Red Sox Sign Former Dodgers Ace and World Series Champion
The Boston Red Sox have signed Walker Buehler to his first-ever free-agent contract. The former Dodgers’ ace has inked a one-year contract worth $21.05 million to help bolster this Red Sox pitching staff. After fighting through arbitration for the past couple of years, Buehler was finally a free agent for the first time during the 2024 offseason. He was not able to get the exact deal he was maybe expecting a few years ago when he was at the top of his game, but the contract has an opportunity to lead to a much larger one in the future should he produce as expected. Nonetheless, the Red Sox are getting a great arm in Buehler to help them in 2025.
In 2024, Walker Buehler had the worst season of his young career. He had a 5.38 ERA with a 1.553 WHIP, resulting in a -1.3 WAR. After ending his 2022 season early with Tommy John surgery, Buehler didn’t return to the mound until the middle of the 2024 season. The almost two years off the field proved to be costly for him. However, this isn’t as concerning as it may seem. Just three years ago, he was one of the best pitchers in the league. He was posting incredible stats and even finished fourth in Cy Young voting. Towards the end of the 2024 season in the playoffs, Buehler was lights out, shutting down some of the best teams in baseball. He has promise and a ton of upside. The key to getting back to his original form is getting him back in a routine with a full offseason and spring training and letting him do his work.
With the addition of Buehler, the Red Sox hope to add depth to their starting staff to rack up some more regular season wins. However, the biggest upside to Buehler is that once he gets to the playoffs, he is untouchable. He is a two-time World Series Champion and closed out the final game for the Dodgers in 2024. Aside from the 2021 postseason, Buehler has been one of the most electric pitchers in the postseason. Having someone that you can roll out in Game Seven that you trust to take control of the game is huge. Now, this may all not matter if he struggles immensely during the regular season. However, Buehler is a high-risk and a very high-reward signing. More than likely, the Red Sox will be very pleased with the signing at the end of the year.
