Boston Red Sox interested in keeping Burke Badenhop?

Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell made it known yesterday that the team would like to retain right-handed reliever Burke Badenop, who can be a free agent after this season:

Given this seems to be an indirect quote, which is fairly common with Twitter, it’s probably not wise to over-analyse the exact word choice, particularly the “if possible” clause at the end.

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Badenhop signed a one-year, $2.2-million-dollar deal to avoid arbitration with Boston, after the Red Sox traded minor-league lefty Luis Ortega to the Milwaukee Brewers to acquire Badenhop.

Still, $2.2 million is a lot of money, particularly for a reliever who doesn’t close and was only worth a win above replacement, per Fangraphs, in 2014, which was the best of his career.

But the Red Sox aren’t like most other teams, and ownership said recently that while the Sox don’t have a bottomless bank account, it was prepared to spend this winter in order to improve the team.

If the Red Sox are interested in offering Badenhop, who posted a 2.33 ERA in 69.2 innings this year, a multi-year contract, it’s hard to imagine Badenhop wouldn’t want to hear Boston out on the offer.

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