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Boston Red Sox should wait to extend Eduardo Rodriguez

By Bradley Shanler

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 29: Eduardo Rodriguez #57 of the Boston Red Sox delivers a pitch against the New York Yankees during the second inning of a Grapefruit League spring training game at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 29, 2020 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
FORT MYERS, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 29: Eduardo Rodriguez #57 of the Boston Red Sox delivers a pitch against the New York Yankees during the second inning of a Grapefruit League spring training game at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on February 29, 2020 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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Red Sox should learn from past mistakes before extending Rodriguez

The Boston Red Sox current front office should keep in mind what happened with the previous front office before offering an extension to Eduardo Rodriguez.

The Red Sox and E-Rod recently agreed to a 1-year, $8.3 million contract for 2021 to avoid arbitration. This will automatically bring up the subject on an extension.

In 2019, the Sox extended Chris Sale with a 5-year, $145 million contract. Sale’s 2019 season came to an end on August 14 due to shoulder inflammation. The injury did not need surgery at the time. In March of 2020, it was announced that Sale would undergo Tommy John surgery and he would be out for the 2020 season and part of the 2021 season. So, as it looks, that contract did not really work out so well.

On November 16, 2018, the Sox decided to re-sign 2018 World Series MVP Steve Pearce to a 1-year, $6.25 million contract. Pearce appeared in 29 games with a batting average of .180 before being put on the injured list on June 1. In April of 2020, Pearce became a free agent. So, that contract also did not really work out either.

On December 8, 2018, the Red Sox re-signed starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi to a 4-year, $68 million contract. Since then, Eovaldi has spent time on the injured list through both ’19 and even the shortened 60-game season 2020.

E-Rod has been dealing with a knee injury since 2016 and has even seen some time on the injured list. Before the 2019 season, the most innings he had pitched was 137. So there are a few concerns. I hope that he has a full recovery from myocarditis, but I don’t think right now would be a good time to even think about an extension.

Eduardo has mentioned recently that he would like to finish his career in Boston. Like I had stated earlier, Bloom needs to learn from Dombrowski’s mistake. Extending a player too early could come back to bite the team in the end. Rodriguez does not deserve to get a big extension yet and should prove himself healthy before the talks even start. I believe the perfect time to start is right around the trade deadline to give enough time to prove what he can do and also that he is healthy enough.

Next. Three positions to target in free agency. dark

Bloom is smart enough to realize this and I know he will do the right thing. With that said, LET’S GO GET SOME PITCHING!

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