The hot stove season has officially arrived after the Dodgers finished off the Yankees in the World Series on Wednesday. Los Angeles won 7-6 in Game 5 at Yankee Stadium.
Eight Red Sox players officially become free agents at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Below is everything you need to know as the offseason commences.
When does free agency begin? All eligible MLB players become free agents at 9 a.m. today when a five-day quiet period begins.
Who are the Red Sox players eligible for free agency? Boston has eight free agents? Tyler O’Neill, Nick Pivetta, Kenley Jansen, Chris Martin, Danny Jansen, Luis García, Lucas Sims and James Paxton.
When can free agents officially sign? The first five days of free agency is a quiet period. The Red Sox and other MLB teams have this window to exclusively negotiate a contract with their own free agents. Teams can contact free agents from other teams to discuss topics such as level of interest, length of contract, no-trade or limited no-trade provisions and plans on how the club will use the players. But teams can’t negotiate terms of contracts with any player from another team.
When does the quiet period end? The real start of free agency begins at 5 p.m. Monday (five days following the final day of the World Series).
This is when teams have the ability to negotiate and agree to terms of a contract with players on the open market.
What’s the deadline to extend a qualifying offer? Teams are able to extend a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer to their own free agents by 5 p.m. on the final day of the quiet period.
Players have until Nov. 19 at 4 p.m. to accept or decline it.
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Will the Red Sox re-sign any of their own free agents? Tyler O’Neill, a 29-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder, slugged .511 with 31 homers in 113 games in ‘24. There’s a chance the Red Sox will offer him a qualifying offer (one year, $21.05 million). Boston went just 17-26 against left-handed starters in 2024 and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said his team will target a right-handed hitter. There is mutual interest between the Red Sox and O’Neill. There will be interest in bringing him back even if a qualifying offer is not extended.
“Whether it’s Tyler or someone else, replacing that type of production in the middle of the lineup is going to be a priority,” Breslow said in October.
Nick Pivetta, a right-handed pitcher who turns 32 on Feb. 14, enters free agency after five seasons in a Red Sox uniform (2020-24). He’s the only other free agent (besides O’Neill) who the Red Sox might consider offering a qualifying offer. That said, it seems highly unlikely.
Pivetta experienced his ups and downs with Boston but he pitched 142 ⅔ innings or more each of the past four years (including 179 ⅔ innings in 2023) and had a respectable 4.09 ERA and 4.02 FIP in 2023-24 combined. The Red Sox will need to replace that durability if they don’t re-sign the righty.
Chris Martin, a 38-year-old reliever, wants to pitch for one more season and then retire after the 2025 season. He’s open to re-signing with Boston after posting a 2.16 ERA in 100 outings for them the past two seasons. He walked just 11 batters in 95 ⅔ innings.
There’s zero chance 37-year-old closer Kenley Jansen re-signs. Teammates were disappointed with him after he skipped the final series of the year to return home early. He recorded 56 saves over his two seasons with Boston. Both Liam Hendriks and Justin Slaten are candidates to replace him at closer.
Don’t expect the Red Sox to re-sign relievers Luis García and Lucas Sims who they acquired both on July 30. The 37-year-old García posted an 8.22 ERA (15 ⅓ innings, 14 earned runs) in 15 outings with Boston after being acquired from the Angels. The 30-year-old Sims recorded a 6.43 ERA (14 innings, 10 earned runs) in 15 outings after being acquired from the Reds.
The Red Sox might have at least some interest in bringing back 29-year-old catcher Danny Jansen. The right-handed hitter batted just .188 with a .323 on-base percentage, .300 slugging percentage and .623 OPS in 30 games (96 plate appearances) after Boston acquired him July 27 from the Blue Jays. The Red Sox potentially could bring him back at the right price to split time with Connor Wong with top catching prospect Kyle Teel not ready to begin 2025 in the big leagues.
Wong and Mickey Gasper are the only two catchers on the 40-man roster. And so the Red Sox should be in the market for a catcher even with Teel not too far away.
Wong didn’t have a strong year defensively, ranking in the one percentile in fielding run value, third percentile in blocks above average and ninth percentile in framing. He also had just a .696 OPS in the second half after posting an .809 OPS in the first half.
Boston won’t be re-signing 35-year-old left-handed pitcher James Paxton, who plans to retire.
Any Red Sox players have player or team options? Outfielder Rob Refsnyder has a $2.1 million team option and $150,000 buyout. It’s highly likely the Red Sox will trigger that option to bring him back. Right-handed starter Lucas Giolito has a $19 million player option and $1 million buyout. Expect him to opt in after not pitching in 2024 because of elbow surgery.
What are other important dates at the beginning of the offseason?
Nov. 4: All players on the 60-day IL must be reinstated to the 40-man roster. Those players are RHP Liam Hendriks, RHP Garrett Whitlock, RHP Isaiah Campbell, RHP Lucas Giolito, RHP Bryan Mata and LHP Chris Murphy.
Nov. 19: The deadline to add (protect) Rule 5 eligible players to the 40-man roster is at 6 p.m. RHP Hunter Dobbins, RHP Michael Fulmer, OF Jhostynxon Garcia, RHP Yordanny Monegro, LHP Brendan Cellucci, Angel Bastardo and OF Allan Castro are among Boston’s Rule 5 Draft eligible minor leaguers.
Nov. 22: Non-tender deadline at 8 p.m. The Red Sox will tender contracts to all three of their arbitration eligible players, Jarren Duran, Tanner Houck and Kutter Crawford.
MLB Trade Rumors projects Duran to receive $4.9 million, Houck $4.5 million and Crawford $3.5 million.
