Tag: Baseball

Red Sox Waiting for Another Opinion on Chris Sale’s Sore Left Elbow

One day after it was revealed that left-hander Chris Sale was dealing with soreness in his left elbow and an MRI had been sent to elbow specialist Dr. James Andrews, the Red Sox are now seeking a third opinion from another specialist in Dr. Neil ElAttrache, according to interim manager Ron Roenicke.

Sale reported the elbow soreness to the team’s medical staff on Monday, one day after throwing 15 pitches while facing live hitters for the first time since last August.

At that time, he was diagnosed with inflammation in his left elbow and received a platelet-rich plasma injection from Dr. Andrews that same month before eventually being shut down for the remainder of the 2019 campaign.

The Florida native was cleared to begin throwing again in late November, though, and outside of a bout with pneumonia, he seemed completely healthy otherwise headed into the spring. But now, it appears that his 2020 season could be in jeopardy.

Roenicke did say to not assume the worst-case scenario with Sale until the Red Sox have gathered all the necessary information, and he emphasized how they “want to get this right.”

Still, as The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham notes, “teams usually don’t get a third opinion to confirm good news. Getting opinions from Andrews and ElAttrache certainly suggests there’s a significant injury.”

According to Roenicke, the Red Sox should have word from Dr. ElAttrache within “the next day or so.”

Until then, stay tuned for more updates.

Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts Set to Make Spring Debut Against Tigers

For the first time this spring, Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts is set to make a Grapefruit League start.

Yes, after being sidelined with a sore left ankle since reporting to camp last month, the 27-year-old will serve as designated hitter and bat out of the three-hole for Boston against the Tigers at JetBlue Park on Wednesday.

Bogaerts initially suffered the injury while partaking in offseason workouts in his home country of Aruba back in early February, but he has progressed nicely over the past week or so.

“He’s pretty close to getting in a game,” interim manager Ron Roenicke said of Bogaerts Tuesday. “We’ll probably start him at DH. I guess he’s made a lot of progress over the last couple days.”

Lo and behold, Bogaerts is starting at DH for the Sox on Wednesday. He’ll probably get anywhere between two to three plate appearances.

And despite this setback, Bogaerts is still expected to be ready for Opening Day on March 26th.

Rafael Devers Homers but Red Sox Pitching Falters in 9-1 Loss to Yankees

After enduring their second tie of the spring to kick off the first week of March on Monday, the Red Sox fell to 4-6-2 in Grapefruit League play on Tuesday following a 9-1 defeat at the hands of the New York Yankees in Tampa Bay.

Making his second start of the season for Boston was Martin Perez, coming off two one-run innings in his last time out against the Pirates last Wednesday.

Working just 2/3 of an inning this time around, the left-hander was eventually charged with six runs, only one of which was earned, on four hits and one walk to go along with no strikeouts on the afternoon.

Those numbers certainly don’t look encouraging, but it’s difficult to place all the blame on Perez when the reality of the situation is that he gave up a fair amount of soft contact and endured some bad luck thanks to the defense behind him.

The 28-year-old wound up facing the first eight hitters in the Yankees lineup and finished with a final pitch count of 34 before being pulled by interim manager Ron Roenicke. His third start of the spring should come against the Twins on Sunday.

Turning to the bullpen earlier than they would have liked to, minor-league right-hander Hunter Haworth inherited a messy situation with one out still to get and the bases full.

A wild pitch to begin his outing allowed that runner on third, Luke Voit, to easily score, and the bases were re-filled once more following a walk of Clint Frazier.

A hard-hit single off the bat of D.J. LeMahieu plated another two runs, and just like that, the Yankees had themselves a 6-0 lead before Haworth was able to retire the side in what turned out to be a 39-minute first inning.

From there, Haworth sat down the side in order in the bottom half of the second, left-hander Josh Taylor served up a solo homer to Gio Urshela in the third and worked a scoreless fourth, Austin Brice fanned two in a clean fifth, Josh Osich stranded the bases loaded in the sixth, Domingo Tapia allowed one run on two hits, one walk, and an RBI forceout in the seventh, and R.J. Alvarez surrendered another run on three hits and a walk in the eighth.

