Rumored Red Sox Bullpen Target Reportedly Lands With Yankees

The Yankees on Tuesday reportedly agreed to a two-year contract with free agent reliever Tommy Kahnle, in the process dealing a blow to the Red Sox as Boston rebuilds its bullpen this Major League Baseball offseason.

The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal was the first to report Kahnle’s agreement with the Yankees.

The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported Kahnle’s contract with the Yankees is worth $11.5 million over two years. Heyman’s colleague, Joel Sherman, added the deal doesn’t include an option and simply will be worth $5.25 million per season.

MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported early Tuesday morning the Red Sox were making a push to sign Kahnle. A major league source told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier the Red Sox had a two-year offer on the table for the right-hander before he agreed to join New York.

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Kahnle, 33, has been limited to just 14 appearances (13 2/3 innings) over the last three seasons, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in August 2020 that sidelined for the entire 2021 campaign and then missed time in 2022 due to right forearm inflammation. He’s been a very solid reliever when healthy, though, posting a 3.78 ERA, a 3.51 FIP, a 1.257 WHIP and 11.1 strikeouts per nine innings across 298 career relief appearances.

Kahnle, who spent parts of four seasons with the Yankees from 2017 to 2020, appeared in 13 regular-season games with the Dodgers in 2022, registering a 2.84 ERA across 12 2/3 innings while striking out 14 and walking three. His velocity was down, relative to his career norm, but he induced a ton of ground balls and missed bats at an excellent clip while relying more on his changeup.

The Red Sox already added two relievers this offseason, signing left-hander Joely Rodríguez and right-hander Chris Martin before the MLB winter meetings. But it’s clear Boston would like to continue adding to its relief corps before Opening Day — the ‘pen was a weak spot for the Sox in 2022 — and missing out on Kahnle certainly stings in that regard, especially with him taking his talents to the Bronx.