Red Sox sign free agent Andriese to one-year deal
The Red Sox agreed to a one-year deal with righthander Matt Andriese, the team announced Wednesday.
The $1.85 million deal has a $3.5 million team option and $250,000 buyout. Andriese can earn up to $500,000 per year in incentives for innings pitched.
Andriese, 31, pitched with the Los Angeles Angels last season, compiling a 4.50 ERA and a 1.000 WHIP. He was originally selected by the San Diego Padres in the third round of the 2011 draft, and made his debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015. He spent three-plus seasons with the club before being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018.
His history with chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom in Tampa helped during the negotiation process with the Sox, Andriese said.
“It was very important,” said Andriese. “Just the familiarity with him and everything like that. He’s easy to talk to. He cut right to the chase. He knows me well and I think that will help us going forward.”
Andriese is also good friends with Red Sox starter Nate Eovaldi.
Andriese has experience as both a starter and reliever, and said he will fill whatever role the Sox need.
“I signed here with the Red Sox for the opportunity to do both,” Andriese said Wednesday. “I have a lot of flexibility in my career. I’m going to be given the opportunity to start.”
Cashman on lefty bats
With DJ LeMahieu the Yankees’ top priority this winter and Brian Cashman also having to figure out exactly what his rotation is going to be, finding some balance isn’t exactly a top priority. The Bombers’ GM, however, said if he could find some left-handed batters to compliment his right-handed heavy offense, that would be “ideal.”
It’s clearly not high on the list of must-haves.
“We do have a collection of really high-end talent, right-handed bats that do handle right-handed pitching,” Cashman said earlier this week on MLB Network radio. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not susceptible and vulnerable when you have some elite reliever coming in that can match up with you to neutralize you later in the game or to shorten the game as they exploit that area.”
In fact, the Yankees’ righthanded hitters have been excellent against righthanded pitchers in the regular season. Their OPS+ is 27 points higher against righties (119) than their 92 OPS+ against lefties. Only Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres had better numbers against lefties than right handers.
The Yankees have traditionally had power hitters from the left sid,e or perhaps even more importantly, switch hitters when they have won the World Series. Those switch hitters, like Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada and Mark Teixeira, made the Bombers lineups tough, particularly in the postseasons.
These Yankees have just Aaron Hicks as a switch hitter on the roster. From the left side, after letting Brett Gardner walk, they have backup infielders Tyler Wade and Mike Ford as well as outfielder Mike Tauchman.
That lack of lefty-hitting depth isn’t keeping Cashman up at nights, but he’s looking at options.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a weakness, but it makes you more vulnerable,” Cashman said. “If I can alleviate that, great. If I can’t, I don’t want to sacrifice the overall strength of a player and drop down a category or two by swapping out a player.”
Crosstown battle for DJ?
The Mets haven’t given up on LeMahieu and the team “recently contacted” the Yankees’ star second baseman, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
If the Yankees had it their way, LeMahieu would remain a Yankee. Since LeMahieu opted for free agency, it doesn’t matter how much Bombers GM Brian Cashman says the star slugger is their priority; money talks and Cohen’s sure got a lot of it.
Still, Cohen said on Nov. 10, “I’m not competing against the Yankees. This is the Mets. We’re going to create our own environment. I’m competing against 29 other clubs in MLB.”