Red Sox Star Predicted To Sign $40 Million Blue Jays Deal After Rejecting Boston.

What will become of former Boston Red Sox standout Nick Pivetta now that the big-name free-agent pitchers are off the board?

 

Though he had just a 4.29 ERA in five years with the Red Sox, Pivetta became something of an advanced stats darling at the end of his Boston career, and the Red Sox tendered him the qualifying offer, sensing that his market would be stronger than his numbers would indicate.

 

Once Pivetta turned down that one-year $21.05 million QO, however, Boston quickly filled out their rotation, trading for Garrett Crochet and signing Walker Buehler for that exact dollar amount. Now, they’ll collect a draft pick at the end of the second round if Pivetta signs elsewhere.

Pivetta may have had a window of opportunity in early December to cash in on soaring starting pitching prices, but the market now seems to be cooling off. There aren’t too many more teams eager to spend big on starting pitching anymore, but one in particular could come to the rescue.

On Friday, Ryan Finkelstein of Just Baseball predicted that Pivetta would land with the Toronto Blue Jays, signing a two-year, $40 million contract with an opt-out after year one.

 

“If Pivetta did not have the QO attached, he probably would have enjoyed one of the healthiest markets in free agency, as the right-hander has great strikeout stuff that would lead many teams to buy into his upside as a starting pitcher,” Finkelstein said.

“If there is one team that might be desperate enough to not care about the draft capital at this stage of the offseason, it’s the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays have struck out on most major free agents, with a lot of their pursued targets having been attached to the QO.”

Pivetta is Canadian, so the Blue Jays are the closest thing he has to a hometown team. And if he unlocks his full potential, it could certainly come back to haunt the Red Sox to face him multiple times a year in the American League East.

 

After Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported that “an AL East team” offered Corbin Burnes $250 million, the general consensus seems to be that it was the Blue Jays who took a huge swing at Burnes and missed. What’s $40 million for Pivetta if no one else will take their money?