Red Sox avoid arbitration with four players
The Red Sox avoided arbitration with four players this past week, reaching agreements with Nick Pivetta, John Schreiber, Tyler O’Neill and Reese McGuire.
Pivetta agreed to $7.5 million contract for this coming season. He will now enter the final season under contract with the Red Sox.
The right-hander was protected to earn $6.9 million according to MLB Trade Rumors. Pivetta’s 2023 started poorly resulting in being moved into the bullpen.
Over the final few weeks of the season, Boston moved Pivetta back into the rotation and over his final five starts, he posted a 2.43 ERA while striking out 43 batters. Opponents only hit .186 against him, as he allowed nine earned runs in 33.1 innings of work. Every time he took the mound, Pivetta gave the Red Sox a chance to win.
O’Neill comes to Boston and will earn $5.85 million next season. The outfielder will also enter the final year of his deal with the Red Sox.
The Red Sox acquired O’Neill from the Cardinals in December for pitchers Victor Santos and Nick Robertson. Last season, O’Neill made $4.95 million and was initially projected to earn $5.35 million according to MLB Trade Rumors.
McGuire earned a raise from the $1.2225 million last season to $1.5 million next season. He will enter next season as Connor Wong’s backup catcher and will compete with Roberto Perez who signed a minor league pact with the club this offseason.
Schreiber will earn $1.175 million, a raise from the $750,000 he received last year in pre-arbitration.
The four agreements combine for roughly $16 million and now the Red Sox have a payroll number and can look to add more players to the roster moving forward. The Red Sox are currently sitting at around $202 million which falls short of the $237 million first competitive balance tax threshold.
This is the fourth straight season where the Red Sox avoided going into salary arbitration with a player. The last player to go through the process was former left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez.
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