All in all, Sox pitching combined to give up nine runs (four earned) on 13 hits and seven walks to go along with eight total strikeouts over eight innings of work.

On the other side of things, a Red Sox starting lineup that featured Andrew Benintendi, Rafael Devers, Michael Chavis, Jonathan Lucroy, Jose Peraza, Tzu-Wei Lin, C.J. Chatham, Jarren Duran, and John Andreoli was matched up against a familiar opponent in Yankees veteran right-hander Masahiro Tanaka to begin things on Tuesday.

Going down by six runs before even taking their second at-bats of the day had to be a kick in the gut, and the only offense generated by Boston came courtesy of Rafael Devers in the top half of the fourth inning.

There, facing off against new Yankees reliever Clarke Schmidt, the 23-year-old led the frame off by crushing a fastball to deep center for his second home run of the spring.

That solo blast cut the Yankees’ advantage down to six runs at 7-1, but that was all the Sox could muster in an eventual 9-1 loss.

Some observations from this defeat:

Andrew Benintendi, in his return to the lineup on Tuesday: 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

Jonathan Lucroy on Tuesday: 0-for-2 with a few mishaps behind the plate. Kevin Plawecki did not play.

Tzu-Wei Lin was pulled early due to tightness in his left hamstring. Cole Sturgeon took over for him.

I won’t post the numbers, but Austin Brice has looked pretty decent through three spring appearances out of the bullpen.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they’ll host the Detroit Tigers at JetBlue Park on Wednesday afternoon.

Left-hander Jeffrey Springs will get the start for Boston, while right-hander Ivan Nova will do the same for Detroit.

Springs, 27, could be a viable option to serve as an opener given the current state of the Red Sox’ starting rotation. Speaking of which, an update regarding the status of Chris Sale should be available Wednesday morning, so stay tuned for that.

In regards to Tuesday’s game, first pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM EST. It will not be televised.

Red Sox’ Tzu-Wei Lin Pulled From Tuesday’s Game Against Yankees Due to Left Hamstring Tightness

Red Sox utilityman Tzu-Wei Lin was pulled after the first inning of Tuesday’s Grapefruit League contest against the New York Yankees due to left hamstring tightness, the team announced.

Lin started in center field for Boston in Tampa Bay on Tuesday, played the entirety of the bottom half of the first inning, which was rather lengthy, and was subsequently replaced by Cole Sturgeon in the top half of the second.

The cause of Lin’s tight hamstring is not yet known, but the 26-year-old had gotten his spring off to an impressive start, slashing .412/.474/.471 with one double, one RBI, and one stolen base through his first 19 plate appearances entering Tuesday.

Entering his seventh full season with the Red Sox organization after signing as an international free agent out of Taiwan back in June 2012, Lin finds himself without any minor-league options remaining on his current contract, meaning he has to make the big-league club out of spring training if he does not want to be exposed to waivers.

With rosters expanding to 26 players this year, Lin has plenty of factors, like his versatility, working in his favor, so hopefully this hamstring injury does not sideline him for too long. I’m sure interim manager Ron Roenicke will provide an update at the conclusion of Tuesday’s contest.

Red Sox’ Chris Sale Dealing With Left Elbow Soreness

Red Sox ace left-hander Chris Sale is dealing with soreness in his left elbow, according to interim manager Ron Roenicke.

Per Roenicke, Sale first experienced the soreness on Monday, one day after facing live hitters for the first time since last August. He has since been sent for an MRI and the Red Sox are awaiting the results from Dr. James Andrews.

Sale, who turns 31 later this month, was already expected to begin the 2020 season on the injured list due to an earlier bout with pneumonia that would have delayed his spring preparations, but this recent news adds another layer of concern.

In that live batting practice session on a Fenway South backfield on Sunday, Sale threw 15 pitches while utilizing his entire pitch mix, and did not feel any pain in his arm upon the session’s completion.

Heading into what is now the first year of the five-year, $145 million extension he signed with Boston last March, Sale’s left elbow has received plenty of attention over the past 12 months.

The Florida native was shut down by the Sox due to inflammation in that same elbow last August, and he received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection from Dr. Andrews later that same month.

He was eventually cleared to resume throwing right around Thanksgiving, though, and up until Tuesday morning, any developments related to his left arm seemed to be positive and encouraging.

