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In what turned out to be an incredibly slow day of news coming from the hot stove, the free agent market for starting pitching officially got a bit stronger on Sunday with Red Sox left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez officially declining his $18.4 million qualifying offer.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports that things are heating up for Rodriguez in talks with teams on multi-year contract offers.
The Red Sox are known to have a multi-year offer on the table to keep the 28-year-old southpaw in Boston, but they’ll have plenty of competition on the open market as well. The Tigers, Blue Jays and Angels have already expressed interest in his services and there are rumored to be other teams lurking as well.
Rodriguez had a bit of a disappointing 2021 season, registering a 13-8 record, 4.74 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 185/47 K/BB ratio across 157 2/3 innings in his 32 appearances (31 starts). He finished the regular season strong though, with a 2.11 ERA and 26/8 K/BB ratio over 21 1/3 frames in his final five appearances before giving up seven runs over 12 2/3 innings (4.97 ERA) in his three postseason starts.
Behind Robbie Ray -- who is the front-runner for the American League Cy Young Award -- the free agent market is thin on quality left-handed starting pitching this off-season. Rodriguez and Steven Matz may be the surest bets out there, with lingering health concerns surrounding both Carlos Rodon and Clayton Kershaw -- neither of which received qualifying offers from their respective teams.
MLBTradeRumors.com projects that Rodriguez will wind up with a five-year deal in the neighborhood of $70 million. That would represent a healthy raise over the $8.3 million that he took home during the 2021 season.
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MLB Quick Hits: The Marlins acquired right-hander Louis Head from the Rays in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations. The 32-year-old hurler debuted with the Rays in 2021 and posted a stellar 2.31 ERA over 35 innings while limiting hard contact against him. To make room on their 40-man roster, the Marlins designated outfielder Brian Miller for assignment. … Jose Soriano is expected to have to be offered back to the Angels after the top pick in the Rule 5 draft was designated for assignment by the Pirates -- he recently underwent his second Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2022 season. … Jon Morosi of MLB.com notes that while the Tigers have strong interest in shortstop Carlos Correa, they’re taking a “comprehensive approach” to the free agent market at the position.