Nathan Eovaldi returned to free company when he declined a $20MM participant choice with the Rangers. Stories rapidly tied him to the Braves, however Atlanta is one in all numerous groups concerned. Rob Bradford of WEEI tweets that Eovaldi’s camp has heard from roughly a dozen groups, the Crimson Sox amongst them.
Eovaldi spent 5 seasons with the Sox, totaling 461 2/3 innings of 4.05 ERA ball. He had a implausible postseason in 2018 to assist Boston win the World Sequence. Eovaldi returned on a $68MM free agent deal on the heels of the championship. He typically lived as much as the contract, most notably ending fourth in AL Cy Younger balloting in 2021. Eovaldi departed after the ’22 season, declining a qualifying supply earlier than accepting a two-year, $34MM assure with the Rangers.
That positioned the righty to win a second ring. Eovaldi made 25 begins with a 3.63 ERA as Texas gained the World Sequence in 2023. The Rangers upset this yr, although that wasn’t any fault of his. Eovaldi fired 170 2/3 innings throughout 29 begins, working to a 3.80 earned run common with stable peripherals. He punched out practically 24% of batters confronted whereas issuing free passes at only a 6% fee. His fastball nonetheless checked in round 95-96 MPH on common, whereas he picked up swinging strikes on a superb 13% of his pitches.
There aren’t many higher free agent beginning pitchers within the brief time period. Eovaldi turns 35 in February. He’ll be restricted to 2 or at most three years, however he’s nicely positioned to money in on annual foundation. The earlier qualifying supply made him ineligible for one this time round. There’s no draft compensation weighing down his market. Eovaldi ought to land behind Sean Manaea and Yusei Kikuchi, each of whom are two years youthful, amongst high-AAV starters accessible for comparatively brief phrases.
Boston most likely has some stage of curiosity in all the highest starters. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke on the GM Conferences about the necessity to “increase the ceiling” within the rotation. Boston has stable depth with Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, a returning Lucas Giolito, and the likes of Richard Fitts and Cooper Criswell. They’re awaiting phrase from Nick Pivetta on the $21.05MM qualifying supply, although he’s seemingly leaning in opposition to the QO as he appears to be like for a number of years.
The Sox are among the many most evident matches for the Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell and Max Fried tier in free company. Bradford means that the true top-of-the-market arms stay the Sox’s largest focus, however Eovaldi represents one of many largest accessible upgrades among the many center tier of free brokers.
