Red Sox claim right-hander off waivers from Royals

The Red Sox further bolstered their pitching depth Tuesday, claiming right-hander Max Castillo off waivers from the Kansas City Royals.

The 24-year-old Castillo has appeared in 21 big-league games, including seven with the Royals in 2023, and has posted a 5.43 career ERA over those outings. Last season he also made 22 appearances (21 starts) at Triple A, posting a 4.58 ERA over 116 innings pitched.

Currently, Castillo is playing winter ball in Venezuela, and as of Tuesday afternoon he has gone 5-0 with a 2.72 ERA in 49 ⅔ innings for Cardenales de Lara.

Originally signed as an international free agent by the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015, Castillo debuted for them in 2022 before heading to Kansas City as part of the Whit Merrifield trade. With Boston, he projects as a depth arm who will have a chance to compete for a spot at the back end of the bullpen and who could move back and forth between the majors and Triple A as needed.

Boston’s 40-man roster is now at 40.

Braves get off cheap:

The Red Sox will pay the Braves $17 million in equal installments of $8.5 million on April 1 and July 1 as part of last weekend’s trade that sent lefthander Chris Sale to Atlanta.

Sale’s cost to Atlanta this year in effect will be $500,000. The 34-year-old has a $27.5 million salary, but that includes $10 million deferred until June 30, 2039.

Sale is entering the final guaranteed season of a $160 million, six-year contract he signed with the Red Sox.

Infielder Vaughn Grissom was sent to Boston as part of the trade announced Saturday.

Acquired by Boston from the Chicago White Sox in December 2016, Sale made nine trips to the disabled and injured lists with the Red Sox, mostly due to shoulder and elbow ailments. He had Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020, and returned to a big-league mound on Aug. 14, 2021.

He was 6-5 with a 4.30 ERA in 20 starts and 102 ⅔ innings last season.

Reds deal with former Yankee done:

The Reds finalized their $16 million, one-year contract with former Yankees righthander Frankie Montas on Tuesday, another free-agent addition to shore up their pitching staff.

Montas gets $14 million this year, and the deal includes a $20 million mutual option for 2025 and a $2 million buyout.

Montas was acquired by the Yankees from Oakland with reliever Lou Trivino on Aug. 1, 2022, for four prospects. Montas went 1-3 with a 6.35 ERA in eight starts with New York that year, later admitting he wasn’t healthy.

He had labrum surgery last Feb. 21 and made his only big-league appearance of the year Sept. 30.

The 30-year-old Montas is 37-35 with a 3.90 ERA in 99 starts and 31 relief appearances for the White Sox (2015), Oakland (2017-22) and the Yankees.

“We are excited to add a pitcher of Frankie’s caliber to our staff,” Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall said. “We are confident he will return to the form that made him one of baseball’s best pitchers before he suffered the shoulder injury.”

In his best season in 2021 Montas went 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 187 innings.

He is expected to join a rotation mix that includes last season’s top three starters, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft.

Cincinnati previously signed a pair of free-agent pitchers, giving Nick Martinez a $24 million, two-year contract and Emilio Pagán a $16 million, two-year deal. The Reds re-signed Buck Farmer with a $2.25 million, a one-year contract and gave third baseman Jeimer Candelario a $45 million, three-year contract.

To make room on the roster for Montas, the Reds designated catcher Austin Wynns for assignment.