Free Agent Reliever Justin Wilson Agrees to 1-Year Deal With Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox have swung their first move of the offseason, signing 37-year-old relief pitcher Justin Wilson after his shaky second stint with the Cincinnati Reds.

Cincinnati Reds reliever Justin Wilson (32) prepares to throw a pitch in the eighth inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024, at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati. / Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox have signed free agent relief pitcher Justin Wilson to a one-year contract, the team announced Thursday.

FanSided's Robert Murray was first to report the move. According to WEEI's Rob Bradford, Wilson will have a guaranteed salary of $2.25 million in 2025, plus five bonus tiers that could bring that figure up to $3.0 million if he pitches in 60 games.

With the deal finalized, Wilson becomes the Red Sox's first free agent addition of the offseason. Boston did not sign a major league free agent until Dec. 13 last offseason.

Wilson, who turned 37 years old in August, has played for six other MLB teams since making his big league debut all the way back in 2008. He made 60 appearances for the Cincinnati Reds in 2024, going 1-5 with a 5.59 ERA, 1.457 WHIP, 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.2 WAR.

The #RedSox today signed LHP Justin Wilson to a one-year contract for the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/GgIwhbng44

— Red Sox (@RedSox) November 14, 2024

Still, Wilson ranked in the 73rd percentile across the entire league with an average fastball velocity of 95.5 miles per hour this season, according to Baseball Savant, good for his highest mark since 2017. He also notably ranked in the 95th percentile with a 33.8% chase rate.

Wilson threw his four-seamer, slider and cutter at nearly identical rates in 2024, despite having a very fastball-heavy pitch blend for most of his career up to that point. That fits right in with Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey's philosophy, which resulted in the team throwing far fewer fastballs this past season.

The addition of Wilson comes one day after the Red Sox hired former Baltimore Orioles director of pitching Chris Holt as their next bullpen coach. Boston's last bullpen coach, Kevin Walker, was dismissed in October after four seasons on the job.

The Red Sox had All-Star closer Kenley Jansen and 38-year-old setup man Chris Martin hit free agency earlier this month, costing them two of their most reliable high-leverage veterans.

Liam Hendriks is a candidate to take on some of their workload, but he missed all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery. Garrett Whitlock, who is also working his way back from a torn UCL, could get moved out of the rotation and into the bullpen if Bailey and Holt so choose.

Greg Weissert, Zack Kelly, Justin Slaten, Cam Booser, Josh Winckowski and Brennan Bernardino – plus Wilson – currently make up the rest of the bullpen.

Wilson got his start with the Pittsburgh Pirates before getting traded to the New York Yankees in 2015. The southpaw lasted just one year in the Bronx, as he was flipped to the Detroit Tigers the following offseason.

The Tigers sent Wilson to the Chicago Cubs a few months later. Following the 2018 season, Wilson inked a two-year, $10 million contract with the New York Mets.

From there, Wilson returned to the Yankees on a one-year, $2.85 million contract, only to get traded to the Reds at the 2021 deadline. Wilson underwent Tommy John surgery at the start of 2022, and after trying to bounce back on a minor league deal with the Atlanta Braves in 2023, he reunited with the Reds in 2024.

Wilson went 32-22 with a 3.27 ERA, 1.279 WHIP, 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a 7.3 WAR between 2012 and 2020. He is 2-7 with a 5.34 ERA, 1.411 WHIP, 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings and a -0.1 WAR ever since.

Between 2013 and 2018, Wilson ranked sixth in all of baseball with 404 appearances on the mound, good for an average of 67 outings a year.

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