Free agency
For some reason that ought to be known inside the Red Sox organization, Boston basically hemorrhaged free agent talent this past winter. A lavish 13 members of the 2022 Red Sox either who were released or opted for free agency caught on with new major league teams this season to a tune of +1.6 games worth of WAA for their new clubs. That kind of leakage is bad news for the Sox.
Begin with Xander Bogaerts, who chose to sign with San Diego. To date, he’s been worth +0.8 WAA to the Padres’ stumbling cause.
Statistically, Nathan Eovaldi has been the larger loss. Signing with Texas for $52 million through 2025, Eovaldi is an anchor in a division-leading rotation. His 1.7 WAA to date breaks down to a 9-3 record and 2.82 ERA in 16 starts.
Less impactful losses included J.D. Martinez, Franchy Cordero, Tommy Pham, Eric Hosmer, Michael Wacha and Rich Hill. But the interesting element is the sheer volume of free agent turnover.
What did Bloom and O’Halloran gain from the free agent market? Again in a word, volume. They signed, re-signed or extended 14 players, many of them well-known. Corey Kluber, James Paxton, Adam Duvall, Kenley Jansen and Japanese import Masataka Yoshida all came or stayed on board.
The results have been generally positive. Paxton (+0.8) is 3-1 with a 3.19 ERA in eight starts, and Chris Martin (+0.9) has a 1.90 ERA in 24 relief appearances.
Kluber (-1.3) has been the big free agent disappointment, running up a 3-6 record and 7.04 ERA in 15 appearances, nine of them starts.