proven to be a game-changer for both the Sox and for Richards himself.

Since moving into a short-relief role, Richards has dominated. He’s tossed 20 2/3 innings of relief, pitching to a 0.87 ERA with a 29.4 percent strikeout rate, a 9.4 percent walk rate and a 48.1 percent ground-ball rate. Richards’ fastball averaged 94.2 mph out of the rotation, and that’s jumped to 95.0 mph in the ’pen — 95.3 mph since Sept. 1.

Richards has also seen gains in swinging-strike rate (from 9.4 percent to 10.8 percent), opponents’ chase rate (27.9 percent to 34.5 percent), opponents’ average exit velocity (91.6 mph to 89.4 mph) and an overwhelming drop in his opponents’ barrel rate — from 9.3 percent all the way down to 1.9 percent. Since moving to a relief role, he’s allowed just one “barreled” ball, as measured by Statcast, and he has yet to surrender a home run.

It’s true that we’re only looking at a sample of 20 2/3 frames right now, but Richards’ dominance is going to give the Red Sox a decision that as recently as early August looked to be a foregone conclusion. The 33-year-old’s one-year, $10MM contract carries a $10MM club option for the 2022 season, which comes with a $1.5MM buyout. The Red Sox will effectively have to make a net $8.5MM decision on him for the 2022 season, and while that looked like an easy option to buy out when he was floundering in the rotation, the price tag suddenly looks much more palatable.

Some may raise an eyebrow at the notion of doling out an extra $8.5MM based on a few weeks of work in the bullpen, but there’s pretty recent precedent of a reliever being paid at that level following a similar late shift to the ’pen. When the Brewers acquired Drew Pomeranz from the Giants in 2019, they did so by somewhat surprisingly sending a fairly well regarded prospect to San Francisco in return: Mauricio Dubon. Pomeranz had made just four relief appearances when the Brewers took that plunge.

It proved to be a terrific decision for Milwaukee, as Pomeranz worked to a 2.39 ERA with an overwhelming 45 percent strikeout rate in 26 1/3 innings down the stretch. He rode that wave of momentum into free agency, where he cashed in on a four-year, $34MM contract with the Padres.

Pomeranz was excellent through his first 44 1/3 innings of that contract before undergoing season-ending surgery, but the results of his contract aren’t really consequential with regard to Richards. The mere fact that Pomeranz was able to command a four-year deal in the first place certainly suggests that the market could bear a nice multi-year guarantee for Richards, assuming he sustains this pace for the season’s final couple of weeks. Richards hasn’t quite as dominant in terms of missing bats and limiting walks, and it’s critical to point out that he’s two years older now than Pomeranz was when he hit free agency. Still, even if a four-year pact isn’t on the table, a two- or three-year contract could be feasible.

The Sox have just shy of $104MM in guarantees on the books for next season. They’ll have to make decisions on club options for catcher Christian Vazquez ($7MM) and left-hander Martin Perez ($6MM). Boston also owes $16MM to the Dodgers under the David Price trade. Even with those additional financial considerations, this is a former luxury-tax payor who came close to paying the tax in 2021. Payrolls in the $200MM range aren’t out of the norm in Boston. A net $8.5MM decision on a reliever who has looked largely unhittable late since moving out of the rotation is something they can afford if they’re sold on Richards’ renaissance in the bullpen.

If the Sox ultimately decide to buy Richards out and pursue other bullpen options, that could work out even better for the right-hander. He’d suddenly be one of the more interesting options in a free-agent class of relievers that doesn’t feature many high-end names. Whatever path the Sox choose, the decision to move Richards out of the rotation looks like a good one for all parties at this point.

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Boston Red Sox MLBTR Originals Garrett Richards

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Red Sox Move Garrett Richards To Bullpen

By Anthony Franco | August 11, 2021 at 8:36pm CDT

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.

