The Boston Red Sox just announced that they’ve extended one of the more intriguing arms that was set to be on the market after the season, Rick Porcello. The northeastern native will reportedly get $82.5 million on the extension, which covers the four years after 2015 (Alex Speier). It looks like the Red Sox are paying a serious annual premium in exchange for keeping the deal fairly short-term. Porcello doesn’t even turn 27 until December.
I was a big fan of Porcello as a possible target after the season, given his peripheral improvements over the last several years, and, of course, his age. Speaking of which, he’ll be a free agent again when he’s just 30. Good for him. I do like this deal for both sides.
The post-2015 free agent class still projects to be loaded, even just on the pitching side, with guys like David Price, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Jeff Samardzija, Zack Greinke, Hisashi Iwakuma, and many more big names still set to be available.
Speaking of two of those names, for what it’s worth:
No progress on a Jordan Zimmermann extension with Nats. He will be a free agent after the season.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) April 6, 2015
Johnny Cueto is not expected to sign an extension today, barring an unforeseen change. Thus, he will become a free agent at season's end.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) April 6, 2015