Red Sox Fan-Favorite Advised To Cut Ties With Boston For Rival, Per Insiders

Will the Red Sox keep the fan-favorite in town in 2025?

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images / Kim Klement-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox already have made one surprising move this offseason.

Boston had to make a decision about whether or not to offer players the qualifying offer already and decided to give it to Nick Pivetta to the surprise of some. He is a fan-favorite in Boston but made $7.5 million in 2024. If he were to accept the qualifying offer, he would make just over $21 million in 2025 with Boston after logging a 4.14 ERA in 27 appearances.

It was somewhat of a shock that the Red Sox gave him the qualifying offer, but if he signs elsewhere, Boston will get draft compensation.

There does seem to be a chance that he could end up elsewhere. The Athletic’s Tim Britton, Chad Jennings, and Aaron Gleeman predicted that he will end up landing a $48 million deal  over three years this winter and had the Tampa Bay Rays among the “best fits” to snatch him from Boston.

“Pivetta is a durable innings eater who can, at times, do more than just eat innings. His strikeout rate the past two years was fourth-best in the majors among pitchers with at least 250 innings, and his 4.09 ERA the past two seasons is comparable to that of Dylan Cease (4.00), Aaron Nola (4.01) and Joe Ryan (4.10). Granted, some of Pivetta’s productivity came out of the bullpen in the second half of 2023, but his best stretches have been impressive, even if they’ve been mixed with patches of vulnerability and inconsistency.

“At the very least, though, Pivetta has been available. When he missed most of April with a flexor strain, it was his first extended IL stint in the big leagues. He has otherwise been healthy and capable of 30-plus starts…Britton's projection: three years, $48 million. Best fits: (Milwaukee Brewers), (St. Louis Cardinals), (Tampa Bay Rays).”

It would be sad to see Pivetta go anywhere, but it would be even worse to see it be within the division with the Rays. Hopefully, this doesn’t happen.

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