Red Sox ‘agree to one-year, $17.5m contract with All-Star Rafael Devers’ to avoid arbitration
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Red Sox ‘agree to a one-year, $17.5 million contract with All-Star Rafael Devers’ to avoid arbitration with an eye to potentially signing the third baseman to a HUGE deal after the season
The Boston Red Sox have agreed to a one-year, $17.5 million contract with All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers with an eye toward an even bigger deal between the two parties next offseason.
The deal helps the Red Sox avoid arbitration with Devers, who is one of the few remaining stars from their 2018 World Series title team. Boston has since traded former MVP Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2019 season and up-and-coming outfielder Andrew Benintendi to the Kansas City Royals before allowing shortstop Xander Bogaerts and designated hitter JD Martinez to free agency after the 2022 season.
The deal is for $17.5 million, according to a person with knowledge of the deal who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team did not disclose contract terms.
As for that long-term deal, the two sides are no closer, now having less than a calendar year to come to an agreement before Devers becomes one of baseball’s most coveted free agents.
The Boston Red Sox have agreed to a one-year, $17.5 million contract with All-Star third baseman Rafael Devers with an eye toward an even bigger deal between the two parties next offseason.
“According to multiple league sources, the Red Sox and Devers are ‘galaxies apart’ in their contract negotiations,” ESPN’s Joon Lee wrote last month. “The current expectation for Devers and his camp is for the third baseman to be a free agent by the end of 2023, given the current state of contract talks.”
The 26-year-old third baseman, who made $11.2 million last season, will be on Boston’s roster for at least one season in his final year of arbitration eligibility before he can hit the free agent open market.
The Red Sox’s biggest success this offseason has been signing Japanese star Masataka Yoshida to a five-year, $90 million deal.
There remain six unsigned Red Sox players eligible for arbitration: Christian Arroyo, Ryan Brasier, Reese McGuire, Nick Pivetta, Josh Taylor and Alex Verdugo.
Devers was the starting third baseman for the American League in the 2021 and 2022 All-Star Games. In 141 games last season, he hit .295 with 42 doubles, 27 home runs and 88 RBIs.
The Red Sox are trying to rebound from a difficult 2022 season in which they plummeted to 78-84 and finished in last place in the AL East a year after winning 92 games, earning a wild card berth in the postseason and reach the ALCS.
Devers (right) has one less reason to stay in Boston after shortstop Xander Bogaerts (left) left for San Diego in free agency