Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
According to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, free-agent starter Jake Odorizzi has been drawing “serious interest” from the Boston Red Sox. As Feinsand notes, Sox chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom was a member of the Tampa Bay front office that traded for the right-hander in 2012.
Coming off a strong 2019 (3.51 ERA/3.36 FIP, 178 strikeouts, 53 walks, 4.3 fWAR), Odorizzi accepted the Twins’ $17.8 million qualifying offer last winter to return to Minnesota. Odorizzi now hits the open market as one of the higher regarded middle-rotation options despite a forgettable 2020 season.
Odorizzi’s 2020 was injury-riddled, making just four starts (6.59 ERA, 12 strikeouts, thre walks, four home runs in 13.2 innings) after missing time with a chest contusion (hit by an Alex Gordon comebacker) and a split blister on his pitching hand.
The New York Mets were linked to Odorizzi in mid-November via Buster Olney of ESPN. With mid-rotation help residing near the top of general manager Jared Porter’s offseason to-do list, the 30-year-old seemed like a logical person of interest.
On Tuesday afternoon, Andy Martino of SNY reported that there’s been “very minimal” contact between New York and Odorizzi’s camp since that time. That could change, but it appears the Mets may have turned their attention elsewhere.
We’ll keep you posted with more information as it becomes available.
