Why Red Sox Decided To Extend Qualifying Offer To Eduardo Rodriguez

The Boston Red Sox extended a qualifying offer to Eduardo Rodriguez on Sunday, and now wait for the left-handed pitcher to make his decision.

Rodriguez has 10 days to mull over the offer and gauge interest from other teams. The qualifying offer (QO) value for the offseason reportedly is worth $18.4 million. If he accepts Boston’s offer, he will play on a one-year deal for the $18-plus million and if he does not, the Red Sox will receive a draft pick if he signs elsewhere.

Red Sox chief baseball officer explained why the organization wanted to extend a QO to Rodriguez.

“Well, you know, recognizing the year didn’t play out even as I think he would have wanted it to, there were definitely reasons for optimism under the surface, as has been well-documented,” Bloom said during a video conference with reporters Sunday. “There (were) certain ways in which we felt he was a little snake bit, or we didn’t have some of our best defensive games behind him. Obviously, it was not a perfect year for him, but we feel strongly enough about him and what he’s shown he can do and what we think he can do going forward to feel like we were in good position extending him this QO.”

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Rodriguez, 28, finished the 2021 campaign with a 13-8 record and a career-worst 4.74 ERA in 32 games (31 starts). Rodriguez had missed the 2020 season due to complications from COVID-19, but put together a career year the season prior. In 2019, Rodriguez started a career-high 34 games with a 19-6 record and career-low 3.81 ERA.

It’s that production that continues to be an encouraging sign for the Red Sox. And Bloom revealed Sunday how Boston could continue to have multi-year talks with Rodriguez going forward, should he accept the QO.

“Generally speaking, as you guys know, I don’t like to get too much into the subject of contract negotiations,” Bloom said. “But you know, I think it’s fair to say and I don’t think would be a surprise that, it’s backed up by us offering the QO, that we’d love to have him here for a longer period of time if it lines up for everybody. And fair to expect that that’s something that we’re going to be exploring simultaneously.”