With the results of the MRI yet to be revealed, it’s unclear on where things will go from here. Worst-case scenario is most likely season-ending surgery, but we really don’t know anything yet.

What we do know is that a Red Sox starting rotation that already faced plenty of skepticism will face even more if Sale is indeed sidelined for an even longer period of time than initially anticipated.

 

Bobby Dalbec, Marcus Wilson, and Connor Wong All Homer as Red Sox Tie With Tigers

After putting an end to a three-game losing streak on Sunday, the Red Sox drew with the Detroit Tigers in Lakeland on Monday to fall to 4-5-2 in Grapefruit League action.

Making his second start of the spring for Boston was Ryan Weber, coming off two scoreless innings in his last time out against the Orioles last Tuesday.

Working the first three innings this time around, the right-hander impressed yet again, as he yielded just one unearned run on three hits and zero walks to go along with six strikeouts on the afternoon. In other words, he struck out half of the 12 hitters he faced.

That lone Tigers tally came right away with two outs in the first, when a fielding error committed by Jose Peraza off a C.J. Cron single to left allowed Jonathan Schoop to score all the way from first. Hence the run not being charged to Weber.

Other than that though, the 29-year-old settled down and retired seven of the final eight Detroit hitters he faced. At this point, it certainly looks like Weber deserves a shot in the starting rotation to at least begin the season. His next outing should come on Sunday against the Twins.

In relief of Weber, right-hander Matt Barnes made his first appearance of the spring, and he struck out one over a perfect bottom half of the fourth inning.

Colten Brewer followed suit by fanning a pair in a 1-2-3 fifth, but things from a pitching perspective got ugly from there. That being the case due to the fact that Denyi Reyes surrendered four runs on two separate two-run home runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and newcomer Phillips Valdez tossing a clean eighth before running into more trouble in the ninth.

There, in what was still an 11-5 game in favor Boston, Valdez allowed five of the first seven Tigers he faced in the inning to reach base, resulting in three Detroit runs coming in to score to make it an 11-8 game.

That led to a pitching change that saw Adam Lau take over for Valdez with inherited runners on first and second, and he served up a three-run shot to the first man he faced in Travis Demeritte, who was also responsible for the homer in the sixth, to tie this thing up at 11 runs apiece.

Lau did manage to record the final out of the ninth though, and 11-11 would go on to be Monday’s final score.

The guys who are likely to open the 2020 season with the Red Sox — Weber, Barnes, Brewer — were fine. The guys who are likely to start the season in either Double-A Portland or Triple-A Pawtucket — Reyes, Valdez, and to a lesser extent Lau — did not.

On the other side of things, a Red Sox starting lineup that featured Kevin Pillar, Jackie Bradley Jr., Michael Chavis, Kevin Plawecki, Jonathan Lucroy (DH), Peraza, Bobby Dalbec, Josh Ockimey, and Marcus Wilson was matched up against a fairly familar opponent in Tigers left-hander Daniel Norris to begin things on Monday.

Kicking off the scoring in the top half of the second, back-to-back one-out singles from Lucroy and Peraza, in addition to a two-out RBI single off the bat of Ockimey, pulled the Sox back even with the Tigers at 1-1.

That stalemate would be short-lived, however, as Marcus Wilson followed Ockimey’s run-scoring hit with a towering three-run blast to left center field off the third pitch he saw from Norris. 4-1.

An inning later, it was another prospect making some noise, this time with Bobby Dalbec crushing a three-run homer of his own with two outs off of Zack Godley to give his side a commanding 7-1 advantage. His first homer of the spring.

Detroit cut into that six-run deficit by plating two runs of their own in both the sixth and seventh innings, but that did not stop the Boston bats from responding in their half of the eighth.

A leadoff walk drawn by Tzu-Wei Lin off of Anthony Castro resulted in another run when Jantzen Witte ripped and RBI double down the left field line. 8-5.

Witte scored himself on a one-out Marco Hernandez RBI single, and even though Hernandez got himself out on the bases, outfield prospect Jarren Duran kept the inning going by drawing another base on balls to bring catching prospect Connor Wong to the plate.

After flying out to center in his first plate appearance of the afternoon the inning prior, Wong did not mess around in his second time to the plate, as the 23-year-old backstop deposited a two-run big fly deep to left center field to make it an 11-5 game. His second home run of the spring.

