Hot Stove Lunch: Red Sox re-sign Thornburg; Yanks have eye on catching upgrade

There will be no drama today for the Red Sox.

Today is the deadline for major league teams to tender contracts to their unsigned players. Some teams, fearful that arbitration will make players too expensive, choose to non-tender players -- thus making them eligible for free agency.

There had been some speculation that the Sox might do that with Tyler Thornburg, who had a disappointing season after coming back from thoracic outlet surgery, compiling a 5.65 ERA in 25 games. He appeared in just three games after Sept. 1, as the Sox effectively shut him down for the remainder of the season.

Instead, the Red Sox signed Thornburg to a one-year, non-guaranteed deal Friday morning that calls for a $1.75 million base and another $400,000 that he can earn in performance bonuses, based on games pitched.

That means that Thornburg can make as much as $2.15 million -- just shy of the $2.3 million he was projected to make in salary arbitration.

Thornburg, of course, was part of the worst move Dave Dombrowski has made since becoming president of baseball operations in August of 2016. He obtained Thornburg from Milwaukee and gave up infielder Travis Shaw, Mauricio Dubon, Josh Pennington and Yeison Coca. Shaw blossomed as a power-hitting corner infielder while Dubon and Coca remain intriguing prospects.

The Sox also announced that they will tender contracts to the remainder of their arbitration-eligible players: Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Eduardo Rodriguez, Brock Holt, Sandy Leon, Matt Barnes, Brandon Workman, Steven Wright, Heath Hembree and Blake Swihart.

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