The Red Sox and right-handed Corey Cluber agree on a one-year deal plus a club option for 2024. Kluber will be guaranteed $10m on the deal, although there are also unknown incentives that could increase client Wasserman’s eventual salary . The 2024 option is valued at $11 million.
Kluber, 37 in April, was once one of the greatest pitchers alive, winning Cy Young awards in 2014 and 2017. These were part of a six-year streak of excellence with Cleveland from 2013 to 2018, Kluber posting a 2.96 ERA on this time with a strikeout rate of 27.7%, a walk rate of 5.2% and a ground ball rate of 44.9%.
Injuries have limited him to just eight starts in total in 2019 and 2020, with a broken forearm and torn teres muscle the main culprits. He’s since come back up, but as a backend pitcher instead of the ace he was with Cleveland, signing one-year contracts with the Yankees and Rays the past two seasons. He made 16 starts in 2021 with a 3.83 ERA and 31 starts in 2022 with a 4.34 ERA. His withdrawal rate of 34.7% in 2017 had fallen to 24% last year and 20.2% in 2022. He still avoided free passes, something he has long excelled at, with his walk rate of 3% this year just a few ticks below his career. 5.4% points.
Statcast pegged Kluber’s average four-seam fastball speed at 88.9 mph in 2022, a significant drop from pre-injury, when he was between 93 and 95. Nonetheless, he still found ways to be generally effective, as his average exit velocity was in the 80th percentile, his hard hit rate in the 75th, and his barrel rate in the 57th. Given his age and verified medical history, MLBTR predicted him to a one-year, $12 million deal, with Kluber just below, though incentives could potentially make up the difference.
For the Sox, adding another starting pitcher makes a lot of sense given the uncertainty with their current options. Nick Pivette is probably the only solid member of their group right now, as Chris Sale and James Paxton have barely launched in the past three years. Brian Bell and Garret Whitlock are penciled in two places, despite being young and only having 20 MLB starts between them. Kluber is a bit of a question mark himself, but adding him to the picture further reduces the likelihood that the club will have to rely on depth options like Connor Seabold or Josh Winkowski throughout the year.
Boston had also been connected to various other starters throughout the offseason, including Zach Evelyne, Carlos Rodon, Kodai Senga, Andrew Heane, Seth Lugo, Tyler Anderson, rich hill and Nathan Eovaldi. These players have all found new clubs since, with Eovaldi signing a two-year contract with Rangers yesterday. Athletic’s Chad Jennings Reports that the Red Sox offered Eovaldi a three-year contract earlier this month, although the guarantee on that offer is not known. Either way, it looks like Eovaldi rejected it in favor of the Texas and Boston offer, then turned to Kluber.
Kulber had previously been connected to the Angels and Cubs, although the latter’s interest predated the signing Jameson Taillon and Drew Smyly. If the Angels are still looking for rotation upgrades, some of the remaining free agents include Michael Wacha, Johnny Cueto and Zack Greinke.
The deal brings the Red Sox payroll to $186 million and their competitive tax balance to $212 million, according to calculations by List resource. That should leave them room for more additions if they want to, as they’ve managed a payroll as high as $236 million in the past, per Cot’s baseball contractsand they are still more than $20 million away from the $233 million luxury tax threshold.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that Kluber and the Red Sox had agreed to a one-year contract plus a club option. Boston Globe’s Alex Speier first reported the $10 million guarantee. Jon Heyman of the New York Post first reported the $11 million figure for the option and that the deal contained incentives.
Image courtesy USA Today Sports.
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