The Boston Red Sox continue to ensure they have pitching depth moving forward.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Red Sox and 28-year-old left-hander Patrick Sandoval have agreed to a two-year, $18.25 million contract.
Sandoval, who has spent each of his prior six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, underwent Tommy John surgery in June. Due to his estimated arbitration salary of around $5.5 million for 2025, the Angels non-tendered the veteran.
Although several teams expressed interest in Sandoval, the Red Sox landed him to improve on its ERA of 4.04 from the 2024 season, which was 17th in MLB per TeamRankings. Boston recently traded for Chicago White Sox ace Garrett Crochet before signing Sandoval.
While Sandoval’s 2024 season was cut short, he showed what he can do with the Angels. From 2021-23 with Los Angeles, Sandoval posted an ERA of 3.53 with 373 strikeouts. His most impressive season came in 2022 when he lowered his ERA to 2.91 and had 151 strikeouts and 60 walks across 27 starts. That type of production positioned Sandoval as the Angels’ second-best starter in the rotation behind Shohei Ohtani during that period.
The main downside to Sandoval’s last three seasons with the Angels has been his increase in ERA from his career low of 2.91 in 2022 to 5.08 in his shortened 2024 season.
Possessing an effective changeup and slider, the hope is that Sandoval can return sometime in 2025 and be fully available for the 2026 season. He joins the talented lefty Crochet, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford as significant pieces to the Red Sox rotation.
While Sandoval’s pitching ability is not guaranteed to be the same as before his surgery, he offers great upside and gives the Red Sox extra depth, which they were looking for heading into the offseason.
