The Red Sox announced on Tuesday the signing of a right-handed appeaser Hirokazu Sawamura two-year contract with a dual club / player option for the 2023 season. Jeffrey Springs was assigned to assign a vacancy on the list of 40 men. Sawamura, a 10-season veteran of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, is represented by JBA Sports.
Reports from last week indicated that Sawamura and the Sox were discussing an affordable two-year pact, which Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic recently set at $ 3 million in guaranteed money. Details have not yet been revealed, although Rosenthal has indicated that Sawamura’s deal could reach about $ 7.65 million in total.
Sawamura, 33 in April, played nine and a half seasons with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan before being traded to the Chiba Lotte marines in early 2020. He had a rough start at his longtime club, making nine runs in his first 13 1/3 frames, but Sawamura changed things with the Marines. In 21 innings in the final stretch, he shot for an immaculate 1.71 ERA while eliminating 29 of the 82 batters he faced (35.3 percent). Sawamura gained 10 points in that period (12.1 percent) – much more than has been typical throughout his career at the NPB, but the promising result probably allayed some concerns from MLB clubs about a potential decline.
Overall, Sawamura recorded 868 1/3 innings in his NPB career and worked for an ERA of 2.77 with an elimination rate of 22.1 percent and a walking rate of 7.3 percent. He started his career as a starter before becoming the closest to the Giants in 2015 – a role he held for two years.
Sawamura accumulated 73 saves as the 2015-16 Giants’ ninth inning option before losing the 2017 season due to a shoulder problem. The lost season came after a bizarre scene in which a minor shoulder problem was mistreated, leading to wider nervous problems that left him out for months. The team president, GM and the medical team apologized to Sawamura after the incident. Since his return in 2018, he has worked as a configuration man. He mainly launched in a configuration capability since his return in 2018.
Sawamura has been healthy since that unfortunate streak and gives Red Sox an intriguing pitcher that may eventually emerge as a last-minute option. The right-hander has a fastball that can reach 97 mph, a low-90 divider that serves as his main shot and a less-used slider to complete a three-shot arsenal.
If that $ 3 million is in fact the final guarantee, it will represent a $ 1.5 million reduction in luxury tax for the Red Sox, regardless of how those dollars are paid. That compromise fits closely within a shrinking window between Boston’s luxury general ledger and the $ 210 million tax limit.
Jason Martinez of Roster Resource now has just under $ 2 million of breathing space, which makes additional negotiations unlikely, unless the Sox suddenly abandon their preference to stay south of the barrier, join another negotiation to reduce your financial obligations or cut one of your players eligible for refereeing during Spring Training. (Unless specifically negotiated otherwise, arbitrage negotiations are only partially guaranteed until Opening Day.)
Returning to Springs, 28, he will now be available to other clubs through permanent waivers, an exchange or a simple release. The Red Sox have a week to decide which route to choose. The 2020 season was Springs’ first with the Red Sox, and it proved to be a struggle. At 20 1/3 frames, the former southpaw Rangers was set for a 7.08 ERA. He hit 28% of his opponents against just 7% walking, but five of the 99 opponents that Springs faced took him far. He has 5.42 ERA and 4.66 FIP in 84 2/3 Major League level entries between Texas and Boston organizations.