Bloom says the Red Sox have been active on the starting pitcher market and he expects by the time spring training begins they will have made some additions
It isn't difficult to understand why Eduardo Rodriguez decided to move on from the Boston Red Sox and sign with the Detroit Tigers in free agency.
The veteran left-hander declined the Red Sox' $18.4 million qualifying offer and instead joined Detroit on a five-year, $77 million deal. The Boston Globe's Julian McWilliams asked Rodriguez on Monday why he rejected Boston's qualifying offer, and that prompted a pretty funny exchange.
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SIGN UP HERE A $59 million difference seems like a reasonable explanation to us.
“I [didn’t] talk to them about how many years and all that,” Rodriguez added. “I know they wanted me back there, but it’s time for me to move and start the new part of my life.”
Bloom suggests Red Sox are being aggressive in pursuit of pitching
Also speaking to the media on Monday was Red Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom, who discussed why the club didn't match Detroit's lucrative contract offer.
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“We were fighting our emotions on this one of what we thought was the right use of our resources and how far to extend,” Bloom said. “He means a lot to people here. I think he’s not just a great teammate and a really good pitcher who had some tremendous big-game performances for this organization, but also a credit to a lot of people here who identified him when he was in the minor leagues, brought him over here and got the most out of him.
“There are deep roots here, and that made it harder to see him go. But ultimately it’s something where we’re happy for him and we have to be comfortable with how far we’re willing to extend.”
Rodriguez went 13-8 with a 4.74 ERA and 1.39 WHIP during the 2021 season with Boston.
