Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Reportedly Signs Lucrative Contract Extension With Rays

Boston handed the Rays one of the best arms in the American League East

Scott Neville | Jan 25, 2023

Ex-Red Sox Pitcher Reportedly Signs Lucrative Contract Extension With Rays /

In this story:

There have been plenty of notable blunders under Chaim Bloom's regime with the Boston Red Sox.

However, one of Bloom's worst trades in his three-season tenure has flown under the radar.

Prior to the 2021 season, Bloom packaged left-hander Jeffrey Springs, right-hander Chris Mazza and cash to the Tampa Bay Rays for catching prospect Ronaldo Hernández and infield prospect Nick Sogard.

At the time, it appeared that Boston "stole" Hernández, a once-highly regarded prospect for two pitchers who had yet to prove anything.

Mazza did not catch on in Tampa, but Springs has flourished into an elite arm, and his freshly-minted contract depicts as much.

Springs signed a four-year, $31 million contract extension with the Rays that could pay him up to $65.75 million over the next five seasons according to the Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin.

The 30-year-old posted a 7.08 ERA with a 28-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .333 batting average against in 20 1/3 innings across 16 games as a member of the Red Sox before being traded.

Since then? He's gone on to record a 14-6 record, 2.70 ERA, 207-to-45 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .221 batting average against in 180 innings.

The southpaw's devastating combination of a high strikeout rate, low walk rate and low batting average against resulted in a career year in 2022, highlighted by a 2.46 ERA.

As for Boston's half of the trade? Hernández has been called up to the big-league club twice but has yet to appear in a game. Sogard got his first taste of Triple-A last season. Both prospects already are 25 years old.

There was no way to know that Springs was going to evolve into a star after a horrid 2020 season but it's still tough to get fleeced in an inter-division trade.

More MLB: Red Sox Reportedly Add Left-Handed Hurler After Tuesday's Big Trade

Published Jan 25, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu