McAdam: Updated - Red Sox lose out in bid for RHP Kohei Arihara

An offseason trend continued Friday night with the news that the Red Sox missed out on Japanese free-agent starter Kohei Arihara.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Arihara was in agreement on a two-year deal with the Texas Rangers, reportedly one of three finalists for the pitcher. The Red Sox and San Diego Padres were said to be the other two.

It marked the third time in the last month that the Red Sox managed to be involved down to the end on a free pitcher, only to ultimately lose out. Earlier, the Sox had gone dollar-for-dollar with the Atlanta Braves for the services of veteran right-hander Charlie Morton before Morton chose Atlanta on a one-year, $15 million deal, in part because of geography and proximity to his Florida home.

More recently, the Sox were also finalists for free agent reliever Tommy Kahnle, who signed a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier this week. Kahnle is coming off Tommy John surgery and is expected to miss all of 2021, but the Dodgers -- like the Red Sox -- were willing to consider a two-year backloaded deal in order to have Kahnle for 2022.

And now, the Sox have swung and missed on Arihara.



Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that Arihara signed a two-year deal worth between $6-7 million. Saturday was to be the close of the bidding period for Arihara, who had been posted by the Nippon Ham Fighters last month.

The Red Sox remain very much interested in another Japanese free-agent pitcher, Tomoyuki Sugano, widely regarded as one of the game's top international pitchers. Sugano's posting window closes Jan. 7.

Arihara was not considered as accomplished as Sugano, whom many MLB evaluators see as either a No. 2 or No. 3 starter here. Arihara is considered more of a No. 4 starter. He is, however, about three years younger than Sugano, and bigger physically. Though both are about 6-foot-1 or 6-2, Arihara is some 25 pounds heavier and features better velocity on his fastball.

He was chosen as the 2015 Pacific League Rookie of the Year in 2015. His best season came in 2019 when he went 15-8 with a 2.46 ERA for the Nippon Ham Fighters. This past year, Arihara was 8-9, 3.46. Unlike Sugano, Arihara doesn't have

Like Sugano, Arihara throws his fastball in the low 90s and has a deep repertoire. His best swing-and-miss pitch is his splitter.

It had been thought that Arihara would command a smaller contract offer than his countryman. The Rangers, per rules established by MLB on posted players, will owe Nippon 20 percent of value of the contract.