Boston agrees to two-year deal with southpaw Sandoval
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BOSTON -- With an eye toward the stretch run of 2025 and the full ¡¯26 season, the Red Sox announced a two-year contract with free agent lefty starter Patrick Sandoval on Monday. The deal is for $18.25 million over the two years, according to a source.
Sandoval underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after making his final start of the ¡¯24 season on June 21 and will miss at least the first few months of the ¡¯25.
The 28-year-old from Mission Viejo, Calif., has spent his entire Major League career with his hometown Angels after getting selected by the Astros in the 11th round of the 2015 Draft.
When the Angels acquired Sandoval for Mart¨ªn Maldonado from the Astros at the 2018 Trade Deadline, the left-hander was not viewed as a big prospect. In due time, however, Sandoval blossomed into a quality member of the Angels' rotation, becoming the second-best starter behind Shohei Ohtani from 2021-23.
During that time, Sandoval posted a 3.53 ERA and struck out 373 batters in 380 1/3 innings. Sandoval did show year-to-year regression to finish his Angels tenure, though, seeing his ERA jump from 2.91 in 2022, to 4.11 in ¡®23, to a 5.08 mark in 79 2/3 innings in ¡®24 before he underwent elbow surgery.
When Sandoval is on, the left-hander can rack up strikeouts with his excellent secondary pitches, a changeup and slider. When Sandoval does return to a mound, he¡¯s still young enough that he can be a useful member of Boston's rotation with the upside for more.
The Red Sox recently acquired talented lefty Garrett Crochet in a trade with the White Sox to front their rotation.
Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford currently fill out the rest of the rotation, with Garrett Whitlock appearing likely to move to the bullpen.
However, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been on a quest to continue to add pieces to the rotation and hopes to get another starter before the end of the offseason either by trade or free agency.
In Sandoval, the Red Sox have some additional depth for down the line.
The Red Sox have signed similar contracts with players coming off Tommy John surgery in recent years, including James Paxton and Liam Hendriks. Neither of those players were able to pitch in the first year of their multi-year deals. The Sox hope Sandoval can reverse that trend.