Early on Monday, the Hot Stove began to sizzle again when four key free agents came off the board. One of the bigger moves was made by the Boston Red Sox, who signed right-hander Walker Buehler to a one-year, $21.05 million contract.
Buehler had been a target for the New York Yankees, who he had dominated in Game 3 of the World Series and later closed out in the clinching Game 5. However, he ultimately chose Boston instead.
Thomas Carrannante of FanSided explains that while it certainly stings for the Yankees to have missed out on Buehler, they likely would not have paid the same price that the Red Sox did in order to land him.
“While it stings because Buehler was a Yankees target earlier this offseason, there was no chance the Yankees were taking a $21 million risk on the right-hander knowing what has happened from 2022-2024,” Carrannante wrote.
“Don’t forget, Yankee Stadium is also a hitter’s ballpark, and New York needs reliability in their rotation with the amount of question marks currently in the fold. Buehler could have been a fit, but not at that price.”
In the end, Boston may have overpaid for Buehler. It’s important to remember that the veteran right-hander did not have a good regular season after he returned from Tommy John surgery.
Buehler went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA and was only able to salvage his 2024 season thanks to a spectacular showing in the postseason. Following a clunker in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, he had scoreless starts in the NLCS and World Series.
It will be interesting to see if Buehler can match his postseason success and rebuild his value with the Red Sox, but the Yankees may have made the smart move by not signing him, especially with Max Fried, Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil already in their rotation.
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