As already mentioned though, the Tigers’ offense could not be silenced, and they battled back to knot things up at 11 runs each before this one came to a close.

Some observations from this tie:

Kevin Plawecki on Monday: 1-for-2 with a walk and run scored.

Jonathan Lucroy on Monday: 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.

Marcus Wilson, Bobby Dalbec, and Connor Wong on Monday: 3-for-7 with three home runs, four runs scored, and eight RBI.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they’ll travel to Tampa Bay to take on the New York Yankees on Tuesday afternoon.

Left-hander Martin Perez will get the start for Boston, while veteran right-hander Masahiro Tanaka will do the same for New York.

Perez scattered one hit and one walk over two scoreless innings in his spring debut last Wednesday against the Pirates.

First pitch Tuesday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EST. This game will be televised on ESPN and YES Network.

Nathan Eovaldi Fans Four Over Three Scoreless Innings, Rafael Devers Crushes Two-Run Homer as Red Sox Get Back in Win Column Against Braves

After dropping their last three, the Red Sox got back in the win column and improved to 4-5-1 in Grapefruit League play on Sunday following a 4-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves at JetBlue Park.

Making his second start of the spring for Boston was Nathan Eovaldi, who impressed in his 2020 debut by striking out four Twins over two scoreless innings last Monday.

Working three innings this time around, the right-hander impressed yet again, as he kept the Braves off the scoreboard while allowing just one hit, an infield single, and zero walks to go along with another four strikeouts on the afternoon, three of which came in consecutive order in the top half of the second.

Out of the 40 pitches Eovaldi threw Sunday, 28 went for strikes. And even though the Red Sox are opting to not use a radar gun at JetBlue Park this spring, it’s safe to say the 30-year-old had his fastball working in his favor in this one.

With two spring starts down and four to go, Eovaldi’s next outing should come next weekend against either the Braves, Phillies, or Blue Jays.

In relief of Eovaldi, Brandon Workman came on for his first appearance of the spring to begin the fourth, and he looked like he was in mid-season form with two strikeouts and four straight swings and misses to close a perfect inning out.

From there, top pitching prospect Tanner Houck followed suit by fanning three and walking one over three two-hit innings, making way for Marcus Walden, also making his spring debut, to begin the eighth.

Walden got his first Grapefruit League appearance off to a strong start by retiring the side in order in the eighth, but the ninth was a different story, as the 31-year-old allowed the first two hitters he faced to reach via a leadoff walk and HBP before recording the first two outs and yielding an RBI single to Braden Shewmake to end the shutout and make it a 4-1 game.

Another plunked batter filled the bases for Shea Langeliers, who drove in his side’s second run and subsequently ended Walden’s day by drawing a bases-loaded walk.

So, with the bases still full in what was suddenly just a two-run game, in came left-hander Emmanuel De Jesus looking to close things out. And the 23-year-old did just that, as he got Ryan Casteel to fly out to right for the third and final out, thus ending this one with a final score of 4-2.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox starting lineup that featured regulars like Michael Chavis, Rafael Devers, J.D. Martinez, Mitch Moreland, and Christian Vazquez to begin things on Sunday was matched up against Braves right-hander Mike Foltynewicz.

The Boston bats didn’t waste any time against the Braves hurler, as Chavis led off the first with a walk to bring up Devers, who unloaded on the fifth pitch he saw from Foltynewicz and crushed deep to dead center for his first home run of the spring in just his third plate appearance. A two-run shot put Boston up by two runs early.

An inning later, it was the bottom of the lineup getting things done against Foltynewicz, with Rusney Castillo and top prospect Jeter Downs putting runners at first and second with back-to-back one-out singles and Nick Longhi driving in Castillo from second on a line-drive RBI double to shallow right field. 3-0.

Fast forward all the way to the eighth, and a bases-loaded walk with one out drawn by Chad De La Guerra off of Braves reliever Huascar Ynoa brought in Brett Netzer from third to make it a 4-0 contest. And after Atlanta rallied with a pair of runs of their own in the ninth, 4-2 would go on to be Sunday’s final score.

