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Red Sox sign former Yankees reliever in classic weak Chaim Bloom offseason move

Thomas Carannante|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 20: Pitcher Joely Rodriguez #30 of the New York Yankees reacts after getting the final out of the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium on September 20, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 20: Pitcher Joely Rodriguez #30 of the New York Yankees reacts after getting the final out of the eighth inning against the Texas Rangers at Yankee Stadium on September 20, 2021 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Though the Red Sox have had the upper hand against the New York Yankees since 2018, that doesn’t mean Boston is headed in the right direction. In fact, they’re well past stuck in neutral; they’ve floored it in reverse.

They failed to extend star shortstop Xander Bogaerts and have arguably soured that relationship. They’re still far apart in extension talks with Rafael Devers. They got no value for Nathan Eovaldi or JD Martinez at the trade deadline despite the two being headed for free agency and unlikely to return. They killed team chemistry by cutting Kevin Plawecki and trading Christian Vazquez.

And all of this is less than a year after they made an unexpected ALCS run after taking down the Yankees in the Wild Card Game!

Though the Sox will probably win the World Series in 2026, we’ll get our laughs in now. Not only is this team set up for another last-place AL East finish in 2023, but they just signed a former Yankees reliever who they believe “has upside.” Welcome to Boston, Joely Rodriguez!

Classic Chaim Bloom, who loves that nonexistent upside in the name of saving money for his greedy bosses.

Red Sox sign former Yankees reliever Joely Rodriguez in meaningless move

Enjoy your statcast numbers! They only matter to an extent … like when you’re talking about a largely unknown or undiscovered commodity. There’s now been two full years of evidence on the 31-year-old Rodriguez, who was actually his best with the Yankees in his 21-game stint in 2021.

Overall, though, he finished that year with a 4.66 ERA, 3.43 FIP, 1.53 WHIP and 47 strikeouts in 46.1 innings. Last year with the Mets after he was traded for Miguel Castro, the left-hander went 2-4 with a 4.47 ERA, 3.23 FIP, 1.35 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 50.1 innings.

A great sixth-inning reliever, if that’s what you’re looking for. Here were his splits by inning last year with the Mets:

  • 6th – 1.80 ERA in five innings
  • 7th – 5.00 ERA in 18 innings
  • 8th – 4.50 ERA in 18 innings
  • 9th – 4.70 ERA in 7.2 innings

Rodriguez made $2.5 million in each of the past two seasons, so it’s not like the Sox are getting any sort of discount here. And a $4.25 million club option, even if it has only a $500K buyout, seems excessive for what he’ll contribute (for comparison, Chad Green, a much more productive reliever, earned $4 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility before succumbing to injury).

Based on how the Red Sox have largely failed in reviving mediocre pitchers/depreciating assets like Matt Barnes, Ryan Brasier, Hirokazu Sawamura, Hansel Robles, Jake Diekman, Jeurys Familia, and Adam Ottavino (do we need to keep going?), it’s safe to say this won’t be a shrewd investment for Boston.

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