An old friend of the Boston Red Sox certainly is going to have a great winter.
Former Red Sox starting pitcher Michael Wacha has been on a tear over the last three years. He hasn't had an ERA above 3.35 over the last three seasons and now likely will hit free agency after spending the 2024 season with the Kansas City Royals.
Wacha is a major reason why the Royals were able to shock the baseball world and earn a playoff spot despite racking up over 100 losses in 2023. He was fantastic and logged a 3.35 ERA across 29 starts to go along with a 145-to-45 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 166 2/3 innings pitched.
He was everything the Royals could've asked for, and now he has a decision to make. Wacha has a $16 million player option for the 2025 season, but Spotrac's Michael Ginnitti predicted that he will turn it down and enter free agency.
"Michael Wacha (Starting Pitcher, Royals)," Ginnitti said. "Wacha rewarded KC’s two-year, $32M free agent contract with career numbers across the board, putting him in line to opt out of the remaining $16M for 2025 and head back to the open market. The 33-year-old carries a three year, $60M valuation in our system. Prediction: Declined."
The Red Sox could use a starting pitcher, and Wacha on a three-year, $60 million deal doesn't sound bad by any means. That's significantly lower than other hurlers -- like Jack Flaherty or Corbin Burnes -- will get, but he still is very effective. He has three straight seasons with an ERA of 3.35 or lower -- including the 2022 campaign with Boston -- under his belt.
Wacha has already shown that he can have success in Boston. Why not give him another shot?
