The Boston Red Sox have signed Andrew Bailey to a 1-year, $3.9 million deal with incentives, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. The deal allows the sides to avoid arbitration. Intrepid Boston fans will note that Jonathan Papelbon, now with the Phillies, is getting $11 million for 2011.
Whether or not the Red Sox are in panic mode following the Yankees rotation mega-upgrade is up for speculation, but what's not is that a) they now have their closer signed, b) they saved money* from their previous closer, and c) they're looking to bring in at least one additional starter (like Edwin Jackson or Roy Oswalt), as noted earlier:
- Twitter / @JonHeymanCBS - "Andrew bailey, #redsox settle at $3.9M plus 100 incentives"
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Red Sox Have Made Offers to Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt - MLB Daily Dish
The Red Sox have made an offer to Edwin Jackson and would actually prefer him to Roy Oswalt, according to Jim Bowden of ESPN (twitter). This comes just after we learned via Jon Heyman that Boston has made an offer to Roy Oswalt as well.
- Boston Red Sox Acquire Andrew Bailey, Ryan Sweeney - MLB Daily Dish
The Boston Red Sox have acquired right-handed closer Andrew Bailey from the Oakland Athletics, according to Buster Olney of ESPN. The Red Sox will send outfielder Josh Reddick to Oakland, Buster Olney reports. The Red Sox also got Ryan Sweeney. - Boston Red Sox Complete Organizational Chart - MLB Daily Dish
Rosters, Salaries, Leadership, and Prospects for the entire Boston org.
*I askterisk the following: Can anybody deny the Red Sox are now in save-money mode? Sure, maybe they'll get equivalent production out of Bailey over Papelbon, and Aviles/Punto over Scutaro...but this is an interesting departure from the Red Sox of seasons past. Didn't Cherington learn Theo's ultimate lesson? It's possible to play moneyball AND outspend the field?