Far later than usual, thanks to the lockout, Salary Arbitration Day happened Tuesday, with the Sox settling on salaries with five players, eliminating the possibility of conducting potentially contentious hearings with players once the regular season was underway.
In an ordinary baseball calendar, numbers get exchanged in January and hearings take place in February and early March in Florida and Arizona. But thanks to the lockout, everything got pushed back.
Having come to terms with two other arbitration-eligible players before the lockout -- reliever Ryan Brasier and catcher Kevin Plawecki -- the Sox were left with five others heading into Tuesday: Rafael Devers, Alex Verdugo, Nick Pivetta, Josh Taylor and Christian Arroyo.
Shortly after the 1 p.m. deadline, word came that the Sox had settled with three of the players: Verdugo ($3.55 million), Taylor ($1.025 million) and Pivetta ($2.65 million).
A little later, the Sox also settled with Arroyo at $1.2 million.
Conspicuous by his absence from this list of settlement was Devers, the most important of the five. After exchanging figures early in the afternoon, it appeared that the Sox had failed to reach a compromise and would be headed to a hearing. That, in turn, was seen as somewhat ominous, given that the Red Sox intend to begin contract discussions with Devers on a long-term extension this spring.
For now, Devers is only under control through the 2023 season, at which time he could be eligible for free agency.
In recent years, following an industry-wide trend, the Sox had adopted the "file-and-trial'' approach -- that is, if an agreement isn't reached by the exchange deadline, the Sox are intent on taking the matter to a hearing.
But by late afternoon, the two sides gave it another try and reached a settlement at $11.2 million.
Verdugo's deal came in higher than the figure estimated last fall by MLB Trade Rumors, which had him at $3.2 million. Meanwhile, the site had Taylor slotted for $1.1 million and Pivetta at $3.2 million.
Arroyo was projected for $1.1 million while Devers was at $11.1 million.
With the business of his 2022 salary taken care of, the Sox can now presumably turn their attention to a more ambitious project -- getting Devers signed long-term. Last week, Chaim Bloom told NESN the team expected to undertake some extension talks with some eligible players before the end of spring training.
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The Sox claimed righthanded pitcher Kyle Tyler, 25, on waivers from the Los Angeles Angels Tuesday and optioned him to Triple-A Worcester.
Tyler made his big league debut with the Angels last season, making five relief appearances and compiling a 2.92 ERA. He spent most of last season at Triple A Salt Lake City and Double A Rocket City, going 6-4 with a 3.66 ERA in 20 games, 15 of them starts.
He was a 20th round pick of the Angels in 2018.
To make room for Tyler on the 40-man roster, the Sox designated infielder Hudson Potts. Potts was part of the deal that sent Mitch Moreland to San Diego at the trade deadline in 2020. Potts hit .217 with 11 homers and 47 RBI at Double-A Portland last year.
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Manager Alex Cora has sketched out some of his starting pitching plans for the first two series of the regular season.
Cora told reporters that Nathan Eovaldi will pitch the opener, followed by Pivetta in Game No. 2 and Tanner Houck in the third game in Yankee Stadium. Then, it will be Michael Wacha in Detroit in the first game of the second series. The No. 5 spot will go to either Rich Hill or Garrett Whitlock.
While Cora hasn't committed to choosing Hill over Whitlock for the final spot, it would seem somewhat inevitable. Hill signed as a starter last fall, while Whitlock may be more valuable in a multi-inning role in relief.
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The Red Sox announced that they will honor the memory of the late Jerry Remy with a special patch on the team's uniforms throughout 2022. Remy, who played seven seasons with the team before becoming a broadcast icon in their TV booth, passed away last fall after a long battle with cancer...The Sox also plan to honor Remy with a pre-game ceremony on April 20 at Fenway....The Red Sox improved to 6-0 in Grapefruit League play, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays, 4-2, in Port Charlotte. Bobby Dalbec continued his torrid spring, knocking in two runs with a double. Rich Hill tossed two shutout innings to start, and was followed by Garrett Whitlock, who tossed two scoreless frames of his own. Matt Barnes had a 1-2-3 fifth inning.