BOSTON – Looking to update its bullpen, the Red Sox went to its main rivals for help. And surprisingly, his wish was granted.
On Monday, Sox acquired right-handed
It was the first Red Sox-Yankees exchange since 2014, when Stephen Drew went to New York in exchange for Kelly Johnson.
“I think that’s what surprised me the most today, except that it was this type of trade,” said Ottavino. “I feel like I’m going to end up with a trivial question one day. When [Yankees general manager Brian] Cashman told me Red Sox, that was not the name I expected. I knew it could be negotiated, but I definitely didn’t expect it. It’s fun to be part of something a little out of the ordinary. “
Ottavino will be one of the most important members of a bullpen that the Red Sox hope to improve since last season.
“This was a change where we felt we could address a number of different goals,” said Chaim Bloom, baseball director in Boston. “We acquired Adam Ottavino, a veteran reliever who was very successful, successful in our division, has a swing-and-miss material that plays against everyone, especially right-handed hitter. There are many right-handed hitter in our division and many others who seem to continue to adhere to it. “
The Yankees, with DJ LeMahieu, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Luke Voit and Gio Urshela, are as dominant as any team in the league. Red Sox will count on Ottavino to help neutralize this potent lineup in the last few entries.
Ottavino owes $ 8 million in 2021. The Yankees will send $ 850,000 to the Red Sox in trade, a source told Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Therefore, Boston will be committed to $ 7.15 million of Ottavino’s salary. Ottavino signed a $ 27 million three-year contract on January 24, 2019, meaning that he accounts for $ 9 million for the luxury tax at 21. Subtracting the $ 850,000 that the Yankees sent in the deal, the scam for the Red Sox this year is $ 8,150,000.
Why would the Yankees deliver Ottavino to the Red Sox as a wage eviction? Not only does New York have a current quote list that fits into the recent deals with LeMahieu and Corey Kluber, but it can also use part of Ottavino’s exchange savings to fill other club needs.
“In fact, we were just looking at how it fit into our goals,” said Bloom. “I think that’s important, even if it’s the Yankees. It is very difficult to be great if you are too busy worrying about others. We have to worry about us. “
Ottavino’s addition capped a few hectic days for Bloom, who, according to sources, reached an agreement with superuser Enrique Hernández in a two-year, $ 14 million deal on Friday and then agreed to the terms on Saturday with holder Garrett Richards on a $ 10 million one-year contract that includes a 2022 club option.
Although Red Sox President / CEO Sam Kennedy was sincere in telling Dan Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe last week: “I think it would be incorrect to say that we are going to do this with an all-in approach that we may have done before of the 2018 title, ”The recent flurry of movement shows that Bloom is motivated to put a rival team on the field in ’21.
“Well, we definitely feel that we are positioned to be in a good place soon, in relation to where we started off-season,” said Bloom. “It is interesting that the pace of this off-season has been so different that it seems that there are still many dominoes to fall into the industry, so if that is the case, it means that there may be opportunities to do more to achieve our goals. But we hope to be in a position soon here where we can look around and say that we have accomplished many of the things we set out to do in the beginning, and we can take that and go from there. “
In addition to their recent moves, the Sox would still like to expand their field outside, and the club is looking to free field player Jackie Bradley Jr., who has spent his entire career in Boston.
After a brilliant season for the Yankees in 2019 (1.90 ERA in 73 games), Ottavino was not as strong in the shortened pandemic season 20, registering 5.89 ERA in 24 matches. However, his ERA was hampered by a tough fight against the Blue Jays on September 7, when he dropped out of six races without registering an exit. If you subtract that performance, Ottavino would have an ERA of 2.95.
Although the Yankees are expected to do better than the Red Sox refurbished in 2021, Ottavino is eager to see what it’s like to launch to the other side of the rivalry. He worked in college for Northeastern University, which is less than a mile from Fenway Park.
