While many were celebrating Christmas on Thursday, the Red Sox lost out on an intriguing pitcher they had been pursuing for weeks.
Japanese right-hander Kohei Arihara agreed to sign a two-year deal with the Rangers on Thursday, choosing Texas over the Red Sox and Padres, who were reported to be the other two finalists. The 28-year-old Arihara will earn $6.2 million on his deal and Texas will pay his former team (the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters) a $1.24 million posting fee, making the Rangers’ full financial commitment worth $7.44 million.
It’s unclear how much the Red Sox had offered Arihara, but a source said Friday that the club had a legitimate chance to sign him until the end. Instead, the Red Sox finished as one of the runners-up for his services, continuing a trend in which Boston has come close to signing some free agent pitchers who have gone elsewhere.
In November, the Red Sox made an aggressive run at veteran starter Charlie Morton, only to see him choose the Braves, largely for geographic reasons. Earlier this week, former Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle chose to sign with the Dodgers despite the Red Sox making a competitive offer.
Boston has signed one free-agent pitcher (righty Matt Andriese) and added two lesser names (Joel Payamps and Garrett Whitlock) to its big-league roster since the end of the season. But it’s clear the club has been seriously involved in many pursuits for pitchers who have signed elsewhere so far this winter as well.
Arihara is a veteran of six seasons in Japan, all with the Fighters. In that span, he owns a 60-50 record and 3.74 ERA, including a 3.46 ERA and 7.2 K/9 rate in 2020. Arihara has thrown at least 122 innings in each of the last five seasons, including 132 ⅔ in 2020. The Rangers view him as a back-of-the-rotation piece.
“We are expecting him to throw innings and get deeper into some games,” Rangers manager Chris Woodward told reporters. “Stabilize our rotation, so it allows us to be creative with the rest of our pitching staff.”
In Boston, Arihara would have likely been penciled in to a similar role as Andriese, a swingman type who can start games or come out of the bullpen, depending on how the rest of the staff shapes up. Ideally, the Red Sox want to add one or two bona fide big-league starting pitchers to add to a group that includes Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Sale (at some point), Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck and others.
The Red Sox are known to have their eye on another Japanese righty, Tomoyuki Sugano, along with a handful of other teams. Sugano, a 31-year-old who is more highly regarded than Arihara and is expected to command a significantly more lucrative contract, must sign by Jan. 7.
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Red Sox target Kohei Arihara signs with Rangers; Boston has now come close but lost on at least 3 free agent - MassLive.com
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