Veteran Red Sox starting pitcher leaves in free agency for the Superteam Dodgers
Chris Sale won’t be the only member of the 2023 Red Sox starting rotation pitching for a National League contender next season.
A baseball source confirmed late Monday that lefty James Paxton, who spent the last two seasons with the Red Sox, is nearing an agreement to join the Dodgers on a one-year contract. According to multiple reports (including from Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times and reporter Chad Dey), the contract is worth around $12 million and includes incentives.
Paxton is the first of Boston’s six major league free agents to come off the board as Justin Turner, Adam Duvall, Adalberto Mondesí, Corey Kluber and Joely Rodríguez all remain unsigned with less than a month to go before spring training begins. The Red Sox were reported to have strong interest in re-signing Paxton in late December but quickly fell behind in the bidding as he drew interest from the Orioles and other clubs. The Dodgers, who already added Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernández this winter, are adding to a payroll that was already slated to eclipse $300 million.
Paxton, 35, originally joined the Red Sox on a creative contract that was finalized right before the MLB lockout went into effect in Dec. 2021. That contract paid him $6 million for 2022, which he missed entirely due to setbacks in his recovery from Tommy John surgery that he underwent in April 2021, and included a complicated option structure for 2023. After the Red Sox declined a two-year, $26 million option over Paxton, he returned to the club for a $4 million rate in 2023, meaning his deal paid a total of $10 million over two seasons.
For that modest outlay, the Red Sox got a total of 96 innings over 19 starts, all coming after Paxton made his club debut in mid-May. In total, he posted a 4.50 ERA and 4.68 FIP while striking out 101 batters and showing impressive velocity, including an average on his fastball of 95.2 mph. It was a tale of two seasons for Paxton, who was dominant in his first 10 starts (2.73 ERA, 64 strikeouts in 56 innings), then struggled in the second half. In nine outings after the All-Star break, Paxton allowed a 6.98 ERA while opposing hitters tagged him for 31 earned runs and 52 hits (including 10 homers) in 40 innings. After striking out 32.7% of batters he faced in his first seven starts, he punched out just 19.6% in his final 12.
The Dodgers reportedly had interest in Paxton ahead of the trade deadline and the Red Sox considered moving him considering his impending free agency but, while clinging to contention for a wild card spot, decided to stand pat by neither buying or selling at the deadline. The lack of direction contributed to the club’s decision to fire former chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom six weeks later. Instead of getting prospects back for Paxton at the beginning of August, the Red Sox let him walk for nothing now.
In Sale and Paxton, Boston has now lost two of its top five pitchers in terms of games started in 2023. After dealing Sale to Atlanta and signing Lucas Giolito, the club projects to have Brayan Bello, Giolito, Nick Pivetta and Kutter Crawford in its rotation with Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Josh Winckowski competing for the fifth spot.
An external addition can’t be ruled out, either. Though top free agent arms Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell are likely too expensive for a club looking to lower payroll from the $225 million mark last year, other veterans like Mike Clevinger, Michael Lorenzen, Hyun Jin Ryu and Jakob Junis could fit on short-term deals. And there’s still the possibility new CBO Craig Breslow will dip into Boston’s deep pool of prospects to add a controllable arm via trade before Opening Day.
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