Some observations from this win:

Mitch Moreland was pulled from this one in the middle of the first inning due to right hamstring tightness. Michael Chavis, meanwhile, only got one at-bat and was pulled after the first inning because he will be part of the group traveling to Lakeland for Monday’s game against the Detroit Tigers.

Rafael Devers in his second spring start: 1-for-2 with that two-run homer and two strikeouts.

Jonathan Lucroy off the bench: 0-for-1. Kevin Plawecki did not play.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, as I already mentioned, they’ll head to Lakeland to take on the Tigers Monday afternoon.

Right-hander Ryan Weber will get the start for Boston, while left-hander Daniel Norris will do the same for Detroit. Matt Barnes is also expected to make his spring debut for the Sox.

Weber is one of several candidates vying for a spot in Boston’s starting rotation to begin the 2020 season. The 29-year-old struck out one and scattered two hits over two scoreless innings in his last time out against the Orioles this past Tuesday.

First pitch Monday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EST. This game will not be televised.

 

Red Sox’ Andrew Benintendi Dealing With Quad Tightness

Red Sox outfielder Andrew Benintendi is dealing with tightness in his quad, according to interim manager Ron Roenicke.

The 25-year-old has been held out of Grapefruit League action since Thursday, when he went 1-for-1 with a walk and run scored while playing the first three innings in a 12-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

It’s unclear when Benintendi initially suffered the quad tightness, but Roenicke does not seem all that concerned, as he said Sunday that, “I’m hoping when we go up to Tampa Bay to play the Yankees [on Tuesday], he’ll be ready to go. So it’s nothing bad. Just a little tight.”

Entering his fourth full season with the Red Sox, Benintendi is slashing .375/.444/.750 with one home run, one RBI, and one stolen base through four games and nine plate appearances this spring.

Eduardo Rodriguez Impresses in Spring Debut for Red Sox

After managing to score just one run in a 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Friday, the Red Sox fell to 3-5-1 in Grapefruit League action on Saturday following a 5-2 defeat at the hands of  a split Yankees squad on a sunny afternoon at JetBlue Park.

Making his first start of the spring for Boston for Eduardo Rodriguez, whose 2020 debut was pushed back to Saturday after he slipped and twisted his left knee in a bullpen session two Wednesdays ago.

Tossing the first three innings of this one, the left-hander impressed by holding the Yankees off the scoreboard while scattering two hits and zero walks to go along with six strikeouts on the afternoon.

Two of those three frames were perfect for Rodriguez. The only real trouble he ran into came in the second, when he allowed the first two hitters he faced to reach base on a double and single, but he worked his way through that with the help of an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play and proceeded to strike out the side in the third.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 52, the 26-year-old’s next outing should come against the Astros on Thursday.

In relief of Rodriguez, Ryan Brasier made his spring debut out of the Red Sox bullpen, and he yielded the first run of the day on three hits and a strikeout in the top of the fourth.

Heath Hembree also debuted in the fifth, and he filled the bases with two outs before getting Clint Frazier to hit into what looked to be an inning-ending infield pop fly.

Instead, Christian Vazquez lost the ball in the sun, the ball landed in fair territory, and two runs crossed the plate as a result.

A pitching change that saw Mike Shawaryn take over for Hembree didn’t fare any better for the Sox, as the right-hander walked another and brought in another Yankees run on a wild pitch to make it a 4-2 contest.

From there, Shawaryn finished the fifth, left-hander Jeffrey Springs punched out the side in the sixth, Yoan Aybar surrendered one run on two hits and a sacrifice fly in the seventh, and Brian Johnson closed things out with two perfect frames of relief in the eighth and ninth.

In total, Boston pitching combined to give up five runs (two earned) on eight hits and three walks to go along with 12 total strikeouts.

On the other side of things, the Red Sox starting lineup that featured Kevin Pillar, Jackie Bradley Jr., Vazquez, Mitch Moreland, Jose Peraza, Jonathan Lucroy, Bobby Dalbec, C.J. Chatham, and Marcus Wilson was matched up against Yankees left-hander Jordan Montgomery to begin things on Saturday.

Montgomery held his own in his two innings of work, and it wasn’t until the bottom half of the fourth when the Boston bats made some noise.