“I’m very excited,” said Ottavino. “I was a little surprised today when I received the news, but considering all things, Boston is always a place I wanted to play. I went to school there, I feel very comfortable in Fenway and all that good stuff. I am very excited to bring what I bring. I hope I can do my thing outside the bullpen and help us win some ball games. “
Defender Ottavino has been mainly a coach in his career, although he has made 19 career saves. It remains to be seen if the Red Sox would give it a chance to close.
Matt Barnes took on Boston’s final role last August, when Brandon Workman was traded to the Phillies. Pitcher Barnes was also used primarily as a preparation in his career.
“[Manager] Alex [Cora] and I was talking about it while it was happening. In short, we think we have just acquired someone who is really capable of throwing in any last-minute situation, ”said Bloom. “How it shakes up with regards to who closes, this is something that we are still going to discuss, but it is good to have someone with experience in doing this and launching in these situations to add to our mix, and then just find out from there.”
“We got a lot deeper into that,” said Bloom. “Especially when the guys start reaching 30, it’s obviously something you want to pay attention to. Really, under the hood, everything looked very similar to 2019. I think you can see that in many of its peripheral numbers. The material was still in place. Many things in terms of material, in terms of execution, in terms of many of the results that you could predict, all of which were still in place. This is all very encouraging as we look at 2021. ”
Like many people around the world, Ottavino is pleased that 2020 is in the rear view mirror.
“[It] it was a difficult year for me personally in the field. I just didn’t play the way I wanted in general and I probably had the worst game of my career right here in the middle, which made it much more difficult to deal with and didn’t give me much of a chance in the playoffs, so it was difficult, ”said Ottavino. “I don’t think everything was terrible. Some things were good. I learned a few things going through this and I’m really excited for the next season to come, but I will try to leave that behind, for sure. “
Selection of the Cardinals in the first round of the 2006 MLB Draft, Ottavino remained in the St. Louis system for six years, launching just five major league games. He was claimed for the Rockies waivers in 2012.
Ottavino had a strong seven-year run in the Colorado bullpen, posting an ERA of 3.41. He became a free agent after the 2018 season, and Red Sox was one of the teams interested in his services before he signed a $ 27 million three-year contract with the Yankees.
Throughout his career, Ottavino dominated the right-handed, keeping them at a 0.212 / .291 / .324 cut line. He had a small slippage in the 2020 season, with the right-handers cut 0.263 / 0.311 / 0.439 against him.
Negotiations between the Red Sox and the Yankees take place less frequently than presidential elections. Before the Drew-Johnson exchange in ’14, the sides had not matched since 1997, when Mike Stanley went from the Sox to the Yankees to Tony Armas Jr. A few months later, the Red Sox packaged Weapons as part of their trade with Expos to Land future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez.
Shortly before the 1986 season, rivals switched designated hitters when Don Baylor came to Boston in exchange for Mike Easler.
Of course, no Red Sox fan wants to hear about the most famous conversation between rivals – the one that involved Babe Ruth.
“I know it’s the Yankees and I understand what that means. It is the best-known rivalry in sports, ”said Bloom. “It is part of what makes this organization’s history so great, is to start fighting these guys regularly. But if we’re not willing to do something that helps us because it helps them … or worse, if we’re worried that it mightn’t go as we expected and blow up in our face and get sick, then we’re just playing with fear, and we won’t play afraid. “
Ottavino joins a red Sox bullpen that includes Barnes, Darwinzon Hernandez, Josh Taylor, Ryan Brasier and possibly Matt Andriese, depending on the role he takes on.
The 23-year-old German, native of Queens, NY, is 5 to 8 years old with 3.56 ERA in 30 games (23 matches) in the Minor Leagues. The Yankees selected him in the fourth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
“He’s an interesting prospect,” said Bloom. “I know this organization has been watching him since he was in Draft, I remember talking about him in our Draft room when I was with the Rays and he was in North Florida as a kind of pop-up in that spring. He is a powerful arm with a very good fast ball that has a good fleece, a good life. Secondaries are coming. The fastball is certainly the foundation now, but it is a good place to start. “
Ian Browne has covered the Red Sox for MLB.com since 2002. Follow him on Twitter @IanMBrowne and Facebook.