Red Sox, Recovered Pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez Avoid Arbitration

It seems like small news, but it could be big for the Boston Red Sox.

Starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez will return, agreeing to a one-year deal worth $8.3 million, as first reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today. This means the sides avoided arbitration and that the Red Sox will have someone who produced greatly for them in 2019 come back for 2021.

Rodriguez missed all of the shortened 2020 season with a bout of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle. He said he is feeling fine now. He recently told the Boston Globe that he is "100 percent" and can start training as he normally would in the offseason.

“I want to stay in Boston as long as my career goes,” Rodriguez told the Globe. “I want to play in Boston forever. That’s where I got to the big leagues. That’s where I got an opportunity. That’s my family. That’s a ballpark where I really love to pitch — the history, everything.”

Rodriguez's salary this year is the same as last year. He will be a free agent at the end of the 2021 season.

The Red Sox are hoping he can produce like he did in 2019. That year, he finished 19-6 with a 3.81 ERA and averaged 9.4 strikeouts a game. Rodriguez also finished sixth in the AL Cy Young voting in 2019.

Written by
Sam Amico spent 15 years covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated, FOX Sports and NBA.com, along with a few other spots, and currently runs his own basketball website on the side, FortyEightMinutes.com.