6:10 p.m. Mish Reports Boston includes roughly $5 million in the deal, according to Chris Cotillo of MassLive Pins The figure is closer to $5.5MM. It is then roughly a cash neutral exchange.
4:05 p.m: Both teams have now announced a trade.
1:16 p.m: The Red Sox are trading a right-handed reliever. Matt Barnes To the Marlins, reports Athletic Ken Rosenthal. Left hand relief Richard Blair He says he is heading to Boston in return. Craig Mish of SportsGrid.
Miami also receives monetary consideration in this player-to-player exchange, at Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. Mish It has that sum. 1MM to offset a portion of Barnes’ $7.5MM salary in 2023 and a $2.5MM buyout in his $8MM club option for 2024. K buyout) for 2024. Assuming this is the final iteration of the deal, Miami is taking on more than $5MM in salary to get Barnes back on track in 2023 and parting ways with the veteran Blair.
Barnes, 32, was designated for assignment by the Red Sox last week after his one-year, $7MM deal with the outfielder expired. Adam Duvall. In the year He served as Boston’s starter in 2021, earning a team-leading 24 saves. The 2021 campaign, however, was a tale of two seasons for Barnes. He dominated through August 4th with a 2.25 ERA and a 42% strikeout rate. Barnes was so impressive that the Sox A two-year, $18.75 million extension changed that. At the beginning of July.
But in the final two months of the 2022 season, Barnes didn’t just struggle, he melted down horribly. Since Aug. 5, he has pitched just 10 2/3 innings, allowing a dozen runs on 17 hits and nine walks along the way with 16 strikeouts. It was a terrible end to what started as one of the best seasons among all major league relievers.
Barnes had hoped to right the ship in 2022, but the closer lost his job when he stumbled to a 7.94 ERA at the start of the year through the end of May. In December 2023, the right-hander will always be the least of the group’s top considerations Kenley Jansen And Chris Martin – A pair of moves that are very important in Burns fights.
However, it’s worth noting that Barnes finished high with Miami and other clubs in mind. He was on the injured list from early June to early August with shoulder inflammation, and when he returned, he looked like the Barnes of old. Since Aug. 4 — the same point where he started struggling a year ago — Barnes has pitched 22 2/3 innings of 1.59 ERA ball and picked up four saves. His 21.1% strikeout rate was half of his prime in 2021, but it was an encouraging note to end the season on.
Barnes may finally get a new chance to make some saves in Miami. Dylan Flower It’s a current project for that gig. Floro Barnes recorded just eight saves in 2022 and finished with a 4.31 ERA in 39 2/3 frames. A 24% strikeout rate from the relief corps in 2022 adds up to 13th-best bat potential for a team that ranks 13th among MLB clubs. The downside is clear though.
Blair, on the other hand, can fill out the Sox’s left-handed bullpen, even as he turns 36. The veteran southpaw has posted a 3.09 ERA in 125 1/3 innings since the start of 2020, and has held left-handed batters to a .225/.260/.313 slash line since reaching the major leagues for the first time with the Yankees. 2016. Boston lefty beat him Josh Taylor Replacement for the Royals Adelberto Mondesiveteran sent. Jake Dickman (signed through 2023) to the White Sox at last year’s trade deadline and gone Darwin Hernandez to the Orioles earlier this season — all of which thinned the team’s left-hander depth in the ‘pen.
You will get some quality left-handed innings from Blair, despite his strong track record and some red flags. The smooth-throwing southpaw hasn’t missed many at-bats, but his 14.4% strikeout rate last year was his lowest since 2019. Blair has made up for his previous lack of whiffs with high off-ball rates. However, while his 52.5% strike rate last year was solid relative to the league average, it was nowhere near his 63.5% career rate heading into the 2022 season. Blair also routinely avoids hard contact, but last year’s 89.6 mph exit velocity and 40.8% hard-hit rate were both his worst performances since his aforementioned 2016 debut.
The Sox will shed more than $5MM in salary cap space in the swap and see their luxury-tax bill shrink by $4.625MM as they shed Barnes’ $9.375MM hit and are on the hook for the remaining AAV on Blair’s contract. ($3.75mm) which they send to Miami in swap with $1mm. Although Blair does come with some concerns, the business offers moderate relief with a strong overall story and some particularly encouraging numbers. In the year A reasonable $3.75MM option that he could control in 2024 is icing on the cake.
As for the Marlins, they’ll add more late-innings to their bullpen with this swap. The implications of the added luxury-tax are that it’s no where near — and will never come close — to the luxury-tax line for a Marlins club that’s unsupportive. The fans are concerned about sending the reliever to Barnes’ rehab project with better surface-level numbers, but the Fish are willing to gamble on the younger and heavier Barnes in hopes of unlocking a high-potential reliever. He took over the 2024 season with an 8MM pick at a reasonable price. And, if Barnes can return to form, he’ll give Miami an interesting arm to spend on the market this summer should they emerge decisively from postseason contention.