Red Sox Reportedly Sign an All-Star Despite Long-Term Injury but has great impact on the Team
The Red Sox haven’t been afraid to take on an injury risk in recent seasons.
It was evident in 2022 when they signed James Paxton to a unique contract despite knowing he wouldn’t play for at least a year as he recovered from Tommy John surgery. That move worked out, so Boston decided to take the risk again and sign another pitcher who likely won’t be available for a while.
Michael Fulmer signed a minor league contract with the Red Sox on Thursday, according to MLB reporter Michael Mayer. Chris Cotillo of MassLive confirmed the news.
It’s unclear what the terms of the deal are, but Fulmer is expected to miss the entire 2024 season as he recovers from UCL revision surgery. He missed all of 2019 after undergoing Tommy John, which has a similar projected recovery to that of his latest surgery.
The 30-year-old was 3-5 with a 4.42 ERA in 58 games last season after signing a one-year, $4 million contract with the Chicago Cubs. Fulmer was the 2016 American League Rookie of the Year with the Detroit Tigers, going 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA, but eventually devolved into a reliever following his first season-ending surgery.
Fulmer is 37-50 with a 3.94 ERA across 262 total big league appearances to date and eclipsed 50 appearances in each of the last three seasons. NESN.com mentioned him as a possible target earlier this offseason.
The free agent market has moved extremely slowly this offseason in general, but this trend hasn’t impacted the Dodgers in any way. Los Angeles has made massive moves and the club also has made multiple depth signings.
Los Angeles just keeps adding and is showing no signs of slowing down. Whether it is free agents, or trade candidates, the Dodgers seemingly are landing everyone.
The Dodgers continued adding depth to the organization Thursday as the club reportedly landed veteran utility man Chris Owings, according to The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.
“Dodgers signed infielder Chris Owings to a minor league deal with a spring invite, source says,” Ardaya said. “He’s at Camelback Ranch already.”
The journeyman has made stops with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, Boston Red Sox, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, and Pittsburgh Pirates throughout his 11-year big league career.
He spent the 2023 campaign in the Pirates’ organization. He appeared in 86 games with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians and slashed .241/.349/.449 with 15 home runs and 41 RBIs. Owings appeared in just 11 games at the big league level with the Pirates and collected four base hits.
Owings began his big league career with the Diamondbacks and spent the first six years of his career in town. He spent the 2019 campaign with the Red Sox and Royals. Owings only appeared in 26 games with Boston and slashed .156/.255/.267 and eventually became a free agent rather than accepting a minor league assignment.
