Rick Porcello eager to stay with Red Sox for the future

The Red Sox Winter Weekend is wrapping up and it was another great turnout for fans and the team alike. With talk of free agency coming up often, one pitcher didn’t shy away from his desires for a new deal.

Rick Porcello is entering the final year of the four-year deal that he signed back in the spring of 2015. Porcello will be commanding a salary of $21M for the 2019 season and will be looking to have a strong showing this coming season. With the Red Sox steadily on their way to crushing the highest tier of the Luxury Tax, money is a bit of an issue.

Earlier in the weekend the Red Sox ownership group made it clear that they were ok with paying the penalties if it meant continued success for the franchise. With nine players heading towards free agency at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign, they’ll need to be comfortable with spending that budget.

"“I haven’t really evaluated it enough to get a feel for whether or not I’m comfortable negotiating during the season,” Porcello said. ‘Whether that would be a distraction or not. So that’s something I’ve got to talk to my agent and my family and everyone involved about and figure out what I’m comfortable with going forward.”"

Porcello has been a key to the Red Sox success over the last few seasons as the anchor of the starting rotation. He would post a career season in 2016 finishing 22-4 with a 3.14 ERA and winning the CY Young award. Now everything hasn’t always been sunshine and rainbows for Rick in Boston, but he’s always ready to fight.

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Much like his rotation comrade Nathan Eovaldi, Porcello would offer his services to the bullpen throughout the playoffs for Manager Alex Cora. On days he wasn’t set to start a game he’d sit in the bullpen and wait for his number to be called. That’s the fighting spirit that helped lead the Red Sox to a World Championship in 2018.

Rick has made it clear that even though he is interested in working out a new deal and remaining in Boston, he doesn’t want to do so during the season. He doesn’t want his negotiation talks to become a distraction for his teammates or himself. Which makes perfect sense and is understandable. We’ve seen year after year how a player trying to work out a new contract can throw off the mojo in the clubhouse.

"“But I love the Boston Red Sox organization. The people here right now and the leadership and the resources is something that I think is top-notch and second to none. I’d love to be a part of that in the future.”"

During the Winter Meetings it was reported that Porcello was a name that was being floated around in trade rumors. It seemed that Dave Dombrowski was willing to deal the ace to try and remove his $21M salary from the books. Nothing every materialized and even though that can wreck a player’s confidence, it hasn’t seemed to deter Porcello from wanting to remain in Boston.

Yes, the Red Sox are in the danger one as far as their spending is concerned but like the bosses said, it titles keep coming to Fenway then it’s worth it. Rick Porcello is an absolute key to the future success of the Red Sox. The three key players tat Dave Dombrowski needs to focus on are Porcello, Chris Sale, and Mookie Betts. If Boston can retain all three, then they’ll be set up to be the favorites for years to come.

With Spring Training coming fast, the Red Sox will be making their way to St. Petersburg. With the entirety of the baseball world coming after Boston, the Red Sox will need every weapon they have. This means locking up some of these future free agents before they can even hit the market. This all starts with re-signing Rick Porcello.