Red Sox News: Boston alumni players who are on the move

Former Boston Red Sox players are on the move

Time to do some catch-up on a few former Boston Red Sox players who have filtered across the baseball landscape with the first being left-handed pitcher Fernando Abad. The 35-year-old will sign with the O’s after missing the 2020 season with the Nationals and later the Yankees after the Nats dumped Abad. This is a minor league deal.

Abad pitched two seasons (2016-2017) for Boston, but his 2017 season was a respectable one (2-1, 3.30) appearing in 48 games out of the bullpen. Abad produced a 2.9 BB/9 and 7.6 K/9 over his 43.2 innings. Did Boston know something? Abad was on the verge of a minor league deal in 2018 with the Mets and then got pinched for 80 games over PED’s.

William Cuevas is now 30-years-old and has re-signed with the KT Whiz of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO). The righty will pick up $1 MM for his signature and has produced rather well for KT (23-18, 3.84) over two seasons and 57 starts.

Cuevas was originally signed by the Red Sox as an International Free Agent in 2008 and then progressed through the farm system and briefly surfaced in Boston. Cuevas moved on to the Tigers organization as a free agent and then back to Boston for the second round of disappointment. Cuevas appeared in 12 games for the Red Sox going 0-3 and pitching to a 6.55 ERA/5.70 FIP.

Jose Iglesias is on the move again and is now with the Angels after being traded by the O’s. The knock on the right-hand hitting slick fielder is a long baseball refrain of good field, no hit. Then in 2013 that disappeared with Iglesias hitting a shocking .330 before being shipped to the Tigers as part of a three-team swap. Was that average an anomaly?

After injuries short-circuited Iglesias’ 2014 season he came back in 2015 to hit .300 and made the All-Star team. In 2020, the numbers were again shocking over 39 games as Iglesias hit .373 and produced a 160 wRC+ and a 1.6 fWAR. Iglesias has seen some defensive erosion with -2 Defensive Runs Saved and a 6.3 UZR/150 – his lowest in five seasons.

According to his agent, Scott Boras, free-agent Jackie Bradley Jr. has received “A lot of attention.”
Boras is quite creative at creating a market where one may not exist or is limited in scope. Boras is part huckster, televangelist, and savvy lawyer-agent. Fans generally hate Boras, owners fear him, and his clients love him, but marketing JBJ who Boras compares to peanut and jelly could be a challenge.

If MLBTR is correct or reasonably close to their payroll projections Bradley is going to be in the two-year at $16 MM range – not exactly a jackpot for the lefty-hitting Bradley. Can the Red Sox sign Bradley? As the market unfolds that may be a quite doable figure for the Red Sox.