Pivetta and O’Neill are both entering their final years before free agency. Pivetta, who is penciled into the starting rotation but may move to the bullpen if the club makes more additions, received a raise from his $5.35 million salary in 2023 and eclipsed MLBTradeRumors’ projection of $6.9 million with his $7.5 million agreement. O’Neill, a right-handed hitting outfielder acquired from the Cardinals in a December trade, made $4.95 million last year in St. Louis and was projected by MLBTR to earn $5.5 million in 2024.
McGuire, the backup catcher to Connor Wong, got a raise from $1.2225 million in his second year of arbitration. MLBTR projected him a tick higher than his ultimate salary at $1.7 million. Schreiber, a middle reliever, earned $750,000 last year in his last pre-arbitration year; MLBTR projected him for $1.3 million.
All four players were tendered contracts before a separate deadline in November (when the club traded Luis Urías to Seattle and non-tendered Wyatt Mills). At the time, Boston tendered deals to Pivetta, Schreiber, McGuire and Alex Verdugo (before trading him to the Yankees) and O’Neill was tendered by the Cardinals before they traded him to the Red Sox. Those decisions guaranteed the tendered players would not hit the free agent market; Thursday’s deals locked in their salaries for 2024.
The four arbitration agreements combine for roughly $16 million, giving the Red Sox a solidified number as they look to build their payroll for 2024. Currently, they’re projected to have about $202 million of payroll commitments on the books, which is far short of the $237 million first competitive balance tax threshold.
By agreeing with all four players, the Red Sox avoided having to go through the arduous arbitration process for the fourth straight season. Their last hearing was in 2020 against lefty Eduardo Rodríguez; the team won.
Leave a Reply