MLB News: Yankees Send Adam Ottavino To Red Sox For Salary Relief

Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

In a rare trade between the Yankees and Red Sox, reliever Adam Ottavino will pitch in Boston next season. The Athletic’s Lindsey Adler first reported the deal.

Joel Sherman says the Yankees will also send pitching prospect Frank German to the Red Sox as incentive to take on Ottavino’s salary. Buster Olney says the Yankees will also send $850,000 to the Red Sox.

Ottavino is the last year of a three-year, $27 million he signed before the 2019 season. Though he put up a strong 2019 campaign, with a 237 ERA+ and 3.44 FIP.

He struggled in 2020, though, producing a 5.89 ERA (though a 3.52 FIP–similar to 2019) across 18.1 innings. A quick glance at his Statcast page shows he was giving up a lot more hard hits in 2020 to go along with missing a lot fewer bats with his fastball/cutter.

He will look to rebound in 2021 before re-entering free agency at age 36. Ottavino will make $8 million this year, though he will count for $9 million on the luxury tax, as Adler points out.

This is essentially a salary dump for the Yankees (a weird sentence to type) as they near the luxury tax threshold.

Before this trade, Spotrac said they were under $3 million away from the tax. This gives them more room to sign depth pieces for their rotation and lineup.

As for the Red Sox, they add some potential fire power to what was one of the worst bullpens (and pitching staffs) in baseball last year. Ottavino will automatically slide in as their 8th- or 9th-inning guy heading into the year.

The Yankees and Red Sox had only made one other trade this century–in 2014 when Stephen Drew went from Boston to New York for Kelly Johnson.

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