There, a two-out walk drawn by Mitch Moreland followed with a double off the bat of Jose Peraza and another walk drawn by Jonathan Lucroy filled the bases for top prospect Bobby Dalbec.

Up against new Yankees reliever Daniel Alvarez, Dalbec first contributed to the cause without even swinging his bat, as a balk from Alvarez brought in the pinch-running Tommy Joseph from third.

A few moments later, Dalbec did contribute with his bat, as the 24-year-old powered an RBI single to shallow left field, plating Peraza from third and giving his side their first lead of the afternoon at 2-1.

Fast forward all the way to the ninth, after New York had jumped out to a 5-2 edge, and three straight walks drawn by Jarren Duran, Jeter Downs, and Marco Hernandez to lead off the frame filled the bases and brought the winning run to the plate with no outs.

Alas, nothing came of a golden opportunity, as reliever Domingo Acevedo settled down and stranded the bases loaded by retiring the final three Red Sox he faced in order, thus ending this contest with a final score of 5-2.

Some observations from this loss:

It looked like Juan Centeno rolled his right ankle in the eighth inning while running to first and ducking an errant throw. He had to leave the game, but he was able to walk off under his own power and was later diagnosed with a sprained ankle.

Jose Peraza went 2-for-2 with a double and run scored.

Tzu-Wei Lin went 2-for-3 off the bench while playing center field.

Jonathan Lucroy went 0-for-2 with a walk and two strikeouts while serving as designated hitter Saturday. Kevin Plawecki did not play.

It’s still early, but not great first impressions on the year from Heath Hembree nor Ryan Brasier.

—

Next up for the Red Sox, they’ll host the Atlanta Braves at JetBlue Park Sunday afternoon.

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi will get the start for Boston, while fellow righty Mike Foltynewicz will do the same for Atlanta.

Eovaldi is coming off a fine outing in his last time out against the Twins where he fanned four over two scoreless innings of work last Monday.

First pitch Sunday is scheduled for 1:05 PM EST on NESN.

 

Red Sox Free Agency Targets: Collin McHugh

It’s pretty late to do being one of these with spring training well underway and less than a month ago until Opening Day, but with the news that ace left-hander Chris Sale will start the 2020 season on the injured list, the Red Sox find themselves in need of starting pitching help.

With the news of Sale starting the year on the shelf, in addition to trading David Price to the Dodgers earlier in the month, the Sox’ starting rotation only has three established starting pitchers at the moment in Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, and Martin Perez.

Guys like Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez could fill in in either the No. 4 or No. 5 spots, and it also appears likely that an opener or two could be used, but that shouldn’t stop chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom from looking at external options as well.

Obviously, with it being the last day of February and all, the free-agent market has essentially been thinned out, but there is still one intriguing name out there in former Astros right-hander Collin McHugh.

According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, the 32-year-old has “recently been given the go-ahead to begin throwing after a [non-surgical] tenex procedure alleviated an elbow concern” and “nearly every team has checked in” on him thanks to his versatility.

Appearing in 35 games, eight of which were starts, for Houston last year, McHugh posted a 4.70 ERA and 4.34 xFIP over 74 2/3 total innings of work while dealing with ongoing right elbow discomfort.

His days of pitching anywhere between 150 to 200 innings in a season are probably behind him and he likely wouldn’t be ready for the start of the 2020 season if he were to sign soon, but there are still plenty of things working in McHugh’s favor.

First off, there’s the versatility piece I mentioned earlier. Maybe it’s just me, but I could see McHugh starting, serving as an opener, or working in relief once he gets up to speed with whatever club he signs with this year.

Second, he probably won’t be demanding much as a free agent. A one-year deal for cheap or even a minor-league deal could get it done. That way, if things didn’t work out, it would not be all that costly to cut ties.

Per MassLive.com’s Christopher Smith, the Red Sox now have a little more than $13 million in payroll flexibility to work with before reaching that $208 million luxury tax threshold they got under by dealing Price and Mookie Betts to Los Angeles.

McHugh would surely not command more than 25% of that $13 million as a free agent, so the rewards in this case would far outweigh the risks, in my opinion.

Outside of McHugh, free agent starting pitchers who remain unsigned include old friends Clay Buccholz and Andrew Cashner, Jason Vargas, Clayton Richard, and Marco Estrada.