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Boston Red Sox Garrett Richards

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Red Sox Sign Garrett Richards

By Mark Polishuk | February 3, 2021 at 1:40pm CDT

Feb. 3: The Red Sox have formally announced the signing. Richards will earn $8.5MM in 2021, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link), and he has a $1.5MM buyout on the 2022 club option. The value of that option increases by $250K for reaching 20 and 25 games started, and would increase by an additional $500K if Richards starts 30 games. Richards, it should be noted, has made 30 starts just once in his career and has only reached 20 starts in a season on two occasions. His 2022 base salary would also increase by $500K if he’s traded.

Jan. 23: The Red Sox and right-hander Garrett Richards have agreed to a one-year, $10MM deal, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link).  The contract also includes a club option for 2022 that is also worth $10MM, according to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier (Twitter links), with escalators that could increase both the base value of the option beyond $10MM, and also increase the value of the buyout.  The deal will become official once Richards passes a physical.  Richards is represented by ISE Baseball.

Reports circulated yesterday that Richards and the Sox were making progress towards an agreement, and with Richards now in the fold, Boston has taken another big step towards strengthening its rotation.  Martin Perez was also re-signed last week, and between Richards, Perez, and swingman Matt Andriese, the Red Sox have added some veteran arms to the rotation mix and pushed some less-experienced arms (i.e. Tanner Houck, Chris Mazza) further down the depth chart.

Garrett RichardsOf course, the 32-year-old Richards also cannot be called an entirely sure thing, as he is less than two years removed from a Tommy John surgery that wiped out much of his 2019 season.  Richards did post some solid results in 2020, however, delivering a 4.03 ERA, 21.6K%, and 13.6K-BB% over 51 1/3 innings for the Padres, starting 10 games before being moved to the bullpen for his final four regular-season outings in anticipation for the playoffs.

Richards did have a 4.55 SIERA last year, and his Statcast numbers aren’t much to write home about apart from two key categories — a 99th percentile curveball spin rate, and a 97th percentile spin rate on his fastball.  Those types of elite metrics could hint at Richards reaching another level of production under the guidance of a more analytical front office and coaching staff, like the one chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom has assembled in Boston.

Perhaps moreso than unlocking spin-rate potential, the biggest issue facing Richards and the Red Sox is just how much durability can be expected from a pitcher who has thrown only 198 2/3 total innings since the start of the 2016 season.  In this sense, Richards becomes another injury question mark on a team that already has Nathan Eovaldi and Eduardo Rodriguez as its top two starters until Chris Sale makes his expected midseason return from his own Tommy John surgery.  The presence of Houck, Andriese, Mazza, Nick Pivetta and company allows the Sox some flexibility in the event of an injury, and if everyone is healthy, the club can get creative in resting pitchers or moving spot starters into the rotation to keep everyone fresh.

With Richards and the newly-signed Enrique Hernandez now on the books, the Red Sox have a projected (as per Roster Resource) luxury tax number of just under $198.5MM, putting them within shouting distance of the $210MM tax threshold.  If the Sox wish to stay under the threshold, some creativity may be required in carving out more payroll space, which could be part of the reason Andrew Benintendi’s name has been floated in trade speculation.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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Boston Red Sox Newsstand Transactions Garrett Richards

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Free Agency Notes: Mets, Richards, Red Sox, Profar, Bench Bat

By TC Zencka | January 23, 2021 at 6:12pm CDT

The Mets made a play for Garrett Richards before the veteran righty signed with the Red Sox, notes MLB Insider Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The Mets have made their rotation a project this offseason. They are seemingly in a good place even without Richards, however. Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, and Marcus Stroman make for a very strong top three, and hopes remain high that David Peterson will maintain a spot behind them. Noah Syndergaard plans to join that group at some point, and even if Seth Lugo returns to the bullpen, the Mets have no shortage of depth options – foremost of which might be the recently-acquired Joey Lucchesi. Beyond the ex-Padre, Steven Matz, Robert Gsellman, Franklyn Kilome, Corey Oswalt, and Jerad Eickhoff surely have eyes for the rotation. In other news…

  • The Red Sox themselves were runners-up in an attempt to sign Jurickson Profar, per the San Diego Union-Tribune. Boston, of course, ended up with Kiké Hernández on a similar, but shorter contract. It’s not clear if the Red Sox preferred Profar to Hernandez, though Hernández signing merely hours after Profar re-upped with San Diego is notable. Still, one does not necessarily follow the other. All we can say for certain is that Profar’s returning to San Diego thinned Boston’s market for versatile utility types. That the Red Sox engaged in parallel negotiations with similar players doesn’t actually speak to their priorities where those players are concerned.
  • After all, they may very well have been interested in signing both players, as Boston remains on the hunt for a lefty bench bat. In a perfect world, the Red Sox would find someone who could complement Bobby Dalbec at first, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). Cotillo floats Marwin Gonzalez, Brad Miller, and Mitch Moreland as some players that might fit the bill. Boston’s bench leans heavily to the right at present, with Jonathan Arauz as one of very few organizational options as a lefty bat off the bench unless Jarren Duran makes the team out of spring training.
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Boston Red Sox New York Mets Notes Bobby Dalbec Brad Miller Enrique Hernandez Garrett Richards Jurickson Profar Marwin Gonzalez Mitch Moreland

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Free Agent Notes: Ozuna, Semien, Simmons, Miller, Moreland, Richards

By Mark Polishuk | January 23, 2021 at 9:51am CDT

The latest buzz from the free agent market…

  • The Dodgers, Brewers, Yankees, and Red Sox are among the teams interested in Marcell Ozuna, according to Hector Gomez of Deportivo Z 101 (via Twitter).  These four clubs are new additions to Ozuna’s market, while the Twins and Mets (also mentioned by Gomez) were linked to the slugger earlier this winter.  Ozuna is looking for at least a four-year contract, Gomez writes.  While financial demands weren’t mentioned, it can be assumed that Ozuna is looking for enough money to put the Dodgers and Yankees well over the $210MM luxury tax threshold, so it’s possible their interest is somewhat limited.  Such a signing would also put Boston close to the threshold, and while the Brewers are nowhere near the tax line, it would represent a very bold move by a Milwaukee team that wasn’t expected to spend much this winter.  It has been a relatively quiet offseason for Ozuna on the rumor mill, as his market may be dependent on whether or not the NL has a designated hitter spot available in 2021 and beyond.
  • Didi Gregorius, Marcus Semien, and Andrelton Simmons “are viewed within the industry as similar enough that no team is compelled to set the market with a contract,” according to Matt Gelb and C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic,  This has created a lot of uncertainty about when any of the shortstop trio might sign, what their next deals might be worth, or what teams will eventually make the leap.  Gelb and Rosecrans discussed the three shortstops with nine  evaluators, who broke down the pros and cons of each player and ranked them 1-2-3 on a ballot.
  • In other news about the shortstops, the Red Sox are likely no longer a fit for Semien now that Enrique Hernandez is heading to Boston.  The Sox were reported to have interest in Semien as a second baseman, but MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo (Twitter links) hears from a source who believes “Semien still wants to sign as a shortstop,” despite interest from teams at other infield positions.  Boston is still looking to add a left-handed hitter to the bench mix, with Cotillo reporting that Brad Miller and Mitch Moreland are possibilities.
  • The Blue Jays were known to have interest in Simmons back in November and in the leadup to the trade deadline, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that Simmons is still on Toronto’s radar.
  • Garrett Richards is one player who seems to no longer to be under consideration for the Blue Jays, as Cotillo reports that the Jays aren’t one of the teams still looking to sign the free agent righty.  “At least other teams” besides the Red Sox are still vying for Richards, Cotillo writes, though Boston seems to be relatively far along in discussions with Richards’ camp.
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Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Dodgers Milwaukee Brewers New York Yankees Notes Toronto Blue Jays Andrelton Simmons Brad Miller Didi Gregorius Garrett Richards Marcell Ozuna Marcus Semien Mitch Moreland

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