Just days after the official end of the 2021 season, the Red Sox already have some clarity about their off-season and who is -- and isn't -- returning for next year.
On Sunday, in accordance with MLB-mandated deadlines, the Red Sox passed on options for pitchers Garrett Richards and Martin Perez, picked up the option of catcher Christian Vazquez and presented free agent pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez with a qualifying offer.
Additionally, the team learned that DH J.D. Martinez is returning for the final year of his five-year deal. Martinez had the ability to opt-out of his deal and explore free agency, but for the third straight winter, declined to do so.
Rodriguez now has another 10 days to decide whether to accept the qualifying offer of $18.4 million for 2022. If he accepts, he remains under control with the Sox through at least next season, with nothing stopping the two sides from negotiating a longer-term deal. If he refuses, he becomes a free agent, with the Sox standing to gain draft pick compensation if he signs elsewhere.
"We just felt like it made sense for us,'' said chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom. "However that turns out, we just thought the organization would be in a better position having offered him the QO, than not.''
Rodriguez posted a 4.74 ERA, but his secondary numbers revealed that to be at least partly the result of either bad luck or poor defense behind him.
"It was not a perfect year for him,'' said Bloom. "But we feel strongly enough about him and what he's shown he can do and we think he can do going forward that he felt we were in good position extending him this QO.''
Bloom added that it was reasonable to expect that if Rodriguez were to accept the qualifying offer, the two sides would also continue to work on a long-term extension.
"We'd love to have him here for a longer period of time if it lines up for everybody,'' said Bloom, "and it's fair to expect that that's something we're going to be exploring simultaneously.''
Even if no deal is cut for beyond next season, Rodriguez would be under team control for 2022.
Vazquez, who had been in the organization since 2008, making him Boston's longest-tenured player, will return to the Sox for his eighth season with the major league team. He had a poor year offensively in 2021 (.659 OPS), but remains an above-average defender. Further, the Red Sox don't have any alternatives internally to assume the role of No. 1 catcher and at $7 million, Vazquez wasn't exactly cost prohibitive.
There had been divided opinion on whether Martinez would opt-out. Given that he had just one year remaining, Martinez might have been tempted to go elsewhere on a multi-year deal that would have paid him less in AAV (average annual value), but provided some additional years of security.
It may have been that Martinez did not like the uncertainty of the DH position. It's widely expected that the DH will be adapted permanently by the National League in upcoming labor talks, but with no new deal in place, that's not guaranteed and Martinez had to make his choice before having any certainty.
"You learn over time in this game not to be too surprised by anything,'' said Bloom. "(We're) certainly happy that he's still with us. He's such a force in the lineup -- not only with what he produces but how he transforms what the lineup looks like around him. He changes the conversation in the (batting) cage, the preparation for games. So we're very, very excited that he's back with us. This was one, stepping back and looking at it, I don't know that there was any outcome that would have surprised us. But we're really glad that he decided to say.''
The return of Martinez may make a reunion with Kyle Schwarber difficult, since both are primarily designated hitters and finding enough at-bats for both would be a challenge. Then again, if the two could co-exist for 2022, the Sox would have an in-house candidate to replace Martinez as the primary DH in 2023 and beyond.
"We've been engaged with Kyle and we're going to stay engaged,'' Bloom said. "Obviously, knowing that J.D. is here changes how we look at the lineup and our position player group, generally. But as I said after the season, we played some of our best baseball with both of those guys (in the same lineup).. They certainly both fit. It just gives us more clarity going forward as to what path we might take as we reshape and put together this position player group for 2022.''
Richards had a $10 million option, an increase from his $8.5 million base salary from 2021. But after pitching himself out of the rotation in August with a poor second half, the Sox determined that that was too high a price to warrant exercising their option and instead paid him a $1.5 million buyout.
Bloom told Richards Sunday that the team could potentially have interest in bringing him back at a lesser number.
"We didn't feel like it made sense to exercise the option,'' said Bloom. "But we're going to stay in touch with him and it's certainly possible that something could line up.''
Perez had a $4.5 million base in 2021 with a $6 million team option for 2022. Instead, the Sox gave him a $500,000 buyout. It's worth noting that the team also passed on a club option for Perez last winter, only to later re-sign him to a new deal. Perez, too, began the year in the rotation and enjoyed a decent first half before faltering in mid-season and being re-assigned to the bullpen.