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On Thursday, it became official that the Boston Red Sox and right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi had agreed to a four year, $67.5M contract. Eovaldi’s free agency was a talk of the offseason that really had mainly originated during the World Series, where he posted unreal playoff numbers, showing that he’s a clutch pitcher. This, in my opinion, astronomically increased the money he got and was by far the leading factor in the Red Sox re-signing him. In this article, I’ll breakdown the signing, Eovaldi, and how I think it’ll affect the Red Sox in the distant future.

After struggling for most of his career with finding his groove, Eovaldi had a breakthrough 2018 season, highlighted by a 3.81 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 101 SO (8.19 SO/9), 20 BB (1.62 BB/9), and 105 H (8.51 H/9), in 111 IP. His postseason dominance was a big factor in the Red Sox keeping him, as he highlighted October with a 1.61 ERA and 0.81 WHIP. In his arsenal, his most menacing pitch has to be his fastball, which had an average speed 97.2 mph in 710 total pitches of it thrown. It also featured an impressive average spin rate of 2.135 rpm.

Acquired at the deadline for Jalen Beeks, Eovaldi showed Boston why that could’ve been the steal of the deadline with Steve Pearce as both performed phenomenally in Bean Town. He slotted in for a struggling and injured Drew Pomeranz extremely well, as his pitches seemed to get nastier as he traveled to the top MLB team. Like I said before, he was even more valuable in the playoffs, shutting down some big rosters such as the Yankees, Astros, and Dodgers.

The Red Sox don’t have much to fix this offseason with re-acquiring Eovaldi and Pearce. Right now, their rotation consists of Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Eovaldi. Alone, with not needing any free agent signings, this is a very good rotation, as Price has improved since the signing and Rodriguez has a lot of future upside. Eovaldi rounds that out for the next 4 years, other than Porcello being a free agent after the 2019 season.

In my opinion, this signing likely leaves the Red Sox’ rotation being better than last year, because of the upside given by Price, Porcello, and Rodriguez while Sale had an injured season, so if he recovers he should be about as good as he was this season through a longer stretch. Of course, this is barring injury, if there is some injury to the rotation or some underperformances then I definitely could be wrong.

Another title run?

The biggest question with this signing is whether or not it will it lead to another title run. In my opinion, it certainly is likely. They saw struggles last season with the bullpen and a partially incomplete rotation, and even so they smoked their way to a ring. With an offseason with numerous chances to get some good relievers to help shut out the multiple innings from the good rotation, they should definitely improve their championship-winning staff.

The biggest problem the Red Sox face in the hands of going for another title run is the status of Craig Kimbrel. I seriously doubt they re-sign him, as him asking for a 6-year deal complimented with their luxury tax concerns are just 2 huge roadblocks that destroy him potentially coming back to Boston. There are some names they can get though, as closer for the Indians Cody Allen would be cheap and has upside, as well as Andrew Miller, Tyler Clippard, heck even Greg Holland. Not to mention the trade candidates like Will Smith, Sam Dyson, Kirby Yates, and Craig Stammen to name a few.

I have some mixed opinions on this deal, but I think the risk for it is there. Although he’s only getting 16.875M per year and is entering his prime, I’m concerned based on his past stats. This was his best season since 2013, and he’s been inconsistent with a career 4.16 ERA and 1.35 WHIP to name some stats. The good news is he kept up dominance in October and is entering his prime as he is only 28. The risk for this contract exists and is higher than people think, but the upside is also there, and with it